Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I've been reading the forums, and getting so much information. But also getting a bit depressed. I was really hoping to live near my new workplace (startingDecember) near 100 and Madison Ave.
And, I was hoping to buy.
I'm looking, I'm looking, but now thinking my dream of the short short commute might have to be set aside.
If you worked at Mt. Sinai Hospital, what would you see as good locations to buy?
I am open to UWS, East Harlem (parts of it), Central Harlem, if I had advice on where it was OK, and I wouldn't mind biking to work if I possibly could, but I haven't yet figured out how one crosses the park.
My friends in Queens tell me that I should just move out there, which is an option. Thanks for any advice you can lend to me!
I'm guessing that you are new in town? I don't think anyone is replying because it seems crazy for someone to buy in a new city she or he doesn't know the ins and outs of.
It would also help if you had a general budget range as that can help to frame responses. For example, the UES is an easy commute to Mt. Sinai, but specific areas of the UES would be difficult to recommend without that information. The same holds true with the UWS, as it is also a large neighborhood that covers many different types and prices of housing.
__________________
All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.
~William Shakespeare (As You Like It Act II, Scene VII)
Fair enough, I guess I didn't give enough info. I am not NEW to NYC, but it has been awhile since I lived there. Previously lived all over the city (UES, UWS, East Harlem, Little Italy, Park Slope). Do now have a NEW job, and will for once be earning enough to ask the question, rent or buy. I suppose that there are pros and cons for each, and I was just wondering what the pulse was on this issue. Thanks.
It's really an individual choice. If you find a place to live that's for sale and you want to live there for a longer term, then it would make sense to buy. Conversely, if you're not sure of a commute, or whether or not you would like to live in a place for a few years, then rent. It takes a few years of gains to offset the costs of selling, so I would not recommend making a purchase if you were looking to move, or had the potential to move, in a couple of years. There are tax deductions from mortgage interest/property taxes that you don't get with a rental, but then you also have carrying costs not associated with a rental, too.
__________________
All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.
~William Shakespeare (As You Like It Act II, Scene VII)
Also, I think that you will find in Manhattan that you will be able to afford a nicer apartment in a better neighborhood by renting rather than buying.
Ex: My old apartment (sunny, front of building-facing studio on Upper East Side) rented for around $1450/mo. A similarly-sized unit in my building was - at that time- on the market for $375k.....which would translate into about a $1600-1700 monthly mortgage payment PLUS $500-700 in monthly co-op fees to cover insurance, taxes, etc. That extra $1,000 in housing payments each month is a huge expense, even after figuring in the tax deductions/savings.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.