Moving to NYC -- how much should I expect to spend on apt? Forum

[kryptix]

For the love of GD don't blow money on a doorman as a first year. Should be able to get a nice 1.5 bedroom in a prospect heights brownstone for less than 2500. Only thig a doorman is really good for is accepting packages - have your packages sent to work.

But I'm so used to the convenience of Amazon Prime How would I get a 50 LB shipment from subscribe and save home from work... Diapers etc are heavy!

[exitoptions]

For the love of GD don't blow money on a doorman as a first year. Should be able to get a nice 1.5 bedroom in a prospect heights brownstone for less than 2500. Only thig a doorman is really good for is accepting packages - have your packages sent to work.

But I'm so used to the convenience of Amazon Prime How would I get a 50 LB shipment from subscribe and save home from work... Diapers etc are heavy!

I am also addicted to Amazon Prime and have almost everything delivered. I live in a brownstone and have things either delivered to work or sent to an Amazon Locker. Also, I have ordered things and then taken them with me when I take car service at night. The slight inconvienence is absolutely worth the ~$1000 / month I save over a luxury doorman building.

[hds2388]

For the love of GD don't blow money on a doorman as a first year. Should be able to get a nice 1.5 bedroom in a prospect heights brownstone for less than 2500. Only thig a doorman is really good for is accepting packages - have your packages sent to work.

Sorry, just not going to take your advice on this one. I have someone splitting the rent with me, and the convenience of having someone handle packages, etc. for me is too appealing. I know you pay a premium for it. I am willing to pay that premium.

[XxSpyKEx]

For the love of GD don't blow money on a doorman as a first year. Should be able to get a nice 1.5 bedroom in a prospect heights brownstone for less than 2500. Only thig a doorman is really good for is accepting packages - have your packages sent to work.

Sorry, just not going to take your advice on this one. I have someone splitting the rent with me, and the convenience of having someone handle packages, etc. for me is too appealing. I know you pay a premium for it. I am willing to pay that premium.

The convenience of having someone handle your packages is worth ~$24,000 /year to you? There has to be a cheaper and more practical method of dealing with packages than paying ~$1000 / month for a doorman. Just to put this into perspective, you could buy a car (or whatever large expensive purchase) each year with the money you'd be saving by not having a doorman.

EDIT- Also, your $160k /year salary in NYC is closer to $100k /year after taxes, social security, medicare, etc. And you're going to spend ~ 25% of that on a doorman for the convenience of accepting packages? (Even if you consider joint income, it's still a pretty substantial percentage of your post-taxes joint income to have the doorman.) To me, that makes no sense whatsoever. I might do it on a $1M /year partner salary, but not on a $160k /year salary in NYC.

[ragelion]

a 1BR in a nice neighborhood with a doorman? That's going to be pricey, but with dual income it should be doable. The above poster is right, you'd be looking at a floor of 3-4k+.



Above image for NY Curbed: http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2012/12/1 ... y_much.php

Your firm probably has a suggested broker and may even pay the fee. If not, many people get apartments through brokers, and it can cost something like 10% of the year's rent.

ETA: FWIW, here's a somewhat older breakdown of mean rent differences between doorman and non-doorman buildings

Thanks, so much, for this. SUPER helpful. I think I want to cap what we at about 3k/month if I can (gotta pay back those loans at some point). It seems possible in some of these neighborhoods.

I have a really nice 1BR on the UES and I'm paying nowhere near 3K.

The convenience of having someone handle your packages is worth ~$24,000 /year to you? There has to be a cheaper and more practical method of dealing with packages than paying ~$1000 / month for a doorman. Just to put this into perspective, you could buy a car (or whatever large expensive purchase) each year with the money you'd be saving by not having a doorman.

EDIT- Also, your $160k /year salary in NYC is closer to $100k /year after taxes, social security, medicare, etc. And you're going to spend ~ 25% of that on a doorman for the convenience of accepting packages? (Even if you consider joint income, it's still a pretty substantial percentage of your post-taxes joint income to have the doorman.) To me, that makes no sense whatsoever. I might do it on a $1M /year partner salary, but not on a $160k /year salary in NYC.

Because I live in a walk up without a doorman.

[hds2388]

For the love of GD don't blow money on a doorman as a first year. Should be able to get a nice 1.5 bedroom in a prospect heights brownstone for less than 2500. Only thig a doorman is really good for is accepting packages - have your packages sent to work.

Sorry, just not going to take your advice on this one. I have someone splitting the rent with me, and the convenience of having someone handle packages, etc. for me is too appealing. I know you pay a premium for it. I am willing to pay that premium.

The convenience of having someone handle your packages is worth ~$24,000 /year to you? There has to be a cheaper and more practical method of dealing with packages than paying ~$1000 / month for a doorman. Just to put this into perspective, you could buy a car (or whatever large expensive purchase) each year with the money you'd be saving by not having a doorman.

EDIT- Also, your $160k /year salary in NYC is closer to $100k /year after taxes, social security, medicare, etc. And you're going to spend ~ 25% of that on a doorman for the convenience of accepting packages? (Even if you consider joint income, it's still a pretty substantial percentage of your post-taxes joint income to have the doorman.) To me, that makes no sense whatsoever. I might do it on a $1M /year partner salary, but not on a $160k /year salary in NYC.

A doorman is not 24k/yr. The ceiling on a doorman building is much (much) higher thereby skewing those averages. I have found doorman buildings within my price range searching on streeteasy.com and other websites (which I discovered after creating this thread). I know many, many first year associates who have lived in (without financial distress) a building with a doorman (and no roommate).

Its not simply packages: a doorman improves my feeling of security, my ability to get my dry cleaning handled, my ability to have visitors more conveniently, and yes, my ability to get packages. This is a worthwhile investment for me because I value those things highly. I have lived in buildings with and without doormen before and have greatly preferred having a doorman.

I assure you, I will not live in a building I can't afford. If it truly becomes the case that a doorman is prohibitively expensive, I will live in a non-doorman building.

[JamMasterJ]

Doormen do not cost 24K/year. Correlation, not causation, people

[legalmindedfella]

Also, with some slight adjustments in the level of "luxury" you want, it is perfectly possible to find very nice places to live in the $1,500-2,000 range even in the Village or other areas. Just clear out three days to do an on-the-ground housing search through Craigslist. I'm sure it's also quite doable with brokers, though of course that would come with a fee.

Just to put in perspective, in a very nice part of the Village for $1,300, it's not a rat-infested hole in the wall, and this is not abnormal.

[JamMasterJ]

Also, with some slight adjustments in the level of "luxury" you want, it is perfectly possible to find very nice places to live in the $1,500-2,000 range even in the Village or other areas. Just clear out three days to do an on-the-ground housing search through Craigslist. I'm sure it's also quite doable with brokers, though of course that would come with a fee.

Just to put in perspective, in a very nice part of the Village for $1,300, it's not a rat-infested hole in the wall, and this is not abnormal.

unless it's 350 sqft, that's pretty abnormal

[Dayan114]

Can we back up a little—where's your firm? That matters in ranking neighborhoods...

[hds2388]

Can we back up a little—where's your firm? That matters in ranking neighborhoods...

Midtown west. (In the 50s on 6th).

[JamMasterJ]

Can we back up a little—where's your firm? That matters in ranking neighborhoods...

Midtown west. (In the 50s on 6th).

that moves UWS to the tippy-top of the list, depending on where your SO works - though if you're in biglaw, cutting your commute down is priority number one RE: distance, since it's fairly likely that she won't be in the office nearly as much as you.

Anywhere in Brooklyn is out now - JC/Hoboken would be a way better deal than that.

[hds2388]

Can we back up a little—where's your firm? That matters in ranking neighborhoods...

Midtown west. (In the 50s on 6th).

that moves UWS to the tippy-top of the list, depending on where your SO works - though if you're in biglaw, cutting your commute down is priority number one RE: distance, since it's fairly likely that she won't be in the office nearly as much as you.

Anywhere in Brooklyn is out now - JC/Hoboken would be a way better deal than that.

Well, I lived in Brooklyn this summer and the commute was fine (less than 30) because of the ability to pick up the D and F. Unfortunately my SOs job will require a little more deference because she has to be at work at 630 AM so her commute needs to be a little shorter. But, she will be working at a hospital, so she'll have options no matter where we live. That said, the UWS is one of our top choices.

[JamMasterJ]

Can we back up a little—where's your firm? That matters in ranking neighborhoods...

Midtown west. (In the 50s on 6th).

that moves UWS to the tippy-top of the list, depending on where your SO works - though if you're in biglaw, cutting your commute down is priority number one RE: distance, since it's fairly likely that she won't be in the office nearly as much as you.

Anywhere in Brooklyn is out now - JC/Hoboken would be a way better deal than that.

Well, I lived in Brooklyn this summer and the commute was fine (less than 30) because of the ability to pick up the D and F. Unfortunately my SOs job will require a little more deference because she has to be at work at 630 AM so her commute needs to be a little shorter. But, she will be working at a hospital, so she'll have options no matter where we live. That said, the UWS is one of our top choices.

Maybe look around 70th near the park because you'll have access to the express train (if she works downtown), and access to the M79 and M72 in the event that she ends up working at one of the ten thousand UES hospitals.

I'm surprised BK was such a good commute. The one thing I would note is that working biglaw, as you know, will mean getting off work really late sometimes. trains to BK late at night are horrid, and cabs are super expensive (though you might be billing the customer so it may not matter).