Buying NY Apartment as Analyst

Title says it all. Extremely lucky/fortunate to be given a sizable down payment on an apartment when I graduate college for an apartment in the city (price range of 600-700k). However, with rates being so high and me just tying my shoes on the starting line, would renting for my first two years be a wise idea? I know people always talk about rent being a waste, but the increase cost of home ownership is ludicrously high with no relief in 8 months (when I would look to buy). Also getting some milage in my career without worrying about a home is probably smart as well.

Any thoughts on this? In a perfect world, at what stage in your career would you buy if you had the funds? Considerations for this?

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Look at the all in costs, rent isn’t “wasting money”, this is a simple modeling/math exercise (but like everything else your assumptions matter). I wouldn’t recommend buying a place as an analyst for a few reasons:

1) you most likely won’t be able to afford a great place and you probably won’t want to live in this place long term (change jobs, cities, etc), so you have to go into this with the mentality that you’ll be a landlord in order to break even over the long term.

2) up front costs are high (mortgage recording tax, attorney fees, etc)

3) selling is expensive (realtor fees)

4) HOA/monthly carry costs can be high, as are taxes (although lower than NJ)

5) you lose flexibility (which you’ll want early on in your career), the economy isn’t exactly in a great spot right now, if you lose your job (or decide you want a different career which is basically the expectation this early in your career) you’ll have the stress/burden of selling a place (or renting it)

In NYC the buying vs renting isn’t as clear as other cities, it is pretty expensive to own a place. I didn’t buy a place until I felt “settled” (early 30’s). 

 

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