What's with the salary requirement of 40X your rent? (apartment, rental)
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So basically every apartment in UES requires you to make 40 times the rent? What if you have NO other bills, like me, that's totally unrealistic. My rent will be my main bill so who cares if it's even 80% of my salary.
I don't have a guarantor, and wouldn't even ask anyone if I had one.
I just can't believe that excellent credit, rental history and cash upfront aren't worth anything in NYC.
First of all you couldn't pay 80% of your income in rent even if you wanted to because you are likely to pay 30 to 40 % in taxes so that leaves only 60 or 70 % in "disposable" income to begin with.
By the 40X rent rule, if you want to rent an apartment for $1,500/mo you must make $60,000/yr.
It is perfectly reasonable because 1,500/mo =18,000/yr so all it means is that a landlord doesn't think you should pay more than 30% of your gross income in rent( 18,000 is 30% of 60,000).
If anything,with the costs of everything else ,the 40X rule might be too liberal.I have never spent more than 25% of my income on rent and I try to keep it lower.
If you make 60,000/yr and take home about 38,000 you really can't afford more than 18,000 of that for rent if you want to have any kind of life and save anything for emergencies.
Landlords have learned that people who spend much more than 30% of their income on rent tend to get into financial trouble and end up not able to pay their rent.That's why they require income to be 40x rent.
Some buildings even have higher multipliers, 45-50x rent. Some landlords will take upfront rent, but some management companies will not, unless you have significant resources, and/or make the 40x rent rule. A smaller landlord will consider the situation, but management companies have fiduciary responsibilites to investors/shareholders such that they cannot deviate from the owner-approved business practices.
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I have found that some landlords will take 6 months in advance. And I found places with a commute that are new and great amenities who don't require any employment info, just great credit and rental history.
But NYC is so different. I just think it's not realistic to stick to the 40X rule because in my field, I also do freelance work for spare money. I've lived in the best parts of California (like Malibu, etc) and never was asked for the type of info I'm asked for in NYC. I've rented for years and never had a problem paying rent. I also own a vacation house in Cali. At some point landlords should look at the big picture of someone's life and not just pick random numbers to go by. Especially now-a-days when I person can get laid off any time. So moving in at 40X doesn't mean the person with actually keep that job for the length of the lease.
(Just venting because I'm so sick of apartment hunting in NY...it's much easier other places I've lived)
So basically every apartment in UES requires you to make 40 times the rent? What if you have NO other bills, like me, that's totally unrealistic. My rent will be my main bill so who cares if it's even 80% of my salary.
I don't have a guarantor, and wouldn't even ask anyone if I had one.
I just can't believe that excellent credit, rental history and cash upfront aren't worth anything in NYC.
I wouldn't spend more than 30% of my income on rent. It kills me to even have to pay rent rather than own, but that's the position I'm in at the moment. Why not consider a more affordable neighborhood, or roommates? You may not think you will have other expenses but you WILL. Life happens. You want a social life. You may want to travel. I'm sure you will want to shop at least occasionally. Don't be stupid with your money just to live in some fancy zip code.
I don't know why, this reminds me of my roommate from college-packed up and moved to Stockholm for 18 months. Came back with 10,000 USD in debt and only 3 Swedish phrases added to her vocabulary.
I know you are just venting but do yourself a favor and care about the quoted remark because 80% of your salary (after tax) going into rent is a very, very bad mistake for financial planning in long term even if you have large family inheritance or family fortune you can rely on.
I hate this silly rule. Incomes are simply not keeping up with the cost of housing. So requiring people to make 40X the rent in yearly income. Or 3X the rent in monthly income is absurd. Maybe...don't charge so much?
I've been looking at some real dumps that I do not qualify for due to this rule.
Am I supposed to go ask my boss to give me a 10% bump because my apartment search sucks?
But NYC is so different. I just think it's not realistic to stick to the 40X rule because in my field, I also do freelance work for spare money. I've lived in the best parts of California (like Malibu, etc) and never was asked for the type of info I'm asked for in NYC.
That's because the laws in NYC screw over the landlords so badly. If a tenant stops paying, the landlord cannot do a damn thing to evict him, he has to take him to court and the whole process takes 6 months to a year and he will never see that rent back again. The tenant can charge the landlord with a million different phony accusations to drag it out and cause the landlord to rack up piles of legal fees and have to settle for a large amount ON TOP of being out the rent. So basically landlords will not take any chances whatsoever on prospective tenants.
If you can't show income, credit, and character references, there's a line of other people waiting behind you that will. Why on Earth would the landlord not minimize that risk?
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