Perky74

Hi everyone

The kids and I are moving to NY in a couple of months for my husbands job. He is already there and living in an appartment in Manhattan til we arrive in April. I have already been out for an extensive house hunting trip and thanks to lots of advice from kind folk on here, have narrowed down the areas we want to live in based on commute times to lower Manhattan, excellent schools for the kids aged 5 and 8 and a good downtown with sense of close community (choices are Westfield, Summit and Montclair). There are a couple of things that are making me nervous:

- There are no 4/ 5 bedroom houses on the market at the moment to rent in these areas (we found a house that we loved in Westfield but that went before we could put an offer in)
- the cost of rent seems astronomical in these areas compared to what we would pay in the UK and I feel like we will be down sizing by moving to the US which was meant to be for an 'amazing salary offer'.

So my 2 questions are

1) what percentage of your salary should you realistically expect to pay on rent in these areas while still having a good standard of living?? - maybe the cost of living is cheaper in NJ but it certainly felt very expensive when I was staying in Manhattan where I couldn't get a salad at lunch for less than $15.....

2) will more properties come on the market if we hold our nerve or should we just go for an OK property that meets most of our criteria (there is a small one in Summit that we have offered on but I feel like we are panic offering due to the experience in Westfield)

Thank for any advice. I am having a major wobble. The salary package was significantly higher than the UK but it seems most of the increase will be eaten up in rent.

Thanks for any advice

Bob

I can't speak for NY/NJ, but in MA, rent stock is usually pretty low in winter because a lot of landlords tie you in to cover the winter month so that a place doesn't sit in the cold and also because they also can't evict people during the winter till the end of March.

So the number of rentals start to open up at the middle of March kind of time frame and again during the summer holiday when a lot of university folks move on.

Good luck!

Pulaski

It sounds like your real question is "how much money do we need to have left over after paying rent?

Percentages are fine talking in abstract, but honestly, under your circumstances, I would create a budge for everything except rent, and then see if your income will allow you to rent a home in your preferred area. If not you have a choice of lifestyle cutbacks, a smaller home, or a different area.

Perky74

That's a great idea and I understand what you men's and if I was looking to buy a bigger house in the UK that is what I would do but I have no idea what a weeks shopping costs, how much it costs to heat a 4/5 bedroom house/ how much kids clubs cost... so we are coming at it blind...a realtor has told us that people spend 40% of their base on their rent...we currently spend closer to 12% in the UK so whilst we can make cuts backs not by 30% of our expenditure unless the cost of living is that much cheaper. Just trying to get a handle in what is the norm!

QUOTE=Pulaski;12167111]It sounds like your real question is "how much money do we need to have left over after paying rent?

Percentages are fine talking in abstract, but honestly, under your circumstances, I would create a budge for everything except rent, and then see if your income will allow you to rent a home in your preferred area. If not you have a choice of lifestyle cutbacks, a smaller home, or a different area.[/QUOTE]

SanDiegogirl

If you think the cost of rental in your favored areas is astronomical compared to UK, maybe the move with "an amazing salary offer" is not so amazing.

Without going into detail, maybe you can give us an idea of the salary range you have been offered, and the forum can comment if that is an OK salary for the NY city area.

Pulaski

OK. About 30% for housing is considered to be typical/ normal in the US, but in practice many people spend more, sometimes a lot more, on their rent or mortgage, especially in a high cost market. Sometimes people rationalize that partly as the cost of a good school for their children.

In your case, is this a short term deal, say 2-3 years, or an open-ended commitment? If you're going back to the UK in a few years then a higher percentage may be tollerable, or if you already have the funds saved (or tied up in your UK home) to buy in a year or two, and the rental isn't long term.

Some figures for a budget: I would start at $250/family member/ mth for groceries and houshold consumables, and $250/mth for electricity and heating, averaged for a whole year - heating will be more in winter, and AC will give you equally high bills in the summer, but the bills will be a lot lower in sping and autumn.

Perky74

Ok thanks that's really helpful and gives a clearer picture
The more I've been looking the more I realise how much higher accommodation costs are in the US. My husband would like us to buy in a year or so. I'm worried it will make me feel trapped but if the rental market is anything to go by, we won't have any problems renting it out
So best to wait til
march before we panic rent a property?

Pulaski

That depends entirely where you're coming from in the UK. We exchanged a 700sqft (tiny) 2-bed terraced house on .03 of an acre in London for a 2,775 sqft house in NC on 1.5 acres, for about two-thirds of the cost and just about the same property taxes.

Bob

city-data.com will help with the localised costs, but heating can be anything from $60-600 a month depending on size, type of heat, quality of build and insulation.

Kids afterschool stuff can be free or cost you a couple hundred a week/month depending on the type of stuff they want to do.

CoL won't be cheaper.

SanDiegogirl

...... and don't forget to budget in health costs/medical insurance.

Something which sometimes comes as a big surprise for people.

Jerseygirl

NJ is one of the most expensive states in the US for property taxes, car insurance, utilities, healthcare...property in a good area is expensive.

Rete

Pulaski's figures were about right on the food expenditures. I know NY prices for utilities and they are high for gas and electric and if you have to heat by oil then cost is even higher. I had a one bedroom 950 sq. ft. apartment and my electric bill averaged out at $88 per month. Before the utility company allowed averaging payments to defer the high cost of electric usage in the summer for a/c, my bill in July, August and September was never lower than $225 per month and that was without a/c during the day because I worked.

Is there a reason why you, as a family of 4, require 4 or 5 bedrooms? Can you not live comfortably in a 3 or 4 bedroom house?

What after school activities and adult activities are you looking for? Country Club membership for pool, tennis, golf? Dance class for the kidlets? Gymnastics? Does your husband's position in the US demand that he become or participate in a certain lifestyle or maintain a certain status quo with his co-workers?

Jerseygirl

We had a 5 bedroom house...gas/electric/water averaged out at approx $1K per month...property taxes approx $2K...plus another arm and a leg for car insurance and cell phones.

Rete

Damn, girl, that is astronomical in my opinion. Will have to ask my sis what they paid when they lived in Freehold in their 5 bedroom, 3 bath house with an in ground pool.

Down here in MS our water is $28 per month and our electric when we use the a/c which is 9 out of 12 months averages $300. Our gas heat, gas stove and gas grill comes to all of $12.00 per month. Car insurance for a truck and car is $100 a month and we have no property taxes.

Pulaski

Unfortunately a lot of people panic and buy very expensive insurance that they probably don't need. It is tough to be objective when you're first faced with the reality of having to buy health insurance, but if you expect insurance to pay out every time you need antibiotics for a sneeze then you'll pay an arm and a leg.

But when you realize that you might be able to save 60%-80% on the cost of medical insurance in exchange for paying for visits to the doctor and basic medication out of an account holding pretax funds, then the cost of medical insurance isn't anywhere near as alarming.