Relocating (New York, York: real estate, apartment, rental)

[CAG0803]

Hello,
Im thinking on relocating to the NYC area Or southern California. I cant decide but im leaning toward NYC. I am part of a gay couple in St Louis MO, we both hate it here, there are no good jobs, we are hated because of the whole gay thing, and I am looking into the legal field when I get out of college.
I really need some ideas on where to live, thats not horridly expensive(2 or three REAL bedrooms), im from west county (if that means anything) and my partner is from a very rural part of the state. Im looking at maybe going to a temp agency for work, as is he (unless anyone knows of someone that is a general office worker, OR has a BS in electronics engineering).
I do have a two year old baby girl, and so i also need to think of her.
Also can anyone give me an estimate on bills? i.e. electric, gas, etc

I tried digging through the sticky at the top of the forum and it was MASSIVE, and with over 31 pages, a little scary.

Thanks
Chod

[bmwguydc]

The real cost you need to worry about is rent, since you need to have a decent neighborhood for a family as you have a child. A decent family apartment with 2BRs is easily going to be in the $2-$4k/mo range in good areas that also have good neighborhood schools, though is is a price for good areas in The Bronx, Queens, and Brooklyn. Manhattan will be more expensive because you need to focus on the school districts and cannot take an area that's zoned to a marginal school. The general rule of thumb is that your family's gross income must equal at least 40x the monthly rent to qualify for a given apartment. For a family, though, I'd recommend using your own higher multiplier because of the increased expenses with children.

Look at Insideschools.org for information and school rankings.

Some of the listings on Craigslist are misleading, especially in the description of a 2BR Manhattan apartment, as the bedrooms are nothing more than glorified closets that singles tend to rent as they're not at home too much. The New York Times has a good number of real estate listings.

New York has a rental system where the broker fees are paid by the renter, though some buildings/landlords will pay them in a more competitive environment. If you are renting directly from the landlord, or the management company, however, you do not pay a broker's fee. It's something to keep in mind, since it can add to the relocation expense, if you have to go through a broker to get an apartment that you like.

You might also consider adjacent areas in Northern New Jersey, Long Island, and Westchester County as you might have some more options to find a good house/apartment and school district, with a reasonable commute to Manhattan.

[gulfstreamliberal]

Originally Posted by CAG0803

Hello,
Im thinking on relocating to the NYC area Or southern California. I cant decide but im leaning toward NYC. I am part of a gay couple in St Louis MO, we both hate it here, there are no good jobs, we are hated because of the whole gay thing, and I am looking into the legal field when I get out of college.
I really need some ideas on where to live, thats not horridly expensive(2 or three REAL bedrooms), im from west county (if that means anything) and my partner is from a very rural part of the state. Im looking at maybe going to a temp agency for work, as is he (unless anyone knows of someone that is a general office worker, OR has a BS in electronics engineering).
I do have a two year old baby girl, and so i also need to think of her.
Also can anyone give me an estimate on bills? i.e. electric, gas, etc

I tried digging through the sticky at the top of the forum and it was MASSIVE, and with over 31 pages, a little scary.

Thanks
Chod

What's your budget?

[CAG0803]

im also looking into temp agencies, but in the nyc phone book there are over 1k entries. does anyone know of an agency that is very good at general office work for me and my husband has a bs in electronics engineering?
its been very difficult to find anything real, all the ads im seeing, 1,200 for a three bed in upper east side(faux) and telp agencies with hundreds of bad reviews. Everyone thinks that i hit the button by mistake since im in stl.
my budget is very very low atm, since we will be relocating on our savings.

[bluedog2]

Originally Posted by CAG0803

.....
I tried digging through the sticky at the top of the forum and it was MASSIVE, and with over 31 pages, a little scary........

Well,if you found that sticky massive and scary you might have to think twice about NYC

[LadyR1990]

Originally Posted by CAG0803

I tried digging through the sticky at the top of the forum and it was MASSIVE, and with over 31 pages, a little scary.

The majority of books are over 31 pages heck MAGAZINES are at least 100.

[UrbanAdventurer]

Tri-State area and the Southland are different lifestyles in many ways, so only you can decide which one has greater appeal. Either one would probably be a better fit that where you are now however. SoCal arguably could be worse on expenses when you start factoring in automobiles and their related costs. Cars aren't generally needed (or encouraged) if you live in New York City proper.