Untitled 3

Agreed!

AlphaTangoMike

I agree, $200k would make it a bit more manageable. Or, be prepared to live in 3rd world conditions. I.e. no washer/dryer in your apartment, no central air conditioning. Maybe a shower in your kitchen...
NYC Apartment Comes With Everything, Including A Shower In The Kitchen

Jericho79

Thanks all for the comments.

I'm not necessarily looking to live in Manhattan, but the job is there.
Things are moving on, and the company would like me to fly out for another meeting- they've asked me to have some thoughts on salary.

What about places within a reasonable train commute- NJ, Connecticut. etc.

Is $200k still the magic number, or is something in the $150k range OK?

Bob

I would imagine it would depend on if you wanted to live in Manhattan or not.

Also what do you consider a reasonable commute? A half hour or 1.5 hours one way, would make a difference on where to live and what kind of salary to aim for to maintain a decent lifestyle you might be looking for.

rpjs

Where in Manhattan will you be based? Look at the transportation lines and work back from there - e.g. if Midtown near Grand Central Terminal, look along the Metro-North, if near Penn look along NJ Transit or the Long Island Railroad. If near the financial district, look along the PATH. Or if you'd like to stay in the city look along whichever subway lines serve your work location.

One thing to factor in is that living in the city, you pay city income tax. When we moved out to Westchester I found that my Metro-North monthly ticket was less than what I'd been paying in city income tax. (OTOH, property taxes out here are crazy, but you don't pay them directly if renting - the landlord will include the cost in the rent they charge.)

tht

No one can answer that without knowing your needs / wants, you need to build a spreadsheet and figure out what your income after tax would be and what your costs are. e.g. mine may be higher because I want/need a car, and both me and wife have 5+ weeks of vacation a year and we travel to Europe/NZ/Asia etc 1-4 times a year, depending on what is going on with family and friends.

Start with housing, unities, phone, car, groceries etc and then look at the "optional" expenditure.

Also you need to know if you will rent vs. buy as that impacts your tax (mortgage interest is deductible), so buying can help lower your tax bill, as do a number of other things.

Jericho79

Thanks all. I've indicated that I'd be looking for a minimum salary of $175k, which I thought would scare them off but I've now been invited to fly out for a face to face.
seems like a crazy amount of cheddar, but they're still interested.

Office is within a 5 min walk of times square.
looking to keep my commute to no more than an hour.

We're looking at rentals, but with not having a proper understanding of the transit options, it's difficult to draw a boundary. Ideally want a single family detached home. Will need at least one car, but will hopefully use public transport for commuting. I have two young kids (both under 10) so decent schools is important.

Rent budget is around $5k.

Can anyone recommend some areas? Currently looking at westchester, montclair, but open to anywhere with these parameters.

Thanks

Jerseygirl

I recommend you search the US forums for threads and posts by Englishmum. She lived in Millurn, NJ...a 30 min train journey from Penn Station. She's posted excellent information as her husband worked in Manhattan. It's worth taking the trouble to read through her posts...re transport into NYC, property, schools...the area in general.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/members/englishmum-1486/

Pulaski

You don't seem to realise how BE works. You ask a question, you get lots of sage advice based on the practical experience of the BE horde. ..... Then you ignore the advice and do your own thing. At least that is usually how it seems to work.

sir_eccles

Eww. I used to actively avoid the place when I lived there.

notonuksoil

With that budget and your office location I'd be looking at Lower Westchester. Towns like Bronxville, Scarsdsle, Pelham and Eastchester all have excellent schools and a commute time into GCS between 25-40 minutes.

notonuksoil

House's a like this one usually rent very quickly, 38 Tuckahoe Avenue, Eastchester NY 10709 MLS# 4521959