NYC apt rent

[higgmond]

@ohai

It still surprises me that Manhattan rents are at such a high premium over rents in areas just across the river - for instance, Long Island or Hoboken. In these other places, it seems like you can get almost twice as much space for the same price, in exchange for a short train ride. I believe it is very much related to the prestige factor. Manhattanites seem to regard other people as second class citizens. If you live in Hoboken, you cannot date girls from Manhattan. Perhaps the rent difference will decrease over time, as places like Long Island City get developed and become more trendy.

Here’s a relevant article on why rents are so high in NYC.

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-8-reasons-why-new-york-rents-are-so-ridiculously-high-2013-7

Main Points:

NYC has very limited space

Zoning laws restrict building height in a lot of popular neighborhoods

Rent control drives up prices for apartments that aren’t rent controlled

Property taxes are high

Construction costs are high

A lot of new housing is “affordable housing” so the builder get’s tax breaks

A lot of neighborhoods have minimum parking requirements which often exceeds the actual demand

Deadbeats are very difficult to evict

[Greenman72]

@hpracing007

@krazykanuck

I’m still astounded when I find out how much yall pay for rent in NYC. For $2500 a month here in Texas you can get yourself some of the nicest and most overpriced 2 and 3 br apts in the trendier parts of the city.

When my buddy told me he and his 2 roommates paid about $4k for their upper east side apartment, my first and last thought was WTF.

No kidding, my apartment in Texas is under $700. It’s not the nicest place in the world but its not in the hood.

My San Antonio apartment was in a nice neighborhood and ran me about $800/month for 1200 square feet.

Now I live in a house. 4-3-2, 3100 sqft, detached, single-family home on a 1/3 acre lot. Total payment (including principal, interest, insurance, and taxes) = $2,000 per month. And while I do live in Nowhereville right now, this house is a lot more expensive than a comparable house in Fort Worth or Austin or San Antonio.

[system]

See my rent ceiling rant a few months back. Someone bump this, I cannot locate it. Greenie, Greenie?

[hpracing007]

@Greenman72

@hpracing007

@krazykanuck

I’m still astounded when I find out how much yall pay for rent in NYC. For $2500 a month here in Texas you can get yourself some of the nicest and most overpriced 2 and 3 br apts in the trendier parts of the city.

When my buddy told me he and his 2 roommates paid about $4k for their upper east side apartment, my first and last thought was WTF.

No kidding, my apartment in Texas is under $700. It’s not the nicest place in the world but its not in the hood.

My San Antonio apartment was in a nice neighborhood and ran me about $800/month for 1200 square feet.

Now I live in a house. 4-3-2, 3100 sqft, detached, single-family home on a 1/3 acre lot. Total payment (including principal, interest, insurance, and taxes) = $2,000 per month. And while I do live in Nowhereville right now, this house is a lot more expensive than a comparable house in Fort Worth or Austin or San Antonio.

Congrats on the house! Nicer to live in Nowhereville anyways. I glanced at Austin housing prices when I first moved here, way too expensive!

[higgmond]

@lxwarr30

@jmh530

Why I live in Jersey City.

How many other people live in the Jersey City/Hoboken area?

If I worked in NYC, I would definitely live in Jersey City. The newish places right on the river are damn nice.

[lxwarr30]

@ohai

It still surprises me that Manhattan rents are at such a high premium over rents in areas just across the river - for instance, Long Island or Hoboken. In these other places, it seems like you can get almost twice as much space for the same price, in exchange for a short train ride. I believe it is very much related to the prestige factor. Manhattanites seem to regard other people as second class citizens. If you live in Hoboken, you cannot date girls from Manhattan. Perhaps the rent difference will decrease over time, as places like Long Island City get developed and become more trendy.

I’ll tell you I live in Hoboken and pay very little in a rent controlled apartment. My landlord actually came by on Monday and tried to get us to “voluntarily leave” by threatening us so he could raise the rent. I’m still debating how to settle this. I don’t want to completely be like “f you I know the law” and have him hate us, but I also don’t want to pay hundreds more to live in the same place. I pay ~700/m right now to live on the main street right across from a bus stop to Port Authority and it’s in middle area of town. Friends have gotten 1 bedrooms for ~1100 in some of the newly developed areas of town.

I would disagree about dating people from Manhattan. It’s pretty hard if they’re in the UES because of the distance (across town and up), but if they’re midtown or lower people (which let’s face it, all the interesting people live there anyway [until you get up into Harlem]) it’s really easy to get there. My roommate dates a girl who lives in the village. A lot of people know about Hoboken for its young college frat scene. There will definitely be that case of Manhattanite who refuses, but these people are usually not from the area and are choked up on “living the dream in NYC.” So, go back to Wisconsin or Alabama whereever…

[system]

@lxwarr30

There will definitely be that case of Manhattanite who refuses, but these people are usually not from the area and are choked up on “living the dream in NYC.” So, go back to Wisconsin or Alabama whereever…

Respect.

[bchad]

I don’t know. The frat scene is precisely why I don’t like Hoboken. I have some friends that live there, and it’s also a pain to be dependent on the busses or the PATH, in addition to the NY subway system. That will double your transportation costs and sometimes triple your transportation times.

It is true that the Upper East Side is surprisingly far away in terms of how long it takes to get there, compared to how it looks on the map. If you are a guy, it is the area of town where young professional women tend to look for an apartment, so there’s that.

[krnyc2008]

@itera

with $2000 you can get a 1BR.

But it’ll probably be a walk up in upper east side (really upper), your bedroom is probably going to fit a small bed (and not muhc else), and generally old conditions

[/quote]

You can get elevator/laundry on UES too for that price. But I agree the bedroom will be small. In Manhattan, the purpose of the bedroom is usually to keep the bed separately, rather than use it as a full function room.

http://streeteasy.com/nyc/rental/1076019-coop-448-east-87th-street-yorkville-new-york

And for up to 2500 budget, you can even get a doorman building like this one:

http://streeteasy.com/nyc/rental/1169505-rental-404-east-76th-street-upper-east-side-new-york

[higgmond]

^ If you take a PATH train into NYC, do you have to pay again to transfer to a subway line? For example, take PATH from Hoboken to 9th Street and transfer to uptown E.

[lxwarr30]

@bchad

I don’t know. The frat scene is precisely why I don’t like Hoboken. I have some friends that live there, and it’s also a pain to be dependent on the busses or the PATH, in addition to the NY subway system. That will double your transportation costs and sometimes triple your transportation times.

I tend to avoid the basic bro bars, but in general I enjoy the younger college atmosphere. There are a lot of organized events, it’s very clean and it feels like an independent neighborhood. You could stay in Hoboken all weekend and have fun. People seem to treat it as a small community rather than where they sleep. With all that said you’re right about using two transportation systems. When I worked in midtown I could get door to door in 30 minutes, but now I work at the tip of the island and it can take me 45-60 minutes and it costs me more.

[lxwarr30]

@higgmond

^ If you take a PATH train into NYC, do you have to pay again to transfer to a subway line? For example, take PATH from Hoboken to 9th Street and transfer to uptown E.

Yes. If you knew you needed to do that for the daily commute you’d have to buy a monthly pass for both.

[higgmond]

^ Thanks. I always assumed as long as there was a subway line in the station where you arrived that you could transfer for no additional cost. I have learned my one new thing for today.

[Greenman72]

@CFAvsMBA

See my rent ceiling rant a few months back. Someone bump this, I cannot locate it. Greenie, Greenie?

I remember it. Where I (the country bumpkin) had to explain to Itera (the suave New Yorker) how subletting and rent control worked? I couldn’t find it either.

[ZeroBonus]

@higgmond

^ Thanks. I always assumed as long as there was a subway line in the station where you arrived that you could transfer for no additional cost. I have learned my one new thing for today.

But Path & subway stations don’t intercross. You have to exit the station (or at least exit through the turnstile before entering the other)

Subway transfer only works when you don’t pass the turnstile [except for a few stations where they allow free transfers even after you get out]

[system]

@Greenman72

@CFAvsMBA

See my rent ceiling rant a few months back. Someone bump this, I cannot locate it. Greenie, Greenie?

I remember it. Where I (the country bumpkin) had to explain to Itera (the suave New Yorker) how subletting and rent control worked? I couldn’t find it either.

That’s the one! Someone has to be able to find it.

[higgmond]

@ZeroBonus

But Path & subway stations don’t intercross. You have to exit the station (or at least exit through the turnstile before entering the other)

Subway transfer only works when you don’t pass the turnstile [except for a few stations where they allow free transfers even after you get out]

I rarely take PATH, but when I do it’s from Newark to WTC and then I just walk from there, so never really paid attention to the fact that you have to leave PATH to get to subway. Makes sense though, it’s not like they let me on the PATH with my Amtrak ticket.

[igor555]

live in the city if you can afford it. best decision i made so far

[jmh530]

@higgmond

I rarely take PATH, but when I do it’s from Newark to WTC and then I just walk from there, so never really paid attention to the fact that you have to leave PATH to get to subway. Makes sense though, it’s not like they let me on the PATH with my Amtrak ticket.

Well if your Amtrak takes you to Penn Station, then you could probably catch a train to Newark Penn (I know there’s one through NJT, but might also be one through Amtrak).

[ohai]

@ZeroBonus

LIC & trendy - LOL

Unless if the scene has changed dramatically over the last 5 years. LIC used to be a dump.

It probably has changed a lot in 5 years, actually. I was in Long Island City this year by the water, and all the buildings there were new high rises catering to young professional people. I called one place and the rent for 1BR was like $2500 and they wanted proof of income of 70x rent, or something crazy like that. I was quite surprised, as I expected that area to be a dump.