Some questions regarding relocation (Boston, Cambridge: real estate, apartments, leasing)

[mataniko]

Hi,

I looked through the forum about relocating to Boston but i haven't found what i was looking for, i'll try to give as much details as possible.
I am considering relocating to boston from another country with a fresh start, I have no idea about cost of living, from reading the forum some say that 60k is a good salary but i have also heard stories about 70k not being enough to live a decent life style on your own. I am trying to get an estimate on monthly expenses and my calculations show up around 1500 for rent (looking for stuff in south west suburbs) and around 800 for leasing a car including insurance (i don't know if these figures are correct. 60k would mean about 3.5k after taxes minus the 2.3k with the above figures leaves around 1.2k a month before food and "extras" which seems a bit low. I would like if anyone can confirm/correct these figures and help me understand better the cost of living there.

thank you

[smarty]

All your numbers are right... It depends on your expectations...

$1500 is reasonable for an average apartment... higher end 2bd room apartment could be as high as $2500+ utilities (another $200-500). Just like people drives a $15K car or a $50K car. Expect $100-150/mo for car insurance.


phone/cable/internet $100
Electricity $100-180
If water is not included - another $50-100
heat $100-250 depend on the apartment.
Food can be $100-150/week
Gas ?
tolls ?


That does not leave you much going out to eat and doing stuff.

[HowGoesIt]

Depends on your lifestyle. I have friend who make 50k and manage to have their own place and live a nice life. They don't blow money on $400 jeans and the latest and greatest cell phone. They are fairly conservative, but manage to keep afloat and even contribute a lot to their retirement.

The 'care-free' lifestyle for a single person starts at around 85k in Boston. You can afford to rent a nice place, have a car, contribute to retirement, and can go to nice places once in a while.

[MovingForward]

Sounds about right to me. Be sure you have the legal right to work in the USA (if you're not an American citizen); otherwise, it will be difficult to find work that will pay you a sufficient amount to live decently.

[mataniko]

Thank you everyone who posted so far,
The reason why i'm considering Boston is because i got an offer there, my calculations did show that i need atleast 80k to preserve my standard of living that i have now (infact it might be lowering them a bit)
My real concern was having my figures way off, and this reassurance really helps me towards my decision.
Can anyone be a bit more specific about general cost of living or point me to a good source?

[movingtomass]

Hi! If you want to find an inexpensive place to live at first, I advise getting a room in a shared apartment first. You really need a good three weeks to a month to find the right place and location here. Some places you have to use a real-estate broker to find a rental, however, as few people in the high-density neighborhoods show their apartments themselves as there is high turnover. A broker will charge you a half a month to a month's rent as a "finders fee". They will also drive you around looking at places. (stay away from ApartmentExperts brokerage, however, i've had terrible experiences with them).

[Ooops - i wrote this part before I saw your note about Southwest suburbs... anyway if you are considering the Boston metro area read this, other wise skp to the next paragraph!]
You can find many apartments and ads for roomates on craigslist.com, especially in the areas of Cambridge, Somerville and Jamaica Plain. Make sure you get a place near a subway stop (the T), and don't take any place thats on your own unless you see the neighborhood first and can have a good look around and make sure you are comfortable walking around there in the evening. (I'd say Cambridge is the exception to this rule, however, as Ive walked around all the T stops there and felt very safe).

Because you are coming fromanother country you will likely have one thing that will ensure you will be happy here: you are used to living in small spaces. I'm assuming that.... its been my experience in Paris, London, Rome and Berlin that tiny apartments are the norm. You can get small apartments for amazing deals here; a studio will run $900-2000, max, but average about 11-1400. A one bedroom is 1200-2200,but averages 13-1800. Heat, the most expensive utility, is NOT included in these rents. You should assume heat will cost you the equivalent of $100 extra each month of your 12 month contract (you can get a budget plan with the gas company that will let you spread out your heat bill instead of paying nothing in the summer, and 300 in the winter, for ex).
Of course a smaller space will give you many more options about where to live, and the heating bill will be less. If you are happy with a 2 bedroom in a European city, probably you will be ok with the size of the 1 bedrooms here. A studio here can be as small as 300square feet, but its usually more around 4-500. One bedrooms can be as small as 400 square feet, but they are more likely 600-800. Two bedrooms in the city limits can cost $1600 to $2300. [in Boston, The South End, Back Bay, the Fenway area, and parts of Cambridge (harvard square) and Brookline are the more expensive areas, while in the suburbs the rents can be 10-30% less the farther out you go].

A rule of thumb that all the real estate brokers use here is for you to keep your rent expenses to a **third** of your income. So, if you make a net of 60,000$ per year, it would be easiest on your budget for you to get an apartment that will run you $20,000 or less per year -- in other words a $1,600 - $1,700 per month apartment.
CARS: Leasing a car is expensive here, so if you can do public transportation it can be better. It depends on where you live. Many people on a budget here use zipcar instead (google this and you will get info!) - you pay a small yearly fee and can pick up the cars and close locations and borrow them for a day -- no worries about parking! If you can take public transport (parts of the Boston area have very good public transport for the US) to and from work and to the grocery store, it would be better financially to do the Zipcar.
Good luck to you!!