NYC Rent is becoming a caricature, like they want us to say "this is ridiculous!". What do you guys think
I currently live in Murray Hill and come this summer, my lease ends and I will no longer be able to afford where I currently stay. Rent is going up to almost 3 grand for my studio and other studios in my area are 2k at the minimum. Given NYC laws of making 45x the rent, I need to be pulling in 135k on my base to be qualified to live here.
I have tried searching every neighborhood near where I currently stay but it only gets worse unless I move to Queens or Brooklyn and the fact that I as a banker can no longer afford to live in the city is so comical it does not make any sense, who is going to move into my studio? A VP or MD? I am going to have to move to Harlem to be able to get anything livable and a few people here on WSO have echoed the same plans once their lease ends.
Even the apartments I am seeing in Harlem are barely affordable and this is why the very moment I can, I am hightailing it back to London where I can get a 1br for GPB1500 that comes furnished in a nice area where muggings, shootings and the odds of being shoved on train tracks are almost non existent.
I hear things are only going to get worse this summer as there will be more people looking for housing and WFH is rolled back, so my studio might be going up to 4k per month.
How do you guys think this all ends. It has to end somewhere! My building and the ones in my surrounding area currently have a lot of units up for rent for a while at these ridiculous prices (USD6k+) but no one is biting and they don't want to reduce the rent, its almost like they want to hold on for as long as possible suffocate us with high prices so we have no choice but to cough up and pay.
What're your plans when your lease ends, assuming you are planning on living alone.
Luckily for me, I will be moving into your studio because I can afford it on my base ($140k at FT Partners btw)
+1sb this made me laugh
This is gold right here
🔥😂 Damn son!!!!!
Never heard of that law about 45x base. You can probably just show a tax return that has a bonus in it for proof of income
Yeah but I do not want to pay $4000 for a base studio in a building with no amenities. Its insane to even consider
45x base is just a guideline, they will be fine to approve you once you show two years of tax returns.
As far as the high rents, the market bears what it can bear.
Maybe your building is super desirable or the location is very popular. If what you say is true, no one will rent your place and the owners will have to lower the rent. You can be proactive and reach out and see if they are willing to give you a lower price since you’re a known quantity and have been a good tenant.
In general, getting bigger places with roommates leads to a lower overall rent per person. So maybe try making some freinds?
Once I work FT I will have no tax returns to show for besides summer internships. If my retired parents have no salaried income but have capital they're sitting on, can they co-sign on the Apt to get approval or is it gonna be fucked for me?
There are always options for stuff like this. Again, it isn’t a law.
You can show your offer letter for income. You can ask if expected bonus will work (some may be ok with it). Your parents can co-sign based on assets. You can pay more upfront (parents can pay and you repay them), etc.
If your parents co-sign you will be fine. What you have to understand is that these crazy requirements are in place to protect the land lord. They need legal deniability if they don’t want to rent to someone and these high requirements give them a reason to.
you will also notice in rental agreements the actually stated rent is much higher, but they are giving you a lower rent in a rider to the main agreement since they can only raise the rent a certain percentage a year.
in short, as long as you work in finance and have parents to co-sign, you’ll be just fine.
The usually guidance is 40x (recently more have been asking for 45x but that isn’t required, and definitely not a law).
I would say two things: 1) what smoke frog has already said, the market will adjust as needed, this is supply and demand but 2) you must not be looking hard enough. There are plenty of 1 bedroom and studio apts between 2-3k. Including some in full service buildings with gyms and other amenities. $2.5k isn’t a huge budget but it is definitely doable. That’s just what it costs to live in nyc right now, that’ll change over time as the market clears, but it is an expensive city that attracts all kinds of people. Not sure what you are complaining about, it is exactly what I would expect someone in finance to understand.
We just did a refi of a building in Murray Hill with studios and junior 1's between $2,200 and $2,900. Def not a luxury doorman building, but definitely livable. They had a ton of rollover in the last year and the new leases are all in the 18-24 month range as the owner is looking for more stability in his rent roll. NYC rents are and have been crazy for a long time but that is the nature of renting in NYC - source "The rent is too damn high" guy. Good deals are out there but it takes some additional legwork and being proactive rather than waiting for something to hit StreetEasy.
Any tips on proactively finding deals? Moving this summer and looking for a 1br (4-5 budget) but have no idea where to look besides streeteasy.
Curious too about finding overall deals with roommates outside of StreetEasy. Craigslist?
A strategy I found useful is making connections with realtors via streeteasy. Most realtor companies have their own batch of units they are looking to rent that aren't on streeteasy. This will give you access to those units. But honestly, if you only look on streeteasy you will be fine. The biggest thing is moving quickly when you find something you like.
4-5k? You should be able to get a luxury apartment in FiDi at that price.
At 4-5k you will do just fine on streeteasy. It's still not "luxury" at that point except Fidi/murray hill, but you will probably get a DW and maybe even W/D at that price. Bigger issue is how competitive that price range is, the open houses will be packed with tons of applicants. Be ready to go with all documents, maybe even ask for an application pre-open house on places you really like so you can fill it out in advance, and submit it the second you leave an open house.
I think you hit the head on the topic of smaller, or even mom and pop landlords. Unfortunately the city and NY State has enacted many laws that make it harder for smaller landlords to exist. These are the landlords where if you own 1-20 buildings, vacancy is more than just a line item, so they do not maximize rents, in favor of less turnover.
I've been saying this for years. Rent in NYC is so crazy, it's completely out of whack compared to salaries. London has much better CoL to wages ratio than NYC. You can pull $150K all you want, but when you spend $3K a month for a 350 sqft studio in Williamsburg you're soft in the head.
Fully agree, I always thought NYC was crazy even with the higher salaries vs. London. I'm paying £2,500 for a lovely 2BR in Zone 2 that's a 5 min walk from the Tube and I can't imagine forking out $6,000+ for a 2BR in a similar area in NYC...
Not only would it be $6000, it definitely would not be as big or have comparable finishing, it would come completely unfurnished and your rent will probably be increased to $7000 the next year.
Are they not giving bankers at least 135k in base in New York? There are junior/mid-level engineers in places that are much less expensive like Seattle with 140k base
you said it as if engineers are less qualified than bankers
True but idk bankers do work over double the hours of engineers so I'd (hope) they're comped at least decently for that...
Rent is crazy my man. Either get some roomates or look at the alphabet city area there is tons of inventory.
This is almost always allowed, unless the lease prohibits otherwise (why would it) or the unit is rent-controlled/stabilized
Especially in a net vs gross rent situation, a subletter would usually pay the gross since that's the monthly cash flow on the apartment and the 1 month free is long gone (unless the unit is not moving, but every sublet I've seen in this market is for gross rent)
Thanks man
I'm a similar age to you and havent had roommates since my 1st year out of undergrad. Dont know any associates living with roommates, feel like with a 150-175k base you can afford at least a studio (starts around 2.7k for a non shit hole)
knew a VP at Lehman who lived with 3 roomates on the UES, this was 10-years ago. His theory was that if he is always working, then it doesn't matter.
Honestly, we spend so little time in our apartments, it shouldn't matter having roomates until you are 30. Save that cash.
I'm in the same situation with the same mindset. No family. Don't own a home. So I live with roommates.
I would especially NGAF if I were working IB hours and only sleeping in my room most of the time I was home.
Have you considered moving to the metaverse
Bought a 2 BD room place at the height of Covid due to this. Best decision I have ever made
I’ve interviewed extensively in NYC for apartments and roommates. Probably have interviewed 50 people and 40 apartments for 3 moves. Here’s one place that was a 4BR on 6th and B with a big living room, big enough to accommodate this 6ft by 8ft painting and large 8 foot glass table. There was a large L shaped couch on the other side of the room.
you should make that an nft
Bite the bullet. Analyst years are about surviving; spend as much as you need to in order to stay sane. Spent almost 2.6k per month in the mid 2010s for a studio (think this studio is low 4k per month now).
There's still some studios out there in the 3-4k per month range in luxury buildings if you look hard enough. If you're having trouble with 45x income or security deposit, try using rhino or have a wealthy friend help you out.
Better life ahead if you can stick it out.
This is what happens when you have crazy socialist rent control coupled with self righteous NIMBY zoning. Capitalism is the only long term solution.
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