April 20, 2008
Breaking: Getting an Apartment in Manhattan is Expensive
The New York Times has an interesting piece of service journalism for upcoming college graduates around the country planning on moving to New York. As a recent college grad, you are likely to be poor; and getting an apartment will likely be far more expensive and disappointing than you could ever dream. Fueled by expectations of a New York portrayed in the media, people imagine themselves living in neighborhoods like the West Village in a cute one bedroom apartment with lots of closet space.
The truth of the matter is pointed out by CitiHabitat agents that are dispatched to colleges around the country to prep students on what to expect. The median salary of a new grad moving to New York is just under $36,000. Most rental agencies require an annual salary equal to 40 times one's monthly rent, so to get a $2,000 a month apartment one will have to earn $80,000 a year. The average price of a studio in the Village is $2,200 a month.
Once you thrown in brokers fees, first and last months' rents, and a security deposit, many people will have to cough up about $10,000 before they can move in to an apartment. Oh, and your credit better be perfect, or you're screwed. A lot of times, it seems that great deals available on listing sites like craigslist just got snatched up the minute before you called, but now that you're on the phone with a broker, they'd love to show you something that's almost in the same price range. It almost seems like the entire Times article was underwritten by law schools to drive recent college grads right into their arms.
Image from Lower East Side Tenement Museum
|
i'm surprise they didn't cover brooklyn rental market as well.
I think I have one friend who lives in Manhattan below 96 street.
young people with normal jobs dont live there.
I love how they opened the article with the "dream of a $2000 apartment". When I first graduated I couldn't "dream" of anything beyond $700. I guess that's why I still live in Queens.
Articles like this are a shame. It's a city gone mad. What a shame that transplant demand has priced out a great deal of natives. There was a time when transplants helped revive and re-energize this city. The modern day transplant has helped bury it.
"But Ms. Lazarus said that many 20-somethings consider anything above 86th Street to be the suburbs."
WHAT!????
I am thankful I got my rent stabilized lease years ago -- back when I thought I'd never be able to afford a $500 a month apartment! Used to be all you needed was an income that could cover your rent, and you could move in with just the first month's rent and one month's security. And there were plenty of apartments available without going through an agent. It has gotten beyond ridiculous now. These days, they even ask grown adults in their 30's to name a guarantor on the application (happened to a friend of mine). If I had to move to Manhattan now, I couldn't do it. You can't even find a squat anymore. Real estate agents should be shot for charging such astronomical fees.
It's really hurting artists and those in creative fields. The struggling artist can't afford the city.
Well, most young people just out of college will get into roommate situations anyway - at least that's still possible - and I believe there are still no-fee apartments to be had, but one has to do lots of footwork to find them, which is a challenge if you're new to the city. There's always a way if you're determined.
when will these people learn to be born to rich parents that can afford to buy them a place? that's what I did.
Here here, without housing for poor people who is going to wait my tables and clean my bathrooms?
#8 they'll be living in the bronx.
Most of the people I knew who had their own apartments in Manhattan from the village up to the 90's their parents paid for it, paid for the rent or brought them it,,
Its expensive in Manhattan, thats nothing new at all. I went to college in the mid 90s and it was expensive back then nobody could afford it. Everybody had roommates. It just went up in price more. Everyone still has roommates, my first apartment was on West 34th street and 10th avenue in 1995. I had 3 roomates and we split $600 each for a 1 bedroom..
As for the credit checking--theres ways around that, a college student usually has their parents give their name for the apartment or find someone who has good credit.
Honestly Las Vegas and Hollywood are more appealing these days, I know in a nica part of LA you can get a big one bedroom with a pool for $1,00 a month and a studios is still under $1,000
I know a couple of people going through pharmacy school just so they can afford rent in Manhattan when they get out. @_@ I think I'm one of them.
Re: bornbrednewyorker
A genuine shame - but (yawn!) - such old news.
Manhattan is now the world's bastion of the spectacularly average.
They're drooling to come live in a mall, so let 'em have it.
C'mon True Bohemia: it's always been our job to pioneer!
kittynew:
It is unfathomable to me that an adult who has graduated college has their rent paid for by their parents. I'll bet their parents paid for their tuition as well (and the "kids" expect that, as if it is their right and not an incredibly generous gift). Truly independent adults who take out student loans or apply for scholarships to go to college and work to support themselves, pay their own rent. Sure, sometimes one might need to borrow money from parents, if they have it, but ya pay it back as soon as possible! When I was a teenager growing up in a middle-class suburb, it was drummed into everyone's heads that the goal was to be independent and on your own. So, naming a guarantor on an apartment rental when you are an adult seems ridiculous to me. It sounds like the people you know are from well-above-middle-income families. In my 20+ years of living in Manhattan, I have rarely met any grown adult who had their apartment paid for by their parents.
Editrixie,
During law school, I knew numerous students from Long Island and Westchester that live comfortably in Manhattan (great neighborhoods like TriBeca, SoHo, and the West Village, too) thanks to their wealthy parents. I could be wrong, but I doubt their parents who were successful lawyers, doctors, investment bankers would ask their princesses to pay them back. This is just another example of the gap between extremely wealthy and the barely head above water middle class.
That said, if you really want to live in Manhattan, you should expect to struggle and reside in less than fashionable neighbors. The good news is that you're only a subway ride away from great neighborhoods. It certainly beats Jersey.
looks like I better start insulating my refrigerator box. thankfully Pb is still cheap in the good old U S of A.
oh stop. you can all afford to live in manhattan. you just need to eat ramen and cans of tuna from Bargain Basement
aveB4life:
When I first came to the city I waited tables, so most of my meals were free at the restaurants. When I was between jobs or really struggling, I would go to the big gourmet delis and ask for items from the prepared food counters, then walk around the store eating it and leave without buying anything. Yes, dishonest, but I kept my apartment!
Overblown scare tactics.
As a former realtor (thankfully former, what an awful job that was... unless you love being despised by every one of your customers) I can tell you that "it's impossible to find anything under $2000 and you'd better use a real-estate agent or you're screwed" thing is so bogus. My recommendation to anyone moving to the city is 1) find friends you can move in with who already have an apartment where somebody's moving out or 2) do the subletting thing, or 3) if you insist on finding an apartment where nobody you know lives/lived there DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT go apartment hunting between May and August. Wait until the fall or, if you can, do it in the Winter, you'll find the prices are considerably cheaper when there's not the just out of college crush going on.
A few things, I don't think I know a single person under 25 who actually lives in a studio or alone in a one bedroom unless their parents are insanely wealthy and bought them something.
Of course, if you want to live in Manhattan you will likely be living in cramped quarters and probably still paying too much. But you know what, if you're young you'll probably actually be happier living around people your own age in Brooklyn or Queens. Inwood's a great option too.