Urgent: Would you pay $1400 in rent for 9ft x 9ft bedroom with almost nonexistent living room in Midtown?

Roommates and I are very close to locking down a unit in Herald Towers. It's a 1br flexed into 3br so we'll have a strip measured 3ft x 9ft for a common space that will probably fit a loveseat and a coffee table and nothing else.
I'll have the smallest room in the apartment, paying $1400 (all utilities included except electric bill). The others are paying $1600 (11ft x 12ft) and $1500 (9ft x 10 ft).
The walls haven't been put up yet so we have the measurements but can't really visualize the space. I'm a little worried about how small my room will be - full bed (don't really need queen), dresser, bedside, that's it. But then again I won't be spending much time there.
Herald Square is crowded af, but the main attraction is that subway is literally downstairs. Super easy commute to work and everywhere in Manhattan.
Worth it to pay $1400 for this?

EDIT: The other option we have is at 50th street and 10th ave. I like the area a lot more - quiet, restaurants around. The apartment is a lot of space, will have 3 spacious bedrooms and a living room and a terrace to get nice fresh air. I'll be paying around $1800 in rent and the commute will be tougher: 30 minutes to FiDi, which includes 10 minutes of walking to the subway yikes.
so it's 1400 for better commute, shittier living space and neighborhood vs 1800 worse commute, great living space and neighborhood. Which one is more worth it?

 

I don't think I'd pick to live in Herald Square. You're moving there and you have to commute to work? Why don't you live near work or think about moving to a more exciting part of the city?

9x9 sounds doable. You have no closets, 1Ba kind of thing? You can get by, but it should be only for your first year or two. The 3x9 living room sounds weird. I've seen it before on 2Br places, but never a 1br flexed to a 3. This whole thing sounds like it was cooked up by a commission hungry NYC real estate broker.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

I work in FiDi and I don't want to live in that area, would prefer Midtown. What's great about Herald Square is the subway is like right there, so it'll be 1 minute of walking and 20 minutes of commute. I'm okay with that. I'll have a closet but it's outside of my bedroom. The whole apartment has 2 bathrooms. Tbh I'll trade one of those bathrooms for a bigger bedroom... Hahaha 1br flexed to a 3 sounds like a stretch already, so I guess I'm not surprised we'll only get just a tiny living space.

 
EBITDAOverlord:
Just a thought - could potentially use a king bed to act as both carpet and a place to sleep, that way you can roll in and out of the room. Could also potentially make the 3x9 common space into a small lap pool. Just my 5 cents.

Yeah, great ideas.

Could also just make the whole room a hooka lounge. The pillows on the sides will be your actual sleeping pillows at night.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 
EBITDAOverlord:
Just a thought - could potentially use a king bed to act as both carpet and a place to sleep, that way you can roll in and out of the room. Could also potentially make the 3x9 common space into a small lap pool. Just my 5 cents.

Arguably the best advice I've ever read on this site. 10/10

 
aaabbc:
Roommates and I are very close to locking down a unit in Herald Towers. It's a 1br flexed into 3br so we'll have a strip measured 3ft x 9ft for a common space that will probably fit a loveseat and a coffee table and nothing else. I'll have the smallest room in the apartment, paying $1400 (all utilities included except electric bill). The others are paying $1600 (11ft x 12ft) and $1500 (9ft x 10 ft). The walls haven't been put up yet so we have the measurements but can't really visualize the space. I'm a little worried about how small my room will be - full bed (don't really need queen), dresser, bedside, that's it. But then again I won't be spending much time there. Herald Square is crowded af, but the main attraction is that subway is literally downstairs. Super easy commute to work and everywhere in Manhattan. Worth it to pay $1400 for this?

Jesus, that sounds terrible. Is this typical of NYC?

 

1400 is super attractive, but I'm wondering if 9x9 bedroom and no living room is even worth it... The other option we have is at 50th street and 10th ave. I like the area a lot more - quiet, restaurants around. The apartment is a lot of space, will have 3 spacious bedrooms and a living room and a terrace to get nice fresh air. I'll be paying around $1800 in rent and the commute will be tougher: 30 minutes to FiDi, which includes 10 minutes of walking to the subway yikes. so it's 1400 for better commute, shittier living space and neighborhood vs 1800 worse commute, great living space and neighborhood. Need to decide tomorrow, please help!

 
aaabbc:
1400 is super attractive, but I'm wondering if 9x9 bedroom and no living room is even worth it... The other option we have is at 50th street and 10th ave. I like the area a lot more - quiet, restaurants around. The apartment is a lot of space, will have 3 spacious bedrooms and a living room and a terrace to get nice fresh air. I'll be paying around $1800 in rent and the commute will be tougher: 30 minutes to FiDi, which includes 10 minutes of walking to the subway yikes. so it's 1400 for better commute, shittier living space and neighborhood vs 1800 worse commute, great living space and neighborhood. Need to decide tomorrow, please help!

How many apartments have you guys looked at?

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 
Lloyd BIankfein:
The price is right, I'd put up with it.

Yeah, its somewhat manageable with 2ba.

If it was 1ba... ehhhhh

Still, I don't think I'd ever move to Herald Sqaure :P

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 
Lloyd BIankfein:
With all the money you saved by living in a TINY ASS BOX, you can make it rain while you're handcuffed in a SEX DUNGEON

Thanks for the tips, Allison Mack.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 
aaabbc:
I'll have the smallest room in the apartment, paying $1400 (all utilities included except electric bill). The others are paying $1600 (11ft x 12ft) and $1500 (9ft x 10 ft).

Also, if the 11 x 12ft room person has an ensuite bathroom (and probably a real closet) and you two have smaller rooms and are sharing bathrooms I think the monthly pay should be closer to this: $1675 $1450 $1375

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

Ok sounds like living in 9x9 would be very depressing, but no one's mentioned the commute. With this 1400 place in herald towers I can walk down the stairs to get to the subway. Or should I walk 0.5mi to the subway each morning to live in a nicer place?

 

I moved last weekend to Midtown, and looked at the exact room in Herald Towers you're considering during my search. My 2 roommates and I declined HT for a 2 floor, 2 flex 3 all decent sized bedroom place with 2 full bathrooms, a private balcony and private rooftop. Our unit is nicer than what we saw in HT, and combined we're paying much below the $4500/month you said. I get a proper bedroom and my own bathroom on my own floor for the same as you'd be paying for a glorified closet.

I say don't take that- you can do much better for the same price or less, you just need to know where to look. DM me- the places we looked at are probably the same as you are looking for. I can send you some listings.

General advice: scrutinize every word out of an (RE/financial/any) agent's mouth based on what their incentives are. Be very skeptical of "I like you, I'll help you out", "the market is crazy right now, listings won't last long", even outright lying that a building is out of openings because they aren't the broker for the open units. Their primary concern is their own wallet.

 

Haha, I don't ever want to hear NY is better than Chicago again. $1400 with two roommates in Chicago gets you spacious bedrooms in a luxury high rise with a rooftop pool, gym, parking spot, and a 10-minute walk to work in any building you want.

"I don't know how to explain to you that you should care about other people."
 

go for the second one.... look at it this way, most people don't see work as 'fun', and depending on your job it can suck. Don't let your home life suck too. I have a long commute but live in an area and apartment i love and everyone that comes over asks me if there are units in my building. I could have saved money and lived close to work but that fucking sucks dude. don't hate your life, too short, not worth it.

 

Dude just bite the bullet and spend the 400. I don't live in NYC, but from what my friends have told me $4,800/yr and an extra 1.7 hours a week of commute time total (assuming you don't work weekends) is well worth it to have a decent place to get some rest, eat, keep your crap, hang out with friends and hopefully bring someone back for conjugal visits. Especially if you're only planning on doing it one year, that will not be a marginally significant savings in the long run at all.

"Who am I? I'm the guy that does his job. You must be the other guy."
 

This is probably too late but you should pick a decent place close to work with decent space and spend $2,000 for rent.

Trust an old man when I tell you this, that extra $600 bucks is NOTHING in the grand scheme of things. You'll move next year anyways since NYC rent is dropping hard and people are getting 3-4 months free by next year.

When you're a few years older you won't even remember the extra $7,200 you spent that first year. You'll spend that much on your bday or on 1 vacation in your 30's. Being mentally healthy is the most important thing in finance. Everyone miserable I know has failed out / gotten left behind.

 

No it's getting crushed, especially the luxury market. You have construction everywhere you look, even semi-competitive spots in Long Island City, Brooklyn, Jersey City, etc. 7-8% supply vs. 2% historically.

2-3 months rent free right now. I'm paying ~$3k after free rent and that's for a spacious full 1 bedroom with large living room and I live alone.

 

Dude, I pay 2200 a month with two roommates (one who pays a couple hundred more, one who pays a couple hundred less)

We have a huge kitchen, big living room with an attached spacious balcony overlooking a river, three large bedrooms (one with a private bathroom), and the building amenities are ridiculously nice. It's in Murray Hill, so it's close to midtown, the bars in Murray Hill/Tudor City, the bars in LES, etc.

Everyone always says "woow, that's so much rent"!

Is it?

(2200-1400) = 800

800*12 = 9,600

Your base salary: 80k+bonus

You need to look not at the sticker price, but at relative value.

I really don't miss the 10k a year when I consider that this is an investment in my wellbeing and social life. I have a nice place to throw parties, in my room or on my roof. I have places for my out of town friends to crash. Every visitor that comes through is floored by how nice the place is.

Or I could throw 10k more into my brokerage account and spend my twenties living in (sorry) a cramped hovel.

Unless there are extenuating circumstances (paying down a lot of debt, supporting a family member, medical expenses, etc, which i totally understand) I really don't get why young people on this forum are so aggressively frugal. The amounts of money you're saving by living in squalor is just not that significant.

EDIT: I want to make one other point about valuing an apartment here.

Realize that there are two types of entry-level apartment in NYC.

There are some that are geared towards young professionals in banking/law/consulting. These are mostly new developments, REIT-backed, and while pricey, they deliver big time in terms of how nice your living situation will be. They are not cheap, but you can get a LOT for 2000-2500 a year with a couple roommates. I'm talking private terraces and lofts nice.

The rest of the rental market in Manhattan is a patchwork of lesser developers and individual landlords whose objective is to capitalize on the desperation of less-well-compensated new arrivals. They do this by slicing and dicing their unit into as many tiny pieces as the housing code will allow. Their "selling point" is that they can undercut the nice developments by 500-1000 a month in rent - but realize that in my opinion, these cut-rate units are way more overvalued than the REIT-backed ones in normalized terms.

In other words, you get way more bang for your buck at nice place, because attention has been lavished on how to make your living space nice.

You get way less in the type of situation you're going for, because you're dealing with greedy landlords whose only motivation is to provide the minimum standard of living possible while capturing some of a market that has no choice but to deal with them because they can't afford better.

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