My son recently graduated from the University of Missouri (yes that liberal U)with a degree in Journalism and he is going through the 3rd round of interviews this week (skype this time). His office would be in One World Trade Center and my wife and I have never been to NYC. We do know that housing is very expensive for a very small place and he might as well forget about bringing his vehicle along as I hear parking is expensive also.
If the job does happen I will probably be calling on the power of SIGforum for the advice of certain areas of NYC for housing.I have been to many major cities in the US but not NYC and I'm assuming that you can be in a good neighborhood and then turn the corner and you are in a not so safe place.
Our son has not talked about salary yet but we are planning for about $1,500.00 to $2,000.00 a month for a shared apartment/home.
Get a place close in and pay more and walk to work or get a place out a ways and take public transportation?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: SummersAtTheLake,

He should consider that living inside the city is not a necessity.

Look at places across the River in Hoboken or Jersey City for apartments as well as they may be cheaper. The commute is just as easy as well.

And if he must live in the city, it's frankly a fantasy to think he'll be able to afford his own place. A roommate is probably going to have to be considered. ETA: As you said, shared apartment.

Well congratulations to the new graduate. That is a fantastic opportunity if it happens. Do not be surprised if you were on the low side of your rental estimate. Two possible opportunities besides living locally would be either Brooklyn in particular Brooklyn Heights or Staten Island. Keep in mind that because of hurricane Sandy the train tunnel to New Jersey and also a tunnel to Brooklyn were damaged and need repairs. This has cause problems for the PATH trains to New Jersey and the subway to Brooklyn. You can reach Staten Island by ferry and you can reach Hoboken on the New Jersey side also by water taxi. Absolutely do not have a car in New York City. Keep in mind that New York City imposes an income tax on people working in the city even if they reside outside of the city. For a young person I would much rather live in Manhattan where there's a lot to do outside of work. Staten Island and queens can be more suburban and quieter but that's a long commute to WTC.

I think you're in for some culture shock. The number$ seem low.

You want to get on any roommate type websites like craigslist and start a search immediately. I'm not up to speed on the rental market anymore but in the Northeast it was not uncommon to have to pay first month last month security deposit and a broker fee equivalent to one months rent.

Live in NJ and take the train in - otherwise, no hope of making it.

Hoboken is actually pretty trendy, and has great nightlife (my niece lives there, and works doing marketing at Disney on Times Square).

quote:

Originally posted by braillediver:
I think you're in for some culture shock. The number$ seem low.

The $1,500.00-$2,000.00 a month was estimated with the expectations of 2 additional roommates. I know he can easily spend much more than that but thought this might be realistic expectations.

I live in a town right on the train tracks. I can suggest several towns in this area especially if he is interested in using mass transportation.

My daughter works a block from One World Trade Center and lives in Brooklyn. You're at the lower end of the rent range unless you go to NJ, some parts of Queens, Bronx (too far away for most people) and a few other areas. Many neighborhoods in Brooklyn are very close to Manhattan prices now, but there are still some studio apartments in older brownstones and older buildings that would be in the upper part of that price range.

If he gets the job, he should see if his future employer has a preferred apartment brokerage firm with which they work, as going directly to an apartment broker could result in him paying a commission of 2 months rent. If the company has a preferred broker, it would likely be less in commission.

It looks like there's a number of people here on SF with knowledge of the market, so hopefully we can all help you and your son in some way.

Hope he gets the job! It's a great place to start a career, and tons of fun for most 20-somethings!

Congrats and best wishes!

The amount of rent you mentioned is way low unless he will have a few roommates. Any fellow graduates making the same move? Finding a roommate can be tricky. Insist on background checks.

Look in Brooklyn, Hoboken, Jersey City, etc. Stay wishing subway reach as the the commuter railroads are expensive.

Forget about the car, he won't need it. I did foolishly keep a car in the city when I lived there and it was $950 a month, not including tips, 15 years ago.

I regret not doing what your son is doing. We moved to NYC later in life and it was harder to get into the real estate market.

Hopefully DiBlasio will get tossed out and things will get better there. As wacky as it is, it's an amazing melting pot with fast access to great restaurants, bars, music, and museums.

quote:

Originally posted by whododat:
I live in a town right on the train tracks. I can suggest several towns in this area especially if he is interested in using mass transportation.

How long a commute would it be?

quote:

Originally posted by DC3S:
You want to get on any roommate type websites like craigslist and start a search immediately. I'm not up to speed on the rental market anymore but in the Northeast it was not uncommon to have to pay first month last month security deposit and a broker fee equivalent to one months rent.

An aquaitance, also fresh out of college (some 20 years now) had to scratch up about $10,000 cash to get into a building for a studio apt. Crazy.

quote:

Originally posted by tanner:

quote:

Originally posted by DC3S:
You want to get on any roommate type websites like craigslist and start a search immediately. I'm not up to speed on the rental market anymore but in the Northeast it was not uncommon to have to pay first month last month security deposit and a broker fee equivalent to one months rent.

An aquaitance, also fresh out of college (some 20 years now) had to scratch up about $10,000 cash to get into a building for a studio apt. Crazy.

That is still the case with Brokered rentals. The fees are paid up front.

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
He should consider that living inside the city is not a necessity.

Look at places across the River in Hoboken or Jersey City for apartments as well as they may be cheaper. The commute is just as easy as well.

And if he must live in the city, it's frankly a fantasy to think he'll be able to afford his own place. A roommate is probably going to have to be considered. ETA: As you said, shared apartment.

My son works in Hoboken and has been commuting there from my sister house in Clifton, maybe 30 miles west. He looked in Hoboken for quiet a while. A one bedroom shared living and bathroom were going for around $1,500/month. Living in the city is around $2,000 for a bedroom. Live outside the city and commute in by train and it is affordable.

I'd live in CT and commute down for NYC, they're an AWB state but he can get his CCW easily enough.

I think that with a total of three people living there that $6k/mo. would cover rent. But I may be wrong.

About 25 years ago I worked for Digital Equipment Corp. I rented a small apartment in a private home in a small town in NJ -- Emerson. Rent was reasonable and included a parking place for my car, which I did not use for the commute. It was a two or three minute walk to the commuter train station, which took me to (was it Hoboken?).

My office was across the street from the World Trade Center (there was an underground passageway that we used on bad weather days).

There was a ferry, across the Hudson, from NJ that I took on nice days, it docked right at the WTC. If the weather was not nice I used the PATH train; the station on the NYC side was in the WTC.

While attending NYU about 10yrs ago a friend shared an apartment with three other students, all crammed into a small 2br, one teeny bathroom, and a shitty little kitchen. After bills they each paid about $1200/mo before groceries and entertainment and the rest.

Anything near work will likely be prohibitively expensive. Brooklyn and Jersey are less expensive (though not cheap) options. Of course, it depends on his salary and that of his roommates and how frugal he wants to be in other areas of life. Public transportation is easy and efficient if not very pleasant most of the time. Trains, ferries, subways, etc. all make getting around very easy and inexpensive. If he lived in New Jersey, I would consider having a car, but I would never take it into NYC. Just useful to have for doing things in New Jersey. I would definitely not have a car in NYC.

quote:

Originally posted by SummersAtTheLake:

quote:

Originally posted by whododat:
I live in a town right on the train tracks. I can suggest several towns in this area especially if he is interested in using mass transportation.

How long a commute would it be?

I sent you an email with my contact info.