For those who live in New York, how much money do you have to save for someone to move there?

@toddr13 yes it is to me! I mean I don’t know what for a New York. Best friend told me that I’m not thinking we’re seeing the bigger picture and I need to have an open mind. She’s the kind of person that doesn’t give up so easy. She says I give up too easily.

@LaylaTheTallGirl Just to rent an apartment, no other expenses, you will need first month's rent, security deposit (usually a month's rent), and a broker fee in cash just to move into the apartment. So, if you're looking at an apartment for $2k, that would require you to have $4k, plus up to 15% of the annual rent for the first year as a broker's fee, $3600, so just to get in the door of the $2k apartment, you need $7600, give or take, because broker's fees are negotiable to some extent. You can find no fee managed apartments, too, where you don't pay the broker's fee, and be aware that many are very picky about potential tenants and have hard cutoff credit scores and income requirements for residents and guarantors. The general rule of thumb is your employment must be 40x the rent, so for a $2k apartment, you'd need $80k in income. If you don't meet that requirement and have a guarantor, the guarantor's rent is 80x the rent, or $160k because they are essentially taking on the second household as a dependency in NYC. Some management companies use a 50x rent rule, but those are usually higher tier luxury properties. Also, don't be fooled by "luxury" monikers on apartments as anything at market rate is deemed luxury because of all the subsidized housing. So, you will see a marginal area in The Bronx advertising luxury $2k apartments because they escape the controls of the Rent Guidelines Board for rent stabilized housing units. It's not like other parts of the country where you turn up in your U-Haul and move into a reasonable apartment. There are trade-offs of all kinds in the city, whether you're looking at a multi-million dollar apartment or townhouse or a more reasonable rental.

Low income housing is not an option if you're moving there, as the rolls are full of waiting lists for public housing for existing residents. You can find things cheaper outside the city, but it depends upon the area, and commuting costs are not inexpensive, either.

If you don't have a job that pays well, that would be the first hurdle because you're not going to be able to rent without proof of verified income, or guarantor income. NYC is notoriously difficult to get rid of problem and non-paying tenants, hence why there are many hurdles to rent.

@LaylaTheTallGirl A better strategy may be to look at an edge city, like White Plains or New Rochelle, somewhere along the PATH train line in New Jersey, between Manhattan and Newark, or somewhere in Queens that is less expensive. Parts of The Bronx are okay, too, but in the city, you will hit broker's fees and the 40x rent rule many places. However, if you are dealing with a small landlord in parts of Queens or The Bronx, where they have smaller houses, they can sometimes be flexible, but it's still going to be expensive compared to other parts of the country for what you get for the money. It's not impossible, depending upon how much space you need and the jobs that you have lined up before you move.

@toddr13 Aww man! If I move there I will be in deep shit. Pardon my language I don’t curse much I’m sorry.

@toddr13 yeah my best friend keeps telling me to look at the bigger picture and have an open mind and stop giving up so much. So we shouldn’t give up so much we should still keep looking. Look she can live in New York all she wants but I’m not living there. No one can make me move

@LaylaTheTallGirl No problem. It can be daunting to consider such a move. Plus, the city is in chaos right now, politically and socially, and who knows what will happen with the mayoral election?

@toddr13 Screw that I’m staying where I am. Thank you so much