Time has come, Manhattan here I come

So, as a recent college grad, I have been searching for employment in the Manhattan(I currently live in FL). I have two degrees; Finance and Real Estate. The plan was to line up a job in the city and then move there. However, this has proven very difficult and I have come to the conclusion that not being in the city is excluding me from the eyes of employers.

So I have set a date, May 1st, which I will just move to the city and look for a job from there. This is a huge step for me. Money is tight right now, and I don't really know anyone in the city, so I assume I will have to get a room in an apartment somewhere, although I'm skeptical of Craigslist.

I wanted to get your guys' opinions on this. Do you think employers are looking for people already within the city? Where should I be looking for a good place within Manhattan? What are the differences in the neighborhoods(west village, east tribeca, meatpacking, midtown, etc). What is safe, and what isn't? From what I know now, I am leaning towards west village or upper east/east village. I hear tribeca is nice too, but expensive. How much should I be looking to pay for a nice room in a cool place?


I look forward to hearing your advice on this!

TIA.

if money is tight, rule out nyc. live in brooklyn.

Originally Posted by Catalyst

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From what I know now, I am leaning towards west village or upper east/east village. I hear tribeca is nice too, but expensive. How much should I be looking to pay for a nice room in a cool place? TIA.
As a recent grad, you're going to have to reconsider these options, as they are all probably grossly out of your price range.

Originally Posted by ter1413

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if money is tight, rule out nyc. live in brooklyn.

Thanks, but if I'm going to move there, I want to stay on the other side of the bridge. Nothing against Brooklyn, but I'm moving to NY because I like the city, and I don't want to have to take the subway to get there everytime.

Look for something cheap in The Bowery.

You do realize that Manhattan is almost 25 square miles right? Living in Inwood is not like living in Chelsea just because they're both part of the city. You'll probably be taking the subway a lot, wherever you live.

Originally Posted by Catalyst

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Thanks, but if I'm going to move there, I want to stay on the other side of the bridge. Nothing against Brooklyn, but I'm moving to NY because I like the city, and I don't want to have to take the subway to get there everytime.

from this post, i can see that you are not from ny and have no clue as to what it cost to live/eat/survive in ny aka manhattan.
you can live in bklyn and be 10/15 minutes from manhattan. the money that you 'could" save living in bklyn will enable you to hang out/buy clothes/cab it home when hanging in manhattan. but go live in chelsea or the west vil..

Much of Brooklyn is no bargain either.

If you are moving here, one technique might be to rent a POB in some central location, like Grand Central, get a weekly room at a hostel, and then give yourself a few weeks to explore furnished rooms.

For jobs, no one cares where you live in NYC so long as you live in the area. You have a cell phone and an email address. That's what matters to employers.

Fashionable/nightlife districts will be pricier. Lower prices may lead you to neighborhoods like Yorkville or Inwood.

Just get here. Then you can figure things out for yourself.

This is a quality threak. Good luck OP. Would love to know your budget.

Originally Posted by unjung

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This is a quality threak. Good luck OP. Would love to know your budget.

He might also like having James Andrew decorate his new bachelor pad.

Originally Posted by Catalyst

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Thanks, but if I'm going to move there, I want to stay on the other side of the bridge. Nothing against Brooklyn, but I'm moving to NY because I like the city, and I don't want to have to take the subway to get there everytime.

LOL.

If you're worried about employers looking at your zip code, are willing to relocate thousands of miles, at least do a little research. Even if you live in the village and work in midtown, you'll be on the subway everyday. I think potential employers will be more turned off to your overall ignorance of the area if anything.

If you want to live in those fashionable areas you'd better come with lots of dough, or be willing to live in someone's closet (literally). Or you could look into LIC or some rougher/farther areas in Brooklyn/Queens. Otherwise the savings won't be that substantial. You could also look into St George on Staten Island...walk to the ferry and your 20 minutes from Wall St. But then, its Staten Island, although its probably the best bang for the buck and the closest to what you want (proximity/cheap).

Originally Posted by mack11211

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Much of Brooklyn is no bargain either.

If you are moving here, one technique might be to rent a POB in some central location, like Grand Central, get a weekly room at a hostel, and then give yourself a few weeks to explore furnished rooms.

For jobs, no one cares where you live in NYC so long as you live in the area. You have a cell phone and an email address. That's what matters to employers.

Fashionable/nightlife districts will be pricier. Lower prices may lead you to neighborhoods like Yorkville or Inwood.

Just get here. Then you can figure things out for yourself.

mos def...i live in bklyn. but at least he doesn't have to pay $5 for coffee in bklyn...

As someone with a master's degree in real estate from a top school, good luck finding a decent real estate job in the city, period. It doesn't matter whether you're living there or not, the job market is brutal. It's coming back to life, but I hope you're not looking for anything in development.

Originally Posted by ter1413

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from this post, i can see that you are not from ny and have no clue as to what it cost to live/eat/survive in ny aka manhattan.
you can live in bklyn and be 10/15 minutes from manhattan. the money that you 'could" save living in bklyn will enable you to hang out/buy clothes/cab it home when hanging in manhattan. but go live in chelsea or the west vil..

Dead-on. I think you really don't learn those things without living there first.

Originally Posted by mack11211

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Much of Brooklyn is no bargain either.

If you are moving here, one technique might be to rent a POB in some central location, like Grand Central, get a weekly room at a hostel, and then give yourself a few weeks to explore furnished rooms.

For jobs, no one cares where you live in NYC so long as you live in the area. You have a cell phone and an email address. That's what matters to employers.

Fashionable/nightlife districts will be pricier. Lower prices may lead you to neighborhoods like Yorkville or Inwood.

Just get here. Then you can figure things out for yourself.

This seems like great advice and that's the conclusion I've reached; just get there and figure things out. What's a POB? The real estate research I've done says the same thing. Much of the outlaying places have similar rents, but larger sqft. I saw a lot of cool places in Williamsburg, but again, I know nothing of the area. I'd like to feel safe when I'm walking around with my laptop.

Originally Posted by unjung

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This is a quality threak. Good luck OP. Would love to know your budget.

Well, to expand on my first post; My strategy is to move there and find a decent job. I'm ASSuming I won't be unemployed for more than 1-2mo, and then I can find a $40-60k job which will allow me to afford a nicer place or one of my own.

So starting out, I'm really only looking for a place for 1-2mo, but I will have back-up funds for another 2 mo in case it takes longer. Right now I'm looking at a maximum of $1500/mo for rent, but I'm seeing some places (read: 4/4's) in the ~$750-1000 range.

Originally Posted by NewYorkRanger

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LOL.

If you're worried about employers looking at your zip code, are willing to relocate thousands of miles, at least do a little research. Even if you live in the village and work in midtown, you'll be on the subway everyday. I think potential employers will be more turned off to your overall ignorance of the area if anything.

I'm not relocating because I want a NY zip; I'm relocating because I'm fed-up of looking from a far when I can be there and walk into places. Popping your head into someones office says a lot more than emailing your resume to some unknown recruiter.

Originally Posted by REguy

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As someone with a master's degree in real estate from a top school, good luck finding a decent real estate job in the city, period. It doesn't matter whether you're living there or not, the job market is brutal. It's coming back to life, but I hope you're not looking for anything in development.

Yeah I'm learning that, but I've also got the Finance to fall back on. I don't want to be an agent or do anything residential. Most of my experience is with commercial real estate finance/analysis.

Lol you want to be thrifty but you want to live in the Upper West side???

And dont count on your finance degree unless its from a top 20 to absolutely secure a job. Why didnt you go through OCR at school?