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I have the following question and I still can’t find a comfortable answer so hope you guys can help me.
Im 31 years old, single, no kids, and have to option to move to live in the US
My intention is to live in Manhattan, close to Grand Central ST in order to commute every day to another state for work.
I wanted to now basically how much money I need to have left after taxes in order to:
Pay rent – abt 1950
Commute - 450
Groceries - 250
Laundry – 75
Lunch - 225
Going out – not sure
Dinner – not sure
Savings – call it 150
Extras - ????
The idea is to have cash to enjoy the period im going to spend in the city as first time (2 years or more)
have to consider living alone, not very fun of roomating..
have been told the following parameters:
· 30% of your salary in rent
· First paycheck and a little left (say usd250) for rent and the rest for above things.
· 4000 in New York (after taxes) will get you a decent studio around $1750-2K a month and the rest of your living expenses would still allow for you to save some $$$.
· Average salary to make it in nyc 65-80k (before tax)
· Need to have after rent 2500-3000k left.
As u can see they all contradict each other so instead of guiding me Im more confused now,
You may be able to find a $2000 studio in Manhattan, but it won't be near Grand Central. It might instead be on the Upper East Side near York Ave (for example). The problem with that is that if you are commuting into Connecticut for work, then you'd have to add your subway commute time from a place like the Upper East Side to GCT, and then the commute to Connecticut, and then you'd be spending half your day commuting.
If you intend to live in Manhattan for $2000/mo near Grand Central, you will need to consider a roommate situation. Also Google the 40x rent rule in NYC. Many landlords are strict about this. And coming from overseas it might be difficult to pass the landlord's requirements since they will expect a US credit history, etc. I don't have all the detail about this but I know it can be a stumbling block for some international people coming to live in NY. A roommate situation would make all this much easier because most likely the roommate (the lease holder) is not going to be as strict as a landlord would be.
Area you are considering housing near GCT is Mid-Town. Within that broad area you have the separate neighborhoods of Turtle Bay/United Nations, Sutton Place, Beekman Place, Murray Hill and Kip's Bay areas.
While it may not be easy, you might find a studio in one of these areas for around $2k per month. A quick check found at least two going for around that number.
Keep in mind cheaper rents are likely further south (Kip's Bay, Murray Hill, Mid-Town East and east than going north. If only because really by the 50's and certainly 60's you are in the UES which tends to skew higher in rents.
Mid-town West from GCT doesn't offer that much in terms of residential housing, though there are some older such buildings and even new going up. Primary reason for this is much of the area is zoned for commercial buildings.
Here is another idea; don't know how much living in Manhattan means to you, but if you are looking to get more apartment for your rent money *and* have access to Metro-North, consider White Plains.
You can easily find a one bedroom apartment in WP for under $1800/month.
I thought I was being nice by tempering expectations and providing a dose of needed reality. I don't think it would be nicer to lie and say that it's going to be easy to find what OP is looking for at the price he/she wants.
Also, it was nice of me to mention about the 40x rent rule and landlord expectation about US credit reports.
I only glanced through your topic and it looks like a good start how you are building a budget. Your numbers are all low, meaning it will cost more than you are estimating. Unless you rent a room and have roommates, and saying you want to live very close to Grand Central suggests you should research more about the different price ranges of housing. Even if you did this, it sounds backwards to live in a busy part of Manhattan while traveling out of the city every day to work outside the city. Usually if people pay big bucks to live in the heart of NYC they work there too.
I know a couple of people who live on the Upper East Side and commute to Connecticut. They take the 4/5/6 subway up to 125th street and catch the Metro North train from there. No need to go down to Grand Central.
With regard to rents for studios, $2k is on the low end but that’s not to say it’s impossible. It probably means working with a broker though. There are many apartments that don’t get listed. I occasionally hear about people finding “deals” and that usually means they found the apartment through word of mouth or a broker.
The reason why he wants to live in "Midtown near Grand Central" is to avoid the need to take a subway to the train, amping up both commute time and expense (by 116.50 per month.)
Could live in Harlem near the 125th St Metro North, but this will definitely be more of a culture shock than 42nd st. Cheaper at least.
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