NYC_bound

Hi everyone - I'm moving from London to NYC in a few months with my current employer. It's a little overwhelming at the moment, and we haven't discussed the relocation terms. I'm also unsure as to the best area to live in, and would really appreciate advice from anyone that's also been through this, or lives locally.

Would I be right to assume they'd look to apply a straight currency exchange on my salary (GBP75k, so say USD120k)? Or would you typically expect this to go up/down reflecting living costs? Health insurance will be provided. Does this sound like it will be enough to get by comfortably or should I be trying to negotiate more?

I'm a single female in my late 20s. I've a great group of friends and family here in the UK and know very few people in NYC. For that reason I thought it might be good to find an apartment share with one or two others. I'm also hoping that will make my money go a little further. Currently thinking of paying up to USD2k per month, ideally in the West/East Village. Would be great if the place had some kind of outdoor space too, be it a balcony or access to a roof-deck. Does this sound at all realistic?! And is Craigslist the best bet?

Thanks very much for taking the time to read this!

rpjs

The cost of living in NYC is a lot higher than in London. When I transferred (at my own request) I was able to negotiate a USD salary that was around 50% higher than my GBP salary. I was able to do this by researching the going rate for my job title in NYC on sites like payscale.com and glassdoor.com

Having said that, $120k is a decent amount for single person although $2k a month rent in the Village won't go very far. You may have to up your budget or look elsewhere. Craigslist is good for private rentals but they move fast. You could also try looking directly at a management company's site like related.com

NYC_bound

That's really helpful, thanks. I've requested this move too, so am concerned it doesn't put me in the best negotiating position. Good to know re: rent. Keen to find somewhere reasonably comfortable (albeit small), with likeminded people, in order to help with the adjustment!

Bob

Welcome to BE and good luck!

Have a look downwards though, there have been quite a few recent threads on NYC and the cost of living, a really good one a page back.

The wiki here has a good list of things to consider asking for in a relocation package.

Sure you mention having medical insurance, but is that 100% paid? What about co-pays etc?

Want to have a look at padmapper for rentals as well.

Pulaski

There have been several threads active within the past few weeks on relocation, at least a couple specific to NYC, so you might want to search or scroll back and read them.

I think you have already identified one huge cost difference - apartment rentals are relatively expensive in NYC. I have never heard much about sharing an apartment, it may happen, but I don't think it is as common as in London. Another thing that is much more expensive is grocery shopping, in large part because the major grocery retailers have no presence, so you're going to be shopping at mini-markets and specialty stores. That said, $120k for a single person should be quite livable in NYC.

NYC_bound

Thanks both! Just getting to grips with the site and have found some interesting feeds. Bob - I must admit I'm not sure about the health insurance. A couple of US colleagues are visiting next week, so I should find out more then.

penguinsix

Employer 'provided' insurance doesn't necessarily mean they pay for it--they may just allow you to buy their group plan, which may or may not be subsidised by the company. You'll need to find out how much the "monthly premium" will be along with any 'co-pay' (you pay $25 everytime you visit a doctor) or 'co-insurance' amounts (you pay 10% of hospital charges).

NYC_bound

I definitely need to get my head around US medical insurance! Another question, from having read around the competitiveness of apartment rentals, will I struggle to be approved having just arrived in the country? Is there anything I can do to try and pre-empt this? Thanks again.

rpjs

You won't have any credit history, so you'll need to ask your employer to provide a reference for your salary at least. We didn't have too much trouble securing an apartment here in Westchester using that method, but our landlady is an immigrant herself from Portugal so perhaps was a bit more understanding on that front.

retzie

This is all about the company you keep! It is very, very, very common for young (to not very young) professionals to sharehouse in NYC, for the exact reason that the OP mentions. I will say that the demographic represented on BE is likely not to have so much experience, though.

Craigslist is absolutely the right place to be looking for apartment shares. Be aware that it is a gigantic, very quickly moving tide! Since so many people are on the ground looking, it can be very difficult to seek things out from afar, since everyone else can show up in person within a couple of days. I should say, my experience has been limited to finding summer sublets, usually in Brooklyn, but I'd imagine longterm places in Manhattan are similar (if not more competitive).

Someone I know recently took several months to find a longterm share - in the interim, he had to bounce around from sublet to sublet. (This is an early 30's college professor now living in midtown, by the way, to give you an idea of the sort of person who can be found in a NYC sharehouse.) If you can get your company to put you up for a month or two when you arrive, I would expect to be aggressively searching for that entire time.

Just to warn you: with Craigslist shares, be prepared for a very low response rate. It's a bit depressing, but the volume of emails for these things makes it understandable. Definitely include a medium-length blurb about yourself - it's infuriating to get 20 emails all saying "I'm interested in the room/Is the room still available?" with no further information. If you really don't get any replies, you may have fallen foul of the CL bug, whereby it doesn't forward Gmails . I find that if you cut and paste the anonymised email address (instead of clicking the link), you can work around it.

Let me know if you need any tips!

MMcD

1. Re salary: Just remember - it's one area where "Less is (NEVER) more"!
But it sounds like - Yes, as a single person - you should be able to live comfortably on that salary. I think (it's been awhile since I lived there, so can't say for sure)
2. Re West Village: 'Tho totally subjective - for me - out of all the GREAT neighborhoods in NYC (and I've lived in many including splendid penthouses spilling over Central Park from both CPS, CPW as well as 5th Ave (fancy-shmancy, yeah) - the West Village for me was BEST-Of-The-BEST. It has a scale that always made it feel a wonderful welcome relief to return home after a long day coping with frenetic uptown madness (which I loved - but at days end - was more than ready to put behind me)
3. Re Apt. share: Could be a great idea. One of my oldest friendships is with someone who came to NYC as a student from Poland, placed an ad in NYTimes for a roomate - a friend of mine, who was looking for someone to share her rent, responded to the listing - and.....so evolved many years of friendships amonsgst the 3 of us
But another idea:
Look into RENTAL SUBLETS (as well as straight rentals- the difference being: with the former you co-sign a direct lease with the landlord. In latter your lease agreement is made with the apartment lessee rather than the landlord). Be sure, if you do this, the person from whom you'd be subletting has the (legal) right to do it.
I've done it twice - one time subletting in the Village, in fact!

Check this out:

https://www.google.com/search?q=Gree...ient=firefox-a

sublet.com (on above Google list) may offer possibilities.....

MMcD

Just to clarify the post just sent:
A SUBLET could be:
1. An apt. on your own (no roomate(s) ). I've done this on 2 occasions
2. An apt. you share with others

Bob

Big fat wedge of cash up front on signing for a deposit. More than usual, would usually work.

Could get that as part of the relocation package if you're lucky, as long as the company grosses up the benefit so you don't get hit with the tax.

retzie

I think there are many benefits of living in a shared place when you first land in a new country. Of course, being an academic, it's not like my salary gives me much choice!

The OP has already pointed out it is a good way to meet people. I completely agree. It's nice to be able to come home and have someone to talk to. Assuming you do a reasonable job of selecting your roommates, you can have conversation on hand at home, then also connections to friendship groups, etc. The thought of going home to an empty apartment at the end of a long day in a job 'on the wrong side of the world' makes me despair. But then, I have a job where I can easily go days without having a conversation with anyone (yelling things at them from the front of the room doesn't count).

The other thing is the massive saving in start-up costs. I had no desire (or cash) to buy an entire apartment's worth of stuff when I got here. It was great to move into an existing house and just be responsible for my own room. As it is now - I've been here 4.5 years and have acquired a variety of house stuff, but it'd still cost $$$ for me to set myself up in my own place. Since I've never been clear on how long my stay in the US is going to be, this also makes my life reasonable portable, which I consider to be a massive plus.

I have to say that in all the discussions of living costs, etc. on BE, I am always blown away by the cost of a 'grown-up' lifestyle and the expectations that seem to come with it. Aside from being a couple of years older than the OP, I am otherwise in the same position and would counsel her to take posters' different circumstances into account when looking at our advice. Although I live in Chicago, not NYC, I'm getting by just fine on less than half of her intended salary! And when I say 'just fine', I mean buying things I want, eating out, drinking (lots of) cocktails, flying to NYC for long weekends, etc.

retzie

Oh, add to 'just fine' annual trips home (to Australia) and (modest) savings