Please support your local comic stores! 0

[lizards2]

I guess we are some of the lucky ones, in that we are financially unaffected (other than losing a ton of $ temporarily in the stock market).

We are trying to support as much as we can in this doldrum period.  Local restaurants can only do curbside takeout, etc.  We are basically getting restaurant food about 3 to 4 times more than normal in an effort to support these small businesses.  I'm also scheduling home maintenance services and stuff like that early, to make sure people in town are still working and businesses are getting cash flow.

I wish I had a local comic shop to support, but we don't have one.  Still supporting my At Your Service subscription service, which is Keith's Comics in the Dallas, Tx area.  And of course, trying to support the sellers on the CGC Boards as much as I can.

[shadroch]

4 minutes ago, the blob said:

I really don't think Dale was asking unemployed people to buy comics either. Although if you ordered stuff you really should be paying for it.

Yes, if you have a subscription and the store laid out the money, you should pick them up. If I had a significant pull list, I'd offer to pay by phone and let them hold it awhile. I just don't think this is the time to be spending extra money on hobbies.

[chrisco37]

16 hours ago, batman_fan said:

In Boulder, CO. A week ago, nothing and I mean nothing on the store shelves. No fruit, no vegetables nothing (chips and soda were still available).  Today, fully stocked in all areas except flour, sugar, toilet paper, and liquid dish soap.  Soup was thin but had a reasonable amount of choice, rice, milk, eggs, butter, cheese, meat, etc were all back.  They were limiting the number of chicken and beef items you could buy to three.

Very similar to my experience this morning at my local grocery.   Still no TP or Paper towels or hand sanitizer, but I was able to pick up some hand soap and clorox spray (limit 3 ea).  

Produce has returned over the past few days as well (empty last week).  I was actually able to buy some potatoes and onions this morning, so we can finally eat something not without pasta or rice!  

[shadroch]

5 minutes ago, god503 said:

I dont expect it to that extreme considering what is happening, however the law is on the commercial landlord side not the commercial tenant.  where as the private tenants has every single tenement law on there side.  I happen to be also a landlord since i own a 2 family home.  If my tenant decides not to pay the rent, even though they STILL have there jobs, I cant do anything about it, yet I still have to pay my mortgage.  You know what my mortgage servicer said to me today when i called to tell them what is available to me since i am unemployed?  They said i can delay my payments for 3 months, but after that they are due in  a LUMP SUM payment otherwise i get a negative remark on my credit.  Try telling that to a tenant.

If you had called them two weeks ago, you would have gotten a very different answer, and chances are in two weeks, you'll get another answer.   My car lease was up a few months back and I extended it six months. It's now up April 1st. Last month I was told they wouldn't renew it and I had to buy it or turn it in immediately. Saturday, I got an email offering  a ninety day extension.

I'd love to think the economy is elastic enough to bounce right back, but I'm a realist.

As far as the Comic business goes, Diamond has been a zombie for years. If I still owned a shop, I'd be making whatever plans I could to operate in a post Diamond environment. As it is, I have 2500 square feet of commercial space I need to re-imagine. That's the least of my problems right now. 

New York State, and especially NYC , has insane landlord laws.  Why anyone chooses to be a landlord ,I don't understand. I have a Co-optimal in Jackson Heights that I rent out, but only to close friends. When they move, I'm selling it. Crazy thing is I picked it up for $19,000 and it now rents out for $1500., which is substantially below market. 

[wilbil]

14 minutes ago, shadroch said:

I just don't think this is the time to be spending extra money on hobbies.

if a person has the extra money in their budget and has decided they have the ability to do so, the time to buy now could very well be the best time.

[the blob]

21 minutes ago, god503 said:

I dont expect it to that extreme considering what is happening, however the law is on the commercial landlord side not the commercial tenant.  where as the private tenants has every single tenement law on there side.  I happen to be also a landlord since i own a 2 family home.  If my tenant decides not to pay the rent, even though they STILL have there jobs, I cant do anything about it, yet I still have to pay my mortgage.  You know what my mortgage servicer said to me today when i called to tell them what is available to me since i am unemployed?  They said i can delay my payments for 3 months, but after that they are due in  a LUMP SUM payment otherwise i get a negative remark on my credit.  Try telling that to a tenant.

From the NY Post:  Homeowners will still have to make good on the payments, but they will be tacked onto the back end of their mortgage agreements, sans late fees, Cuomo said.

“Eliminating that stressor for 90 days, I think, will go a long way,” he said, noting that the offer could be extended beyond 90 days depending on how the fight against the contagion plays out.

 

So, according to this, I don't think what the bank said was right. But it you have 10 years left on your mortgage I guess it is 10 years and 3 months?

[god503]

4 minutes ago, the blob said:

From the NY Post:  Homeowners will still have to make good on the payments, but they will be tacked onto the back end of their mortgage agreements, sans late fees, Cuomo said.

“Eliminating that stressor for 90 days, I think, will go a long way,” he said, noting that the offer could be extended beyond 90 days depending on how the fight against the contagion plays out.

 

So, according to this, I don't think what the bank said was right. But it you have 10 years left on your mortgage I guess it is 10 years and 3 months?

This is only if your bank is located in NY.  Im a freedie mac loan via Quicken loans.  Until the fed makes it offical, cuomo doesnt help me in this area.  other stuff like credit cards and HELOC yes  Car payment yes.  but the big nut is the mortgage

Edited March 23, 2020 by god503

[god503]

4 minutes ago, shadroch said:

If you had called them two weeks ago, you would have gotten a very different answer, and chances are in two weeks, you'll get another answer.   My car lease was up a few months back and I extended it six months. It's now up April 1st. Last month I was told they wouldn't renew it and I had to buy it or turn it in immediately. Saturday, I got an email offering  a ninety day extension.

I'd love to think the economy is elastic enough to bounce right back, but I'm a realist.

As far as the Comic business goes, Diamond has been a zombie for years. If I still owned a shop, I'd be making whatever plans I could to operate in a post Diamond environment. As it is, I have 2500 square feet of commercial space I need to re-imagine. That's the least of my problems right now. 

New York State, and especially NYC , has insane landlord laws.  Why anyone chooses to be a landlord ,I don't understand. I have a Co-optimal in Jackson Heights that I rent out, but only to close friends. When they move, I'm selling it. Crazy thing is I picked it up for $19,000 and it now rents out for $1500., which is substantially below market. 

100% correct on the landlord laws.  Good luck trying to evict WITHOUT a pandemic... 😒

[wilbil]

3 minutes ago, the blob said:

From the NY Post:  Homeowners will still have to make good on the payments, but they will be tacked onto the back end of their mortgage agreements, sans late fees, Cuomo said.

“Eliminating that stressor for 90 days, I think, will go a long way,” he said, noting that the offer could be extended beyond 90 days depending on how the fight against the contagion plays out.

 

So, according to this, I don't think what the bank said was right. But it you have 10 years left on your mortgage I guess it is 10 years and 3 months?

 10 years and 3 months left but time left to pay 10 years and 6 months from today?

[shadroch]

7 minutes ago, chrisco37 said:

Very similar to my experience this morning at my local grocery.   Still no TP or Paper towels or hand sanitizer, but I was able to pick up some hand soap and clorox spray (limit 3 ea).  

Produce has returned over the past few days as well (empty last week).  I was actually able to buy some potatoes and onions this morning, so we can finally eat something not without pasta or rice!  

I've been picking up side salads from Burger King as produce is pretty skimpy here. We have two tremendous farmers markets that used to provide most of the produce but they were shut down when Corona came to town.

Bisbee is almost completely tourist dependent and almost every business is closed right now. Most of the tourist shops are mainly consignments so while closing is bad, they don't have more merchandise coming in that they need to pay.

[the blob]

13 minutes ago, chrisco37 said:

Very similar to my experience this morning at my local grocery.   Still no TP or Paper towels or hand sanitizer, but I was able to pick up some hand soap and clorox spray (limit 3 ea).  

Produce has returned over the past few days as well (empty last week).  I was actually able to buy some potatoes and onions this morning, so we can finally eat something not without pasta or rice!  

I find it wild that in Colorado, closer where to this stuff is made/produced, you don't have stuff, while my NYC stores are in decent shape. No hand santizer or Clorox wipes or Lysol, but paper products and food

 

[shadroch]

In addition to a 90 day payment holiday, I expect many banks will be willing to take interest only payments for the next year or two. 

[the blob]

5 minutes ago, god503 said:

This is only if your bank is located in NY.  Im a freedie mac loan via Quicken loans.  Until the fed makes it offical, cuomo doesnt help me in this area.  other stuff like CC and HELOC yes  Car payment yes.

Maybe Cuomo can't dictate Freddie mac loans, but I think he can pretty much do it for any private bank that does business in New york

 

[god503]

Just now, shadroch said:

In addition to a 90 day payment holiday, I expect many banks will be willing to take interest only payments for the next year or two. 

90 holiday with no penalty no balloon payment just add it to the backend is more than fair.

[the blob]

4 minutes ago, wilbil said:

 10 years and 3 months left but time left to pay 10 years and 6 months from today?

I have no idea. I am sure this executive edict is going to need tweaking.

 

[god503]

1 minute ago, the blob said:

Maybe Cuomo can't dictate Freddie mac loans, but I think he can pretty much do it for any private bank that does business in New york

 

correct

[shadroch]

10 minutes ago, wilbil said:

if a person has the extra money in their budget and has decided they have the ability to do so, the time to buy now could very well be the best time.

As most Americans don't have a $1,000 emergency fund, and God only knows how many people will have jobs in two weeks, I stand by my statement. Those lucky few who don't need to be concerned about their future might want to look around for some bargains.

[Steelrain41]

We've been pretty lucky in Eastern NC so far. I went and got some books this weekend and my LCS was up and running with just some limiting of personnel allowed in the store at one time and asking to keep visits under 20 minutes. If you can afford to help out local small business's than you should. This is a time for the community to step up and help each other.

Memory Lane Comics- Wilmington NC. They offer curbside pickup and you can order everything online. They are a great shop with a fantastic crew. 

[batman_fan]

Colorado is asking people to stay home but on Sunday while getting groceries, people out and about looked like a normal day.  People everywhere just hanging out.

[batman_fan]

53 minutes ago, shadroch said:

If you had called them two weeks ago, you would have gotten a very different answer, and chances are in two weeks, you'll get another answer.   My car lease was up a few months back and I extended it six months. It's now up April 1st. Last month I was told they wouldn't renew it and I had to buy it or turn it in immediately. Saturday, I got an email offering  a ninety day extension.

I'd love to think the economy is elastic enough to bounce right back, but I'm a realist.

As far as the Comic business goes, Diamond has been a zombie for years. If I still owned a shop, I'd be making whatever plans I could to operate in a post Diamond environment. As it is, I have 2500 square feet of commercial space I need to re-imagine. That's the least of my problems right now. 

New York State, and especially NYC , has insane landlord laws.  Why anyone chooses to be a landlord ,I don't understand. I have a Co-optimal in Jackson Heights that I rent out, but only to close friends. When they move, I'm selling it. Crazy thing is I picked it up for $19,000 and it now rents out for $1500., which is substantially below market. 

Colorado is trying to move rental laws so that it makes no sense to own rental property.  They are trying to pass rent control rules.  They already passed a bunch of energy efficiency rules which basically means you have to have your property evaluated (i.e. pay someone $100) to determine the efficiency.  If you don’t it is a $500 fine if you rent and don’t have the certificate.