Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > New York > New York City
 [Register]
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.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 02-23-2008, 10:37 AM
 
Location: Rochester
9 posts, read 28,172 times
Reputation: 10

Advertisements

This is my first thread but I was hoping that you guys can help me out. I currently live in Rochester NY and would like to Transfer to a school in Manhattan in September. I would love to live in Brooklyn or Manhattan but it is SO expensive.

What I was looking for was affordable apartments are near NYC (half hour commute via public transportation). I would like to spend less than $800 a month or purchase a place for under $80,000.

If anyone knowns of some good places that would be excellent. Thanks.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 02-23-2008, 11:25 AM
 
Location: NJ/NY
10,655 posts, read 18,610,243 times
Reputation: 2829
I don't think you can really buy ANYTHING in the area for under $80k.

My father lives an hour north of the city in Westchester and studio co-ops that were very crappy started at $100k.

You can find a share for that rental price possibly in the outer boros, but you're not going to get a 1/2 hour commute. Maybe Staten Island?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-23-2008, 12:19 PM
 
Location: Chittenden County, VT
510 posts, read 2,239,757 times
Reputation: 292
Not a chance. Even a studio in East New York (one of the worst areas of Brooklyn) will go for more than that. Up your budget to about $120k and you *may* be able to find a very small studio in need of renovations in a further flung neighborhood within an hour of Manhattan).

$800 for anything within 30 mins of Manhattan is also not doable. Even a very cheap studio around 45 mins from Manhattan will run you $1000-1200.

I'm from Buffalo so I understand the sticker shock when moving from the insanely inexpensive WNY to the insanely expensive NYC. You will either need to up your budget significantly or find a roommate. Even with $800 for a share you will still have a hard time finding something.

EDIT: You could look in an uninteresting suburb of NJ but the rent savings would be made up for by the cost of commuting from NJ to Manhattan.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-23-2008, 12:33 PM
 
Location: Rochester
9 posts, read 28,172 times
Reputation: 10
Oh man, how do people afford these places. I will hopefully getting a job with NYPD soon so I will be working off of that pay. I found some reasonlable places in Brooklyn, but they are not what you would call "nice"
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-23-2008, 12:53 PM
 
Location: Chittenden County, VT
510 posts, read 2,239,757 times
Reputation: 292
Quote:
Originally Posted by freeride6772 View Post
Oh man, how do people afford these places.
This is the great crisis facing middle class and working class people living in NYC. Techers, police, firefighters, and others provding the services that this city runs on are finding more and more obstacles to getting affordable housing. There are still many "middle class" neighborhoods in NYC but "middle class" means something different here than in other places. You need to focus you search on places that are nice and safe and have the basics you need to live there (groceries, cleaners, a couple restaurants and shops) but will not win any awards for being thrilling, Manhattan type neighborhoods. Look in areas like Bay Ridge, Sheepshead Bay, Dyker Heights, Bensonhurst, Gravesend, Kensington (all in Brooklyn) and Queens: Kew gardens, Rego Park, Howard Beach, Bayside, Auburndale. There are others as well which someone else I'm sure will be able to suggest.

Still realize that these will be mostly non-doable unless you are bringing home at least $40k (and even that will be a stretch). The struggle of the working class to pay fr housing here is VERY common and something which milions of NYers grapple with.

This is NOT the place to move if you want life to be easy. Everything from housing to commuting to having a couple bucks for spending is much more difficult than virtually anywhere else in the country so make sure you are ready for this.

To give you some anecdotal evidence about my situation:
I gross about ~$70k/year which is not considered much money by NY standards (you would be rich in WNY with that salary!). I live in a very nice Brooklyn neighborhood and pay $1375 for a stuio apartment here close to the trains, a park, many restaurants and bars, etc. I do not spend frivilously, I only go out for expensive meals on special occasions, I rarely spend money on new clothes or other nicities. I have enough money to enjoy the city, not stress about bills, and put some into savings. I live significantly better than when I was making under $30k in Buffalo but I am still not "living it up" on a day to day basis here. NYC is a different animal and I love it. Even with some of the struggles and headaches of living here I would not have it any other way.

One thing I am not sure of is how you will be going to school here but also be NYPD. How is that going to work?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-23-2008, 02:07 PM
 
12,340 posts, read 26,026,177 times
Reputation: 10350
The last two studios that sold in my building in the last 2 months or so were $125K and $135K. I'm not sure how much renovations they needed but I didn't hear anything about them being in bad shape. They are very large at 600 sq feet, with separate kitchen, hallway and several closets. I think the maintenance is around $350 a month (includes real estate tax, heat and hot water but not electricity). So if you can spend 125K you could definitely get something, but 80K is too low.

The building is a 5 minute walk to the train and 20 minutes on the subway to midtown, or a 12 minute walk to the express train and 12 minute ride to midtown.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-23-2008, 05:18 PM
 
Location: Bedford Park, Bronx
318 posts, read 1,095,818 times
Reputation: 66
Studios in my area, Bedford Park, Bronx, rent and sell for around those prices. It's a pretty nice area in my opinion. The area is approx. Bedford Park Blvd. to Mosholu Parkway between Webster and Jerome Aves. The metro north train gets to Grand Central in 20 min., but only leaves once per hour at off peak hours and is rather expensive (like 130/month unlimited). The D train takes you to the west side -- the trip to midtown is close to 30 min. at rush hour, but slower at other times when it runs local. There's also the 4 train, but I don't know how long it takes. The bad thing is that there's few restaurants here unless you go to Little Italy and banks are on the other side of Mosholu Pkwy.

Norwood to the north of Mosholu is similiar but the Metro North is farther away. I personally think Bedford Park is nicer. Woodlawn is another area that people will recommend, in addition to Van Cortlandt Village, but they are probably a little more expensive and are less well-served by public transportation. The Bronx is the only place in the city that you will find those prices. If you can put the stigma of the name behind you, you might find it's not so bad.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-23-2008, 05:46 PM
 
Location: Concrete jungle where dreams are made of.
8,900 posts, read 15,850,322 times
Reputation: 1819
I wish people wouldn't say it's impossible. I found an amazing deal in Astoria for $750 a month. It's my own one bedroom apartment in a house. It's actually on the border of E.Elmhurst and Astoria, but still the same basic area and walking distance to the subway and all. I found it through a broker. It's a legal apartment too. I make about 50k a year and I'm doing just fine and manage to save nearly half of a monthly salary. And my parents don't help me out either, if you're wondering that.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-24-2008, 02:10 PM
 
Location: Newton, Mass.
2,954 posts, read 12,268,612 times
Reputation: 1511
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rachael84 View Post
I wish people wouldn't say it's impossible. I found an amazing deal in Astoria for $750 a month. It's my own one bedroom apartment in a house. It's actually on the border of E.Elmhurst and Astoria, but still the same basic area and walking distance to the subway and all. I found it through a broker. It's a legal apartment too. I make about 50k a year and I'm doing just fine and manage to save nearly half of a monthly salary. And my parents don't help me out either, if you're wondering that.

They just say that to tamp down demand in NYC. It's all part of a master strategy so the rest of us can find something too.

It seems like you found a great situation but that is pretty exceptional. Good for you to save up, if more people were that responsible half the financial mess we have now wouldn't be here.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-09-2008, 09:10 AM
 
Location: Rochester
9 posts, read 28,172 times
Reputation: 10
Thanks for all the help and suggestions. I really found them helpfull. I will probably end up moving there in about a year as soon as I get out of school here in Rochester. I will be living with one of my best friends and we will hopfully be pulling in a fairly good gross income. I am still looking for different places out there and have come across some good deals. I have found many nice places in Brooklyn from anywhere between $750 and $1350 for some fairly nice places in some fairly nice neighborhoods.

Last edited by freeride6772; 03-09-2008 at 09:25 AM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
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.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:




Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > New York > New York City
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top