Yet Another Free Concert Alert

So we’ve already told you about all of the other free concerts series the city is hosting this summer, but there’s more!  The City Parks Foundation is presenting their free concert series at parks across the city. Read more

Recession Proof Activities IV: Can You Believe There’s More?

With costs rising so severely in contrast to salaries, it’s even more pertinent to find free and low-cost activities so as to not blow your budget each month.  Years ago, living in Manhattan on a salary that even a Mickey D’s  employee would scoff at, I became pretty adept at entertaining myself for next to nothing.  We’ve covered free, recession-proof activities before, and we’re continuing the series with out latest batch of awesome entertainment that costs less than you pay for your morning coffee.

1. Youtube movies and shows. Following closely behind Hulu, Youtube has licensed old TV shows and movies that you can stream online.  While they’re mainly an oldies set, they’re still goodies.  Favorites include the original Star Trek series and The Tick.

2. Attend free photography seminars.  Photo Manhattan offers a cool little deal each month when they evaluate new instructors. The potential instructor basically has an audition to see how well they teach and interact with a class, and the students who sit in on the class get to hear the lecture for free.  Class topics include things like “Exposure and Manual Mode”, “Photoshop for Beginners” and “Studio and Lighting”.

Navigating NYC Real Estate with Curbed’s Joey Arak

It would be an understatement to say that New York City’s real estate market is a maze. With too few available rentals and a surplus of fresh transplants, finding a home of your own can be more than a little bit daunting. We asked Joey Arak, Senior Editor of Curbed.com, for some advice on how to navigate the intricacies of the New York City market and his thoughts on the future of real estate in New York.

Where do you currently live and how long have you been there?

I live in Stuyvesant Town, and have for about 5 months.

Are there still affordable neighborhoods in New York and what do you think are the top five most affordable places to live right now?

Depends what you mean by affordable, but if it’s buddying up with a roommate on a two-bedroom priced under $2,000 per month, sure, but you’re fooling yourself if you think you’ll wind up in a prime location in Manhattan. Scoring a deal like that Downtown or elsewhere is the exception, not the rule, though those apartments are occasionally out there. For regular success, you have to go further out from the city center, a lot of times to the neighborhood that’s one more out from the one you actually want to live in. Uptown Manhattan, like Washington Heights and Inwood, have some good deals, and in Brooklyn, the eastern parts of Williamsburg, Prospect Heights and the neighborhoods just south of Park Slope are good places to look.

I just read a story about Manhattan foreclosures being on the rise. How do you think this will affect the city in the next year?

It’s true that they’re on the rise, but the levels are still so low, especially when compared to the rest of the country. Something like 1 in every 50,000 Manhattan homes, compared to 1 in every 500 in L.A. In Queens and some low-income parts of Brooklyn (East New York and Brownsville), the numbers are worse, but foreclosures aren’t a huge city worry right now.

What is your stance on renting vs buying in New York?

Unless you’re in a position where money is no object and those 30 million bucks are just burning a hole in your pocket, renting seems safer right now. The market is so flooded with overpriced inventory — we’re in the age of the million-dollar studio apartment — that the dollar doesn’t go very far.

I’ve always thought that the idea of a co-op sounded much more beneficial to the co-op owners. Do you think they’re a good investment when you’re usually taking on a hefty mortgage and forking out monthly maintenance fees (sometimes in upwards of $800)?

Co-ops are usually cheaper on a per-square-foot basis than condos, but they have to be judged on a per-building basis. They are essentially run as their own individual countries, each with its own set of laws. Some charge big fees when you sell an apartment, some are extremely strict about subletting or renovating your apartment. That’s why it’s tricky to say co-ops are uniformly better investments.

Does the 40x rule (equating your salary to 40 x the monthly rent) still apply to today’s renters?

It depends on the landlord, but many (especially in Manhattan) will still want a co-signer if you don’t meet the 40x requirement. Another quirk of the NYC real estate market.

I overheard a young woman in her early twenties mention on the subway that she paid $1,000 to share a bedroom with someone in the Washington Square Park area of Manhattan. Do you think these young people who bunk up in apartments are fueling the flame when it comes to landlords demanding exorbitant rents in prime neighborhoods such as that one?

It’s a question of supply and demand. There is so much demand to live in Manhattan (the vacancy rate is almost non-existent) that landlords can get away with charging exorbitant rents and young people who don’t mind sharing rooms will sink their salary (and their parents’ financial aid, much of the time) into a cramped apartment. If they don’t, someone else will.

Do you think there will ever be a tipping point in which rents will have to go down or will they just keep creeping up?

Some analysts think the recent turmoil in the financial markets will send Manhattan rents downward, due to layoffs and belt tightening among the same crowd that has been snatching up pricey apartments over the past few years. We’ve already seen landlords offering incentives, such as paying the broker’s fee or including two free months of rent, but for the most part prices remain high.

What do you think New York will look like in ten years in regards to the people who live here? Will it be a place that only the rich and the pseudo-rich will be able to afford?

Well, Manhattan is an in-demand island, and new land can’t be created. For that reason, it’ll always be an expensive place to live. But the market moves in cycles, and most people would tell you it’s flattening out or heading down in the near future. In that case, you may start to see a reversal of sorts, when young graduates who are now automatically moving to Brooklyn because of the cost of living will start to filter into Manhattan again. That being said, who knows, in 10 years we might be in the midst of a whole new boom. In that case, it’ll be all diamond-encrusted jetpacks and caviar made from aliens.

Get the Most Out of Your Apartment Hunt

Renting an apartment, especially in New York, can be an enormous headache. Lots of people fall into the trap of getting a job and seriously overestimating what they can afford to spend on rent each month. When I first moved to New York, I lived in a pretty spacious (at least by New York standards) one bedroom in Washington Heights. The rent was $850. My salary was 26K. How did I do it? By using almost all of my paycheck to pay my rent, and paying utilities, food and other random bills with credit cards. A big no-no.

Pretty soon, I was maxed out on credit and had to leave and sell off my furniture to move into a tiny bedroom in a shared apartment. Hopefully others aren’t as dumb as I was, but after overhearing a young girl on the train one evening state that she paid $1,000 to share a bedroom in Washington Square, I’m not so sure.

The last thing you want is to have a great apartment and not be able to furnish it, or worse, bury yourself in debt. Keep on reading for some thrifty tips on what to look for and how to figure out what you can really afford to pay for a new place.

Tip 1. Make a Budget

I cannot stress enough how essential this is to staying on a financially stable track. People who do not follow a budget don’t have a clear idea of where their money is going each month. If you are one of these people and you don’t believe me, look at your bank account and track your spending for the prior month. I’m willing to bet that you will be shocked by the amount of money you spend on at least one of your essentials–most likely food spending. An easy way to find out what you can afford is to take your monthly net income (income after taxes) and divide by three. This amount will probably be on the low end, and that’s the point. You want to leave yourself some breathing room for additional expenses, debt repayment, food, utilities, personal spending, and most importantly, emergencies.

Tip 2. Be Realistic About Where You Can Afford to Live

If you make 35,000 a year, you cannot afford to live in Manhattan. Period. Unless you can find a bedroom to rent for $500 a month, you will always be barely scraping by. Look for places to live in The Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, or Staten Island, and, specifically, up and coming neighborhoods. You’ll get more space and have more money leftover after paying your bills. And that translates into a happier and more stress-free existence.

3. Explore Neighborhoods

Don’t limit yourself to one borough. Check Craigslist for listings in neighborhoods that you’ve never heard of. Google them. Visit the neighborhood and check out the place in person. You never know when you may find a gem in the rough. Plus, many places in the outer boroughs can get you into Manhattan quicker than you’d expect. I get to my job in midtown quicker now living in central Brooklyn than I did when I lived in the East Village all thanks to express trains.

4. Hunt Without a Broker

While finding an apartment in the city without a broker can be a hassle, you’ll be better off eliminating the middle man. You’ll have to put down two months rent for deposit and pay moving expenses–do you really need to pay a 15% finders fee? Look for owner-listed apartments on Craigslist and in the newspaper. If you find the perfect apartment, but it’s listed by a broker – do a little research. Find out where the apartment is and see if you can’t get in touch with the landlord yourself. Also, walk around in the neighborhoods you like and look for “For Rent” signs. In the end, you’ll save yourself a ton of money that can be put towards other expenses.

5. Start Small and Work Your Way Up

Keep in mind that you’re young and you have another decade or two to accumulate things and upgrade your living space. Don’t try to jump right into a large one-bedroom or two-bedroom if you don’t really need it. Chances are, if you’re fresh out of college, you probably don’t own a ton of furniture anyway. Use that to your advantage, find a studio and spend way less money furnishing it.