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This is in Murray Hill. Central neighborhood. Close to the subway. Safe. Giant kitchen for NYC. Totally new looking bathroom. Washer and dryer in unit.
Your fake browsing has uncovered what is probably a fake listing.
Real estate in NYC is weird. Rental listings don't go on an MLS, they are proprietary to each broker. They also turn over each week, as apartments rent out within hours of being listed.
This means that brokers post 'typical' ads on Craigslist, which tend to not be terribly typical at all. They are usually underpriced by 20% or so, and offer amenities that simply don't exist. A W/D in unit in Murray Hill?! I doubt it very much.
If you were to contact this broker to rent this specific apartment, you would be told that this unit had already been rented, but he has several similar apartments. They aren't quite the same price, they might not have the same amenities, but he is happy to show them to you.
Actually NYC is appreciably cheaper. If I were to enter the market in NYC right now and Oakland, I could find a cheaper and nicer more central apartment than I can in Oakland. I fake browse Craigslist often. I joke that when I am priced out of Oakland, I'll just move to NYC. I saw some pretty good apartments for what is market rate for a mediocre place near my Oakland neighborhood with better transit access.
And I would no longer have a car, transit would be cheaper.
This is in Murray Hill. Central neighborhood. Close to the subway. Safe. Giant kitchen for NYC. Totally new looking bathroom. Washer and dryer in unit. That costs $3500 anywhere within 2 miles of my current apartment. Clearly NYC apartment is nicer. And cheaper. And has way better transit by leaps and bounds.
This is way the Bay Area is messed up, we don't actually have any moderately priced housing within 45 miles of any of the job centers. I am just going to squat in my apartment until I win the lotto!
You left out an important advantage that San Francisco offers. The nicest year-round weather in the Country.
That has enormous value.
The Bay Area especially, and some other super high cost metros, can basically be summed up like this.
1) You are in a career field that pays extremely well and is basically concentrated in these super high cost places. You earn enough to be able to afford it and cannot reasonably work anywhere else. You're probably better off to stay.
2) You are in a career field that pays above average, and while jobs are available in the super COL places, they are also available in lower cost "middle America." You're probably better off to leave.
3) You are in a career field that pays average to slightly below. You aren't on any social assistance programs and are barely keeping up to falling behind monthly. You're definitely better off to leave.
4) You're poor. Many super high COL metros offer significant benefits to lower income people not found in smaller cities. You're probably better off to stay.
What do you end up with? A city for the top 5% and a lot of low income earners subsidized by the government. The vast middle in between is basically pushed out.
I have a tough time feeling sorry for someone who makes $700k talking about how they can't make ends meet. Granted, I don't live in an ultra-high COL area, but I know plenty of people that commute an hour or so to work to make a lot less. The rents in our area average $1300, but the average household income is $47k. The guy making $700k had daily expenses like an $8 bagel and a $12 glass of juice. That is $600 per month on just bagels and juice. That could be a car payment. And the commute, more and more companies are allowing people to work from home. I know that it is not feasible for everyone, but it is an option for more and more people. There was a show on one of the networks called "Life of Debt" where former CEO Victor Antonio visited homes of people that were considered to make decent incomes, but were still struggling. Many of these people had expensive cars and all kinds of luxury goods that they didn't want to part with. Unfortunately we here in America have to come to the realization that we cannot have everything that we want.
A lot of people earning high incomes are in reality broke with all the debt and money they spend on luxuries. They try to live like millionaires even if they are only making six digits.
The seriously rich are often very frugal people. Look at Warren Buffet, living in an average house and driving a beater car.
Sorry, what do you call moderately priced or affordable? It seems okay to me for what you posted
At those rent prices, someone netting $4-5k/month could get by so $50-60k a year after taxes. And the jobs there pay more than that for professional jobs anyhow
Sure it might be tight, but that is the lifestyle people want for who live there. Or is it only a decent lifestyle if they can have everything?
In the Bay Area that means about $400k for a 1500 sq ft unrenovated ranch home. Your commute with be about 75-90 minutes each way. This will be in a basic neighborhood with mediocre to average schools.
Your fake browsing has uncovered what is probably a fake listing.
Real estate in NYC is weird. Rental listings don't go on an MLS, they are proprietary to each broker. They also turn over each week, as apartments rent out within hours of being listed.
This means that brokers post 'typical' ads on Craigslist, which tend to not be terribly typical at all. They are usually underpriced by 20% or so, and offer amenities that simply don't exist. A W/D in unit in Murray Hill?! I doubt it very much.
If you were to contact this broker to rent this specific apartment, you would be told that this unit had already been rented, but he has several similar apartments. They aren't quite the same price, they might not have the same amenities, but he is happy to show them to you.
Maybe. It seems like there are quite a few spots in that range. Today renting a one bedroom in a new building in downtown Oakland is about $3300 and that's the same as Chelsea and you get a doorman there. While not cheap, it is better than the Oakland equivalent. And while I love Oakland it obviously isn't Manhattan. The similar apartment in SF is $4000 and we don't get doorman buildings often.
The Bay Area especially, and some other super high cost metros, can basically be summed up like this.
1) You are in a career field that pays extremely well and is basically concentrated in these super high cost places. You earn enough to be able to afford it and cannot reasonably work anywhere else. You're probably better off to stay.
2) You are in a career field that pays above average, and while jobs are available in the super COL places, they are also available in lower cost "middle America." You're probably better off to leave.
3) You are in a career field that pays average to slightly below. You aren't on any social assistance programs and are barely keeping up to falling behind monthly. You're definitely better off to leave.
4) You're poor. Many super high COL metros offer significant benefits to lower income people not found in smaller cities. You're probably better off to stay.
What do you end up with? A city for the top 5% and a lot of low income earners subsidized by the government. The vast middle in between is basically pushed out.
Maybe you didn't notice in the article, the people are well paid. It isn't enough. They mostly make salaries typical for the area. The math doesn't work if you have a family. Ok ignore that 700k family. They have plenty of money. But to raise 2 kids with a basic middle class life, you need $350-400k household income and you'll still neeed to be money conscious.
These so called high tech companies still requires employees to be living and going to work at their HQs doesn't sound high tech to me.
They should start dispersing company offices and allow people to work in other states and cities. Financial companies do it.
Otherwise tech companies will have to build their own communities and provide housing.
Bay area cost of living is ridiculous, it's a very bad geographic location for building homes and you can't build like tall 40 floor apts like here in the East Coast.
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