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Time has come, Manhattan here I come

mack11211

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Originally Posted by Catalyst
This seems like great advice and that's the conclusion I've reached; just get there and figure things out. What's a POB?

POB = Post Office Box. Just to have a fixed and local mailing address.
 

milosz

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A friend is moving back to Texas in three weeks. She was paying $900/month for a 10.5'x5.5' room on the UWS around 78-80th street.
 

imageWIS

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You have a finance degree, but haven't done the cost of living analysis regarding how much it will cost you to live here?
wow.gif
facepalm.gif
 

gomestar

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Originally Posted by Catalyst
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.
The average salary for recent college grads who moved to NYC is like $35K. $60K is a very aggressive number.

Originally Posted by Catalyst
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.
You will need to sublet then, nobody will rent you a place for 1-2 but maybe up to 4 months. And then when you do rent, you'll likely need first/last/deposit for a new place. So at $1500/mo that's $4,500 down for the lease. And they'll want you to earn 40x's of income over the monthly rent. So $1500 x 40 is at $60K a year in salary, else you'll need your parents to sign on as guarantors.

West Village, Chelsea, Tribeca, etc is out of the question unless you're basically sharing a tiny place with people. I looked at them recently and anything that resembles a true one bedroom is effectively $2600-$3300 a month. Studios aren't much cheaper. Look at Queens/Astoria/Greenpoint instead.
 

Artisan Fan

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I imagined the West Village was more expensive now. When I lived there in 89-91, my rent was $800 and I had two roommates paying the same for $2,400 basement apartment. Rooms were tiny, almost closets. But we had a courtyard and threw lots of good parties. We considered ourselves lucky. Later Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke moved in nearby and they converted a lot of the apartment buildings back into the original townhomes and sold them for millions.
 

mintyfresh

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What type of finance experience do you have? Internships? previous jobs?
 

RSS

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For Americans, success requires "doing time" in New York.

BTW, New York does not mean Brooklyn.
 

Artisan Fan

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Originally Posted by RSS
For Americans, success requires "doing time" in New York.

I think this is only true in some worlds like banking, fashion, journalism, etc.

It's not true in consulting and probably opposite in technology.
 

RSS

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Originally Posted by Artisan Fan
I think this is only true in some worlds like banking, fashion, journalism, etc.

It's not true in consulting and probably opposite in technology.

Life is more than work.

But yes, I understand what you say.
 

Valor

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I think I sent some messages to Imagewis regarding this before, but I was in a similar situation once.

1. NYC costs about 2.5x as much as Florida.
2. If you have a finance degree from a Florida school, you're not finding a job that's not complete bullshit if you haven't found one already.
3. You probably can't afford most parts of Manhattan without a solid job.
4. Living in Queens/Brooklyn ain't bad at all.
5. You can't afford UWS unless you live North of 110ish in which case, you may as well live in Harlem.

Make a spreadsheet, I did when I first moved here. It should go something like this per month

Subway pass: $100
Food: $300-500 (**** is mad expensive in NYC)
Going out: $300-??? (Models and bottles baby!)
Rent: $500-$??? (depends where you live, if you live in Harlem with 3 roommates, you can get rent for 500 a month, if you live elsewhere, it's going to cost you, most of my friends pay around 1k-1500)
Utilities: $100
Else: $500-$???

That comes out to a minimum of 1800$/month. At bare minimum I think your expenses are going to look at 1500$ a month assuming you live in a shithole somewhere (the other Manhattan option is living with some family in Chinatown).

My advice: Don't come to NYC without a job.

Also, if you haven't found one so far, the odds of you finding a job in New York are hilariously low. If you didn't go to a top 20 school and you want a job in finance, you may as well invest in the lottery, I've got a dozen friends who are more qualified and hungry than you, they already live in NYC and can't find jobs.
 

mack11211

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Originally Posted by RSS
.BTW, New York does not mean Brooklyn.

It does now!

Times have changed.

"The City" still means Manhattan exclusively, but living and/or working in any of the boros can have equivalent prestige.
 

RSS

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Originally Posted by mack11211
Times have changed.

[L]iving and/or working in any of the boros can have equivalent prestige.

That's a bit like saying New York, Cleveland, what's the difference?

I would not give up my place in New York for a place across a bridge or through a tunnel ... although I would take on a weekend place somewhere well beyond the "outer" boroughs.
 

edinatlanta

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Originally Posted by Catalyst
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.

crackup[1].gif


I'd wish you luck but you need a miracle for your plan.

Five stars.
 

Joffrey

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Originally Posted by Catalyst
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.


I'm a planner by nature so I hate the idea of this. But both of my sisters did it and landed very good jobs (and a great career for one), so of course it's doable. It's expensive and overwhelming but if you are sharp, tough minded and are good at making contacts (even just for grabbing drinks or hobbies), you should turn out okay.
 

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