Where in my thread does it tell you that I am expanding my argument? I indirectly accepted that home prices are indeed in the $250k range. My thread is merely saying those guys working at hedge funds must be doing really well considering their pay is similar to that of NYC HF folks but don’t have to buy $3M apartment units.
Then I went on to ask why it is so cheap over there because at those prices, it is cheaper than most if not all major cities in the US.
“NYC ain’t THAT bad if you live 40-60 min away in either NJ or Harlem, Queens, Bronx, Brooklyn, or any surrounding areas”
Almost all of these places are nowhere nearly as nice as what you’ll get in other areas, with the same affordability or commute time. “Go live in Harlem”, you’ll tell some supposedly affluent investment banking guys. Yeah right. Even nice places in NY City are not nice at all for the price. You can pay $5 million for a 3 bedroom apartment in Tribeca, and it’s still a condo. On top of that, a one hour commute to NYC from the suburbs (and 1 hour is really on the short side) means cramming into crowded trains and wrestling with people the whole time. The average commute in other areas is much shorter, and you get to drive there in your Audi. No matter how much you pay in NYC, unless you take a helicopter, you have to deal with the (literally) sh*tty subway and be pushed around by unwashed peasants. Why even try to rationalize that this is the same as what you get outside of NY? The overwhelming, crushing volume of people destroys your quality of life.
The only reason why you would live here is if you get paid a lot more than you would elsewhere. I would not live here for $300k a year. If that’s your dream, you should reconsider your life priorities. Like rawraw says, you can get similar money in other places if that is your range. $250k houses is unrealistic, since you will want to live in a nice neighborhood, but even $1 million houses is a huge saving over NY.
I’ve lived in UWS and recently moved to Scarsdale and take the 38 min train to grand central everyday. Not bad really. Sit down in the train in air conditioned train car.
I agree, if I had choice I would work for a HF or VC fund else where in the country but that else where is usually but not always in SF, which is just as expensive as NYC.
Btw, Harlem is not the Harlem of the 90s. But yes, you need to cough up $4,000 a foot to buy a condo in the city and for that you get a midlevel floor with sirens and car honks going off constantly. Or, you can move out to Scarsdale, Rye, Harrison (all NY) or move out to suburbs in NJ and buy a house on an acre lot that goes for ~$600 per foot. Your commute is 70 minutes.
So for me it is commute via train and buy a house on an acre lot OR move out to LA or SF and DRIVE for 80 minutes and live in a similar house for a similar price. The problem is there are fewer funds out there in the West Coast.