Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My fiance and I are looking to move to Manhattan from Virginia in the next few months. We are both 22 and currently I'm the only one that is going to have a job. I work in the IT Security field and make roughly 80k a year.
We have done quite a bit of research on Manhattan and i wanted to run what we have so far behind people that actually live there to see if we are on track or if we have no idea what we are doing.
-------------
First id like to start with our finances, as i said i make roughly 80k a year and we also own a home that we plan on renting out for $2,000/month (it will net us about $1,000 after the mortgage is paid).
So right now the q&d budget we have is....
Rent - $2,000 (Willing to go up to $2500 for the right apartment.)
Food - $1,200 (We like to keep meals cheap but also like to go out for a nice date night once or twice a month)
Travel - $208 (This is for the unlimited metro and bus passes for both of us)
Cell Phones - $30 (On a family plan, but wanted to add all know expenses we have)
Internet - $40 (I have seen this vary wildly from posts on this forum. We need high speed internet.)
Total Bills - $3,478
Monthly Income - $4168 (This is after tax, according to the paycheckcity site)
Savings - $690 + $1,000 (Rental Income)
-------------
Location...
We would really like to be in Manhattan, we where looking at apartments between 14th st and 59th and also in upper west side. We really want to be in the middle of everything. I know the city metro is great and you can get anywhere you want to go in a reasonable amount of time. But id like to live in an are thats either right in or 2-3 blocks from lots of things to do. So far it seems like my fiance is fixated on the Flatiron and Hells Kitchen districts.
I realize its out of our price range to rent a decent apartment directly in both of those areas but i did see decent apartments a few blocks out.
-------------
Questions....
It looks like the only place i can get a job that will keep my government security clearance active is in Jersey City. How is the commute from Manhattan to JC? I read a few posts where people said its a 10min train ride but its about 30min during rush hour. Which i don't mind, my current commute is 45min to 2h each way.
Are there any other places where a clearance is needed besides JC?
How bad is the crime in Manhattan? I see people argue over this all the time and it seems like it comes down to peoples opinions on what "sketchy" is. Is there cause for concern for any area south of central park? I can walk down the street at night as long as i don't have a stack of cash taped to my forehead?
Ive never lived in a big city before and DC is the only one i have really visited so i don't have city street smarts but I'm very conscious of my surroundings and I'm not a fool.
Also is it worth it to use a broker when renting an apartment? At first when i learned that this was common here i was thinking its a big scam but the more i think about it the more i think it might be better to use one. I'm going to be limited on the times when i can go and see the apartments, like before and after work and on the weekends. I feel like we could miss out on things trying to search ourselves. We plan on using airbnb to find a room to stay for a week or so while we look for an apartment.
------------
Please if you have a min let me know if there is any holes in our strategy or maybe suggestions on where we can rent that might be better. Any advice you can give us would be greatly appreciated!
-------------
First id like to start with our finances, as i said i make roughly 80k a year and we also own a home that we plan on renting out for $2,000/month (it will net us about $1,000 after the mortgage is paid).
So right now the q&d budget we have is....
Rent - $2,000 (Willing to go up to $2500 for the right apartment.)
Food - $1,200 (We like to keep meals cheap but also like to go out for a nice date night once or twice a month)
Travel - $208 (This is for the unlimited metro and bus passes for both of us)
Cell Phones - $30 (On a family plan, but wanted to add all know expenses we have)
Internet - $40 (I have seen this vary wildly from posts on this forum. We need high speed internet.)
Total Bills - $3,478
Monthly Income - $4168 (This is after tax, according to the paycheckcity site)
Savings - $690 + $1,000 (Rental Income)
-------------
First of all, if you're making $80K, cap your rent at $2K as most landlords will (40x rent rule)
Secondly, I think you're not including all your potential expenses:
- Utilities? (Gas/electric are not included in rent)
- Health insurance
- Internet (will likely be more than $40)
- Personal supplies (clothes, toiletries, etc)
- Laundry (most apartments don't have any in the apartment itself, perhaps the building)
- Entertainment (you don't want to see a movie or go to a museum occasionally?)
- Etc, etc
My fiance and I are looking to move to Manhattan from Virginia in the next few months. We are both 22 and currently I'm the only one that is going to have a job. I work in the IT Security field and make roughly 80k a year.
We have done quite a bit of research on Manhattan and i wanted to run what we have so far behind people that actually live there to see if we are on track or if we have no idea what we are doing.
-------------
First id like to start with our finances, as i said i make roughly 80k a year and we also own a home that we plan on renting out for $2,000/month (it will net us about $1,000 after the mortgage is paid).
So right now the q&d budget we have is....
Rent - $2,000 (Willing to go up to $2500 for the right apartment.)
Food - $1,200 (We like to keep meals cheap but also like to go out for a nice date night once or twice a month)
Travel - $208 (This is for the unlimited metro and bus passes for both of us)
Cell Phones - $30 (On a family plan, but wanted to add all know expenses we have)
Internet - $40 (I have seen this vary wildly from posts on this forum. We need high speed internet.)
Total Bills - $3,478
Monthly Income - $4168 (This is after tax, according to the paycheckcity site)
Savings - $690 + $1,000 (Rental Income)
-------------
Location...
We would really like to be in Manhattan, we where looking at apartments between 14th st and 59th and also in upper west side. We really want to be in the middle of everything. I know the city metro is great and you can get anywhere you want to go in a reasonable amount of time. But id like to live in an are thats either right in or 2-3 blocks from lots of things to do. So far it seems like my fiance is fixated on the Flatiron and Hells Kitchen districts.
I realize its out of our price range to rent a decent apartment directly in both of those areas but i did see decent apartments a few blocks out.
-------------
Questions....
It looks like the only place i can get a job that will keep my government security clearance active is in Jersey City. How is the commute from Manhattan to JC? I read a few posts where people said its a 10min train ride but its about 30min during rush hour. Which i don't mind, my current commute is 45min to 2h each way.
Are there any other places where a clearance is needed besides JC?
How bad is the crime in Manhattan? I see people argue over this all the time and it seems like it comes down to peoples opinions on what "sketchy" is. Is there cause for concern for any area south of central park? I can walk down the street at night as long as i don't have a stack of cash taped to my forehead?
Ive never lived in a big city before and DC is the only one i have really visited so i don't have city street smarts but I'm very conscious of my surroundings and I'm not a fool.
Also is it worth it to use a broker when renting an apartment? At first when i learned that this was common here i was thinking its a big scam but the more i think about it the more i think it might be better to use one. I'm going to be limited on the times when i can go and see the apartments, like before and after work and on the weekends. I feel like we could miss out on things trying to search ourselves. We plan on using airbnb to find a room to stay for a week or so while we look for an apartment.
------------
Please if you have a min let me know if there is any holes in our strategy or maybe suggestions on where we can rent that might be better. Any advice you can give us would be greatly appreciated!
Kudos for sitting down and doing some budget planning. There are few gaps on your though train though and mc33433 pointed it out well. Don't forget taxes and deductions from benefits such as 401k. NYC income tax alone will eat up 2-4% of your salary. I haven't used paycheckcity site so I can't tell you if they included NYC income tax or not. Hell even your cellphone will go up by few bucks because of taxes. Utility is quite expensive as well and it surprises people. ConEd isn't cheap.
As for 40x income. That is a general rule of thumb so if you make 80k, 2k is what you are looking at. However they look at your credit score, debt, and all that. So if you have credit card debts, car mortgage, etc. LL may not rent it to you anyway even if you meet 40x due the risk. In NYC, it is quite difficult for LL to evict tenants and it is cumbersome process. So LL are very cautious.
Reverse commute to JC from Manhattan is very convienent if you live near Path station. If you don't then you need to get to path station somehow. Also if your office is not near one of the Path stations in Jersey City (JC) then you'll need to get there somehow. Fyi, Path is separate system from MTA and monthly is 80 bucks so you need to add that to your transportation costs as well.
Overall, in my opinion 80k at 22 years old is great! Setting that aside for a moment, unfortunately in Manhattan 80k doesn't go very far. My suggestion is that you actually live outside of Manhattan and look elsewhere such as Queens or perhaps even Jersey City itself. Don't stretch yourself so much just to live in Manhattan. Even if you do, because you don't have much disposable income you can't enjoy it fully anyway. Start out bit further out in areas like Queens or jersey city and work your way up the salary then NYC. Or when your wife gets a job, then consider it. Otherwise you guys will be burning alot of cash just to 'live' in NYC but not actually enjoy it because it takes money to enjoy it. Stuff like walking in the park or around the city can be done just as easily even if you lived in outerboroughs.
Well, poster is also getting an additional 1K a month from renting the house in Virginia which puts earnings at like 92K a year for about 2300/month rent when you do the /40 rule. Do you have some money saved up OP and is your fiance also planning to work? If you got a resounding yes for both, then your possible cap at 2.5K a month is doable.
Well, poster is also getting an additional 1K a month from renting the house in Virginia which puts earnings at like 92K a year for about 2300/month rent when you do the /40 rule.
That's assuming OP has a rental property that's been paid off. Also I read it as he already included his rental income as part of his 80k a year ballpark number. Most of people when they say I make about, they usually round up...not down. Also after looking at OP's numbers bit more carefully, I think OP is underestimating taxes a bit.
First of all, if you're making $80K, cap your rent at $2K as most landlords will (40x rent rule)
Secondly, I think you're not including all your potential expenses:
- Utilities? (Gas/electric are not included in rent)
- Health insurance
- Internet (will likely be more than $40)
- Personal supplies (clothes, toiletries, etc)
- Laundry (most apartments don't have any in the apartment itself, perhaps the building)
- Entertainment (you don't want to see a movie or go to a museum occasionally?)
Are utilities usually not included in rent? I have seen a lot of stuff listed in Manhattan that are all inclusive (electric/gas) and I have seen many posts where people say that more often then not utilities are included in the listed rent price. I was seeing numbers for gas/electric to be around $120/month, does that sound about right?
Quote:
Originally Posted by babo111
I haven't used paycheckcity site so I can't tell you if they included NYC income tax or not. Hell even your cellphone will go up by few bucks because of taxes. Utility is quite expensive as well and it surprises people. ConEd isn't cheap.
Reverse commute to JC from Manhattan is very convienent if you live near Path station. If you don't then you need to get to path station somehow. Also if your office is not near one of the Path stations in Jersey City (JC) then you'll need to get there somehow. Fyi, Path is separate system from MTA and monthly is 80 bucks so you need to add that to your transportation costs as well.
I don't think that paycheck city counts in NYC specific taxes so i will look into that. As far as the phones go we are going to stay on a family plan based in Virginia so that will stay the same.
Thanks for the heads up on the Path system, i was thinking the MTA went over the JC. Ill have to do more research on that.
All in all though between my car payment and gas i spend about 500$ a month and sit in an hour of stop and go traffic each way so a couple train rides and $290/month sounds good to me. Do you know if the commute times of about 35-40min during rush hour where correct?
Quote:
Originally Posted by OyCrumbler
Well, poster is also getting an additional 1K a month from renting the house in Virginia which puts earnings at like 92K a year for about 2300/month rent when you do the /40 rule. Do you have some money saved up OP and is your fiance also planning to work? If you got a resounding yes for both, then your possible cap at 2.5K a month is doable.
We decided to stick to a 2k maximum on rent to allow extra entertainment money. Fiance is not planning on working right away but its possible. We have about 18k in savings.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Henna
I'm a little confused by the OP. At first you state your salary, but then later on you are talking about getting a job.
Just to clarify -- you have a NYC area job lined up, or you don't? That makes quite a bit of difference.
Currently i don't have a job lined up, 80k is what i make now and I'm using that number as the basis for my budget because I'm confident i will get at least that in NYC. I don't plan on moving there unless i have a job for sure.
Quote:
Originally Posted by babo111
That's assuming OP has a rental property that's been paid off. Also I read it as he already included his rental income as part of his 80k a year ballpark number. Most of people when they say I make about, they usually round up...not down. Also after looking at OP's numbers bit more carefully, I think OP is underestimating taxes a bit.
Its not paid off but we can rent it for about 2k a month and the mortgage is $1050, so we do have funds to dip into if needed but we are going to try and keep it saved for future investments. As far as the taxes go from reading other replies i get that i need to look into that now, do you know roughly what the NYC tax is?
I want to say thank you to everyone that has replied, my fiance and I like to plan things out ahead of time as best as possible so the surprises are limited. So your answers are very helpful to us.
At such a young age....probably limited on credit & rental history. OP may need a co-signer.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
