House options if you work in Chelsea Market (apartment, renting)

[floraluna]

EDIT for clarification: I'm not opposed to living in the city or in an apartment, I just assumed we wouldn't be able to afford to be in the city with 3 dogs. I've only met one landlord who would take even 2 dogs so I'm assuming renting is out of the question for us. If no, that's great, I just have low expectations (I understand their hesitation with pets though).

I currently live with my husband in upstate NY (nowhere interesting). It's not a bad place but we've both reached a point where our careers are boring af so he's started looking elsewhere. He is currently interviewing for a job in Chelsea Market, the original plan being that we'd be separate for a time and then review options. But I'm so sick of my career prospects here that I've started seriously considering just GTFOing, especially if there is a decent relocation package offered.

With just him working - I'd continue working, I just want to assume the worst - our income would be $130k. When I find employment, judging by current options, I'd wager initial total income would be $180k. Monthly debt payments would be roughly $1400, I'm assuming we'd sell one or both cars.

Given that we live in the middle of nowhere commuting is just part of life so we're not worried about that. We have pets so having somewhere fairly close to walk them would be great if possible. So with that general info, I'd appreciate advice for where we could start researching the house market and what the actual commute might entail because I'm a newb who likes to gather detailed info. =)

[randomperson2]

A house...?

You mean you want to live out of the city?

[floraluna]

We have 3 dogs and 2 cats as we had never planned on moving to the city prior to now. It's been my experience that even if we had just the first dog very few landlords want to take in a 60 pound dog let alone 3 dogs. Thus assumed need for non-rental. Annnnd because I don't know what I'm looking at just yet re: cost, commuting, etc. I'm gathering information to make a decision. I just assumed that to make it work I wouldn't likely be able to afford to jump right into owning anything in the city. /shrug I wouldn't be opposed to an apartment, I've lived cramped up with pets before. lol

[Henna]

streeteasy is a good site to start looking at housing prices.

I don't know anything about renting with pets, sorry.

If you're looking to buy a house, I imagine the very first thing you need to do is establish your budget, as in, how much can you spend on house. That will then tell you how far out of the city you need to go to find houses in your price range. Also remember to look at property taxes because they can be really extremely high, esp. in NJ and Westchester.