Hi everyone!

So, I have a quick question. I'm relocating to the city to teach in the public school system after just graduating from college in May. I've begun apartment hunting and working with a broken, but he just told me about this rule in NYC where you have to make 40 to 50 times your monthly rent each year. GEEZ! I budgeted and thought that I would be able to get a nice little 1BR in the city for aroun 1200 to 1300 a month. I thought that with a stable job working for the state (and making 39000 a year) it would be easy to get an apartment once i found one i liked. but according to that formula, i can only qualify for a place for 975.

My broker told me that i could get a guarantor, but they would have to make like 80 times my monthly rent. I don't know anyone that well off, especially not in the NYC area.

So my question is this: is there any way around this? Do I have any other options? I realize you all are not realtors, but i though you might be able to let me in on some tricks! Surely not all New Yorkers who live in 1bedrooms or studios make 50 grand a year!

Thanks for your attention!

oh and sorry for the typos! i should have done some proofreading!

One way would be to share an apartment. Btw, how's your credit history? They might also be a bit more flexible if you are willing to put down a bigger security deposit, 3 months' rent instead of 1.

You can get a perfectly nice 1BR or studio for $975 in Parkchester, or Sunnyside, or Bay Ridge, or Rego Park, or on Staten Island ... remember this is a HUGE city and you don't want to have to commute 2 hours each way to go to your school. Do you know what school you'll be at? If you're teaching in Jamaica or Woodlawn, you don't want to be all the way across the city.

red, the point is really that i want to live on manhattan, and i'm trying my best to find a way to do that.

i'm not sure where in nyc my job will be as i am interviewing at different ones.

it takes 2 hours to get from the Upper East Side to the Bronx?

and kathy, i have decent credit, but it's honestly not stellar.

Who told you it takes 2 hours to get from the upper east side to the Bronx? I lived in Chelsea which is a lot further south than the upper east side and it would only take around 25 minutes to get to Yankee Stadium and maybe 35-40 minutes to get to Riverside.

There are lots of great, affordable neighborhoods outside the richy-rich areas of Manhattan. I'm just sayin'. A lot of us native New Yorkers have moved there since the real estate prices went all to hell.

It wouldn't take 2 hours to get from the UES to the Bronx. But it might take two hours to get from the UES to Bay Ridge, or Staten Island. And it might take more than an hour to get from the UES to many of the deeper parts of Brooklyn or Queens.

Okay, first off, financially speaking, I'm not sure if it's a good idea to spend $1300 a month on rent, if you're not making over 50k. Unless you're being subsidized by the parents, which is then a different story.

Secondly, 1300/month in rent will NOT get you a one bedroom in Manhattan prime (aka below Harlem). Perhaps Harlem or Inwood... but if that's all you can afford, you might be better off not on the island at all.

My suggestion?

Sublet an apartment off [newyork.craigslist.org] until you figure out (a) where you'll be teaching (b) what neighborhoods you'll be comfortable living in (c) what you can really afford.

Then take it from there.

jenna... i appreciate your opinion, but i've worked out a budget, and i don't see how it wouldn't work. yes, i sometimes get help from my family, but that's beside the point.

and according to my broker, yes, 1300 will get a small 1 bedroom on the UES. i've seen them listed in the classifieds, and on craigslist. i've been doing my research.

and i'm not moving until i know where i'll be teaching. but i already know where i'll be comfortable living and what i can afford.

thanks everyone else for all your help. this whole forum has really helped me a lot.

Take Jenna's advice. Sublet first. Then you are not rushed to find something near where you will be teaching. Better to sublet and find just the right place in your own sweet time.

I agree that $1300 is way too much rent to pay, you will have nothing left over to do anything and you will eat peanut butter and jelly each day. When I first moved to the city I was earning $38,000 and I paid $1000 for a studio in brooklyn heights, and that was a major stretch. You want to live in Manhattan, I understand, but what's the trade off? It is crazy to pay $1300 per month on a salary of $39K. Crazy. Especially because there are so many nice places to live which are convenient, safe, close to manhattan, and much more affordable.

It's no use. Miss Missisippi here obviously knows far more about living in NYC than any of us do!