retzie

Listen to these posts! If you're going to be based in LIC, in will only be massive pain to live in Manhattan or Brooklyn. Queens is definitely your best bet. I am in Astoria, which is great! Seriously, I wouldn't live anywhere else. Sunnyside or Woodside would be even closer for you -- look along the 7 train. LIC itself is full of over-priced, poor-quality new builds, so I personally wouldn't both with that, but prices may have come down.

If you want to keep start-up costs down, look for a room in a shared apartment. And yes, Craigslist is still great for that! There are numerous apps and "roommate finder" services now as well, which I personally think are pretty suspect, but YMMV. In many cases, there may even be some furniture in the room, which again saves you money/hassle.

Just so you know, vacancies around here are really high right now. A LOT of people have left the city due to the pandemic, many of them just leaving behind a variety of furnishings. So it's not a bad time to be looking, as you will probably have a choice of several options, with varying levels of usable furniture.

Rent-wise, you could get a studio for $1,600 in Sunnyside or Astoria, or probably even a 1-bedroom; check StreetEasy. You could get a really nice room in a shared place in the same areas for $1,000-1,200. (Remember, the latter will represent substantial savings in both start-up costs and ongoing costs, esp. internet.)

If you are young and single and make a reasonable choice of living situation (i.e., don't burn all your money on a Manhattan apartment), I think you can do just fine on that salary. You won't be dining at Michelin-starred restaurants, but you can certainly be comfortable and enjoy the city.

If you have any questions, just let me know

ETA: Obviously, this is a snapshot of what is going on right now. I have no idea what will be happening by the time of your move. But the advice about living in Queens definitely won't change!

Red127

Thanks for the advice, really appreciate it!

Unfortunately I confirmed an earlier posters point that L1B visas are delayed until spring next year and getting later and later.

Basically decided to forget about it for 12 months (and likely beyond that). Moment feels like it’s passed, so moving back to London and see where I am in 12 months time.

thanks for all the advise though

Red127

If anyone else is looking at this thread with same move in mind, this point about visas is 100% correct unfortunately - March 2022 is your best timing.

retzie

Bah, sorry to hear that. If it comes back on the agenda, by all means stop back in. It sounds like it would be fun!

Steerpike

Sounds like the moment has passed, at least for now, but I want to second a recommendation I saw in the thread - consider sharing a place in the beginning. I came to San Francisco from London back in the 80s and I only got a couple of weeks in a hotel from my company (and no relocation lump sum or allowance). So I quickly looked for 'roommates' (that was the US term back then). I found a lovely apartment with a fun lady within days and stayed there a year. Then once I got settled at work, I met many people who were cool to live with, and moved in with them. I hear rents are dropping fast in cities like NY and SF due to Covid and all the 'work from home' stuff (allowing people to move out of the expensive areas altogether).

Good luck in the future - hope it works for you!

tht

Where are you hearing rents are dropping, I am about to list my rental again in NYC (Williamsburg). My tenants of 5+ years are buying a house in the area and my realtor has recommended an almost 10% increase in the monthly rent when we list it. His words were that the market has been “on fire” to the point that it’s uncomfortable and he shuts down the listing after he has 30 or so inquiries. Many of the big employers especially in banking are starting to tell their employees they need to be back in person at least 3+ days a week so living in upstate NY or VT will be a long commute…

Nutmegger

NYT recently reported that the bottom seems to have been reached, and rents are starting to gain momentum. "After months of record price cuts and concessions, New York City’s rental market appears to be turning the corner, but it could be at least a year before prices return to their pre-Covid peak, according to two new reports."

NY Rents Appear Close to Bottom

tht

Yess that article is over a month old now… at present it’s looking like the tenant will pay the broker fee and I won’t need to offer concessions, but these things can change quickly.

A lot is also dependent on specific areas and features. As a 1.5 bed what was previously a negative (more space and higher cost) is now a positive, people’s are looking for a home office / guest space. Private outdoor space is always a winner in the city, but the option for a dedicated indoor parking space is in higher demand now than when I last let it in 2016.

Right now the pressure is on to get it repainted and have the floors refinished in a 2 week window to have it move in ready before 1st September. Also looking at new appliances to give it a new build feel, but will have to see if they have a long lead time like last year.

The other big change is pets. I am no longer allowed to ask for an additional months deposit to allow a pet, so now I either have to not allow pets or charge a pet fee of 1/12 of a months rent for the first 12 months… so essentially a rule to protect renters ends up costing them more…

Steerpike

Here's one of many stories I'm seeing on the subject: https://www.kron4.com/news/real-esta...to-drop-in-sf/
"According to Zumper National Rent Report for March 2021, the median 1-bedroom price in SF decreased by 24.3% since last year."
Interestingly, the linked article - https://www.zumper.com/blog/rental-price-data/ appears to have been updated and is now singing a different tune! But it does appear that SF/Bay Area is unusually hard-hit - "Aside from the Bay Area, it’s hard to find an entire metro area where rent is down across the board." Since the Bay Area is home to the most expensive rents, and is also home to the most tech companies, it makes some sense because tech companies were the most 'generous' when it came to work-from-home allowances. "The San Francisco Bay Area stands out in this regard for a number of reasons. Despite gains over the course of 2021, San Francisco median one-bedroom rent is down 15 percent year-over-year and fell in July by 2.5 percent compared to the previous month." As for NYC: "New York City has seen much more growth than its West Coast counterpart. After posting a 4.3 percent month-over-month gain in median one-bedroom rent in July, NYC is now down just 5.6 percent compared to a year ago, and 11 of the 14 New York metro cities Zumper tracks remain down year-over-year."

Personally, I suspect things will soon return to 'normal' and most people will be back in the office.

tht

Tech lends itself more to remote working than finance and a number of other sectors.

The average rates also hide the details. One area / price point can be down while another is up. I had a friends daughter who started NYU last year and got an amazing deal, what she was paying in monthly rent maybe covered the building amenities and tax… but I guess for the developer some money was better than none.

The really telling sign is if you have to go “no fee” or give free months.

I also only raised the rent on my place once in 5 years for the last tenants, so I was back at 2016 rates anyway…

retzie

I was on the market for a new rental in July and prices are still seriously down in my part of Queens. There were so many places with no fee that I could restrict my search by that and still have a huge number of (good) options. Several were also offering a month's free rent; Hallets Point were offering FIVE MONTHS free rent, which I thought was hilarious.

So it seems there is a huge amount of variation. No doubt the prevailing demographics play a big role. My neighborhood is popular among service industry/creative types, and many of them still have no real work opportunities in sight. Whereas, I hear the tech bros have decided it is boring up in Westchester (or wherever else they have been hiding), and are all flocking back. I'm guessing they are the ones in the market for Williamsburg.

Disclaimer: I stopped looking when I found a place a couple of weeks ago, so I don't know if a new upward trend has emerged since.

tht

Yes ideally we will get another tech bro... 5+ years of on time rent and minimal requests is pretty ideal from a landlords perspective..

tht

well I can report the the market at least last week is/was crazy in Williamsburg. I got my first application before the one and only open house and then 6 more well qualified ones the day of the open house that paid to run credit and background checks.

I accepted an offer (not a tech bro) and before I even had the lease out, 2 of the other applicants contacted me direct after finding out they were not selected, and one offered $100’s a month more in rent than the one I had accepted. Call me old school, but my word is my bond, and my new tenant has no pets so that’s less wear on the floor. NY changed the law to restrict upfront rent payments and limited the deposit to 1 month. This will limit my ability to rent to people with less vanilla credit history, these changes in general may make it harder for people on visa’s to secure a rental.