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.
A friend of mine is relocating from London and is trying to get a feel for any unexpected differences in cost of living. I've got questions on locations to look into as well as cost of living.
Any solid recommendations on location?
-needs to be within 75 minutes of southern tip of Manhattan (Bowling Green/Whitehall St Area by the Ferry)
-needs to have excellent schools for two young children
-4-bedroom rental house with room for a medium sized dog
-easy transportation (train etc -- doesn't want to drive into the city)
Also curious to know what % of gross salary is reasonable to allocate to renting a house in your recommended locations -- is it 36% like it would be if you bought a house in most suburban areas?
Finally, do you have any relocation resources that you can recommend that will show differences in city/state/local taxes, cost of living, crime, etc?
If you do a search here you will find a ton of threads about locations. I am not in a similar situation so I can't give you excellent advice, but I'll give you some decent advise to try to at least narrow down the choices.
My advice is to rent/lease first within a closer commute to NYC that way your friend can get more time to get acclimated instead of sitting in a train for 2 1/2 hours a day. The issue of course is great schools. You may rent in a place and dislike it and then have to move your kids to another school the next year. But that is more preferable than buying and being unable to move your kids.
I'm thinking of places like Scarsdale, Edgemont and Bronxville as towns with excellent schools and close commutes. I think the commute would be about 10 to train station plus 30 to grand central plus 20 to Bowling green. So that is still 65 minutes :/ How much is it to rent a 4br house there? I'm not sure but I would guess around 5-6k/month. Definitely double check that. If that doesn't scare you then I suggest your friend start doing some research on those areas to verify my advice. Otherwise, your friend will have to give up on "excellent" schools or have a much longer commute.
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.
