Tell Me About Living in NYC (or Suburb) on 500k/yr

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:what about new canaan, ct and bedford, ny? Does anyone know about these towns? It seems like you can get more for your money in bedford?

I am not the OP, but also thinking about relocating to a nyc suburb.

You'll need $2 mm and the commute to grand central sucks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^pp but who wants to live in a tiny house and go on crappy vacations when you're making half a million a year??

Modest lives in these towns can actually be very nice if you are not worried about keeping up with the Jones. if you are in Westport or Greenwich, the town has a lovely beach so you don't need a summer vacation and in Westport there is a town pool club that any town resident can join that is very cheap and has a really nice pool and tennis courts. There is even a town sailing school where you can rent boats cheaply. This stuff is all available to everyone - whether your house is cheap or worth $5M. And the schools are great and almost everyone does public - even the hedge fund millionaires. If you ski you can drive to good skiing it;s less of an issue if you can't afford to fly out west.

[Anonymous]

$500k is basically poverty line. You will likely really struggle.

[Anonymous]

I got offered a 400k job in NYC. Is it really that bad?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^pp but who wants to live in a tiny house and go on crappy vacations when you're making half a million a year??

Modest lives in these towns can actually be very nice if you are not worried about keeping up with the Jones. if you are in Westport or Greenwich, the town has a lovely beach so you don't need a summer vacation and in Westport there is a town pool club that any town resident can join that is very cheap and has a really nice pool and tennis courts. There is even a town sailing school where you can rent boats cheaply. This stuff is all available to everyone - whether your house is cheap or worth $5M. And the schools are great and almost everyone does public - even the hedge fund millionaires. If you ski you can drive to good skiing it;s less of an issue if you can't afford to fly out west.

A cheap house is 1.5 million. The hired help live in 500k condos.

[Anonymous]

There are nice homes in Westport for under a million.

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/9-Park-Ln-Westport-CT-06880/58840231_zpid/

http://www.trulia.com/property/3237015958-24-Mills-St-Westport-CT-06880

real estate market in NY suburbs isn't nearly as hot as DC (prices are still high in NY suburbs but it isn't as crazy as here, homes stay on the market longer, no escalation clauses or having to waive inspections like people do in DC).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are nice homes in Westport for under a million.

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/9-Park-Ln-Westport-CT-06880/58840231_zpid/

http://www.trulia.com/property/3237015958-24-Mills-St-Westport-CT-06880

real estate market in NY suburbs isn't nearly as hot as DC (prices are still high in NY suburbs but it isn't as crazy as here, homes stay on the market longer, no escalation clauses or having to waive inspections like people do in DC).

There are lots of homes in Westport under a million. I recently looked at 59 Roseville rd. So cute and a big yard. Great schools and town amenities. The train ride is an hour but most people work on the train

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are nice homes in Westport for under a million.

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/9-Park-Ln-Westport-CT-06880/58840231_zpid/

http://www.trulia.com/property/3237015958-24-Mills-St-Westport-CT-06880

real estate market in NY suburbs isn't nearly as hot as DC (prices are still high in NY suburbs but it isn't as crazy as here, homes stay on the market longer, no escalation clauses or having to waive inspections like people do in DC).

There are lots of homes in Westport under a million. I recently looked at 59 Roseville rd. So cute and a big yard. Great schools and town amenities. The train ride is an hour but most people work on the train

here is the link to 59 roseville rd. it has been sold

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/59-Roseville-Rd-Westport-CT-06880/58839322_zpid/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are nice homes in Westport for under a million.

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/9-Park-Ln-Westport-CT-06880/58840231_zpid/

http://www.trulia.com/property/3237015958-24-Mills-St-Westport-CT-06880

real estate market in NY suburbs isn't nearly as hot as DC (prices are still high in NY suburbs but it isn't as crazy as here, homes stay on the market longer, no escalation clauses or having to waive inspections like people do in DC).

There are lots of homes in Westport under a million. I recently looked at 59 Roseville rd. So cute and a big yard. Great schools and town amenities. The train ride is an hour but most people work on the train

here is the link to 59 roseville rd. it has been sold

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/59-Roseville-Rd-Westport-CT-06880/58839322_zpid/

Wow - great house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are nice homes in Westport for under a million.

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/9-Park-Ln-Westport-CT-06880/58840231_zpid/

http://www.trulia.com/property/3237015958-24-Mills-St-Westport-CT-06880

real estate market in NY suburbs isn't nearly as hot as DC (prices are still high in NY suburbs but it isn't as crazy as here, homes stay on the market longer, no escalation clauses or having to waive inspections like people do in DC).

There are lots of homes in Westport under a million. I recently looked at 59 Roseville rd. So cute and a big yard. Great schools and town amenities. The train ride is an hour but most people work on the train

here is the link to 59 roseville rd. it has been sold

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/59-Roseville-Rd-Westport-CT-06880/58839322_zpid/

I am from westport. Love that house! Hard to believe that is the price. Thanks for posting.

Wow - great house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^pp but who wants to live in a tiny house and go on crappy vacations when you're making half a million a year??

+ 1

A CONDO in a CT town? Please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are nice homes in Westport for under a million.

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/9-Park-Ln-Westport-CT-06880/58840231_zpid/

http://www.trulia.com/property/3237015958-24-Mills-St-Westport-CT-06880

real estate market in NY suburbs isn't nearly as hot as DC (prices are still high in NY suburbs but it isn't as crazy as here, homes stay on the market longer, no escalation clauses or having to waive inspections like people do in DC).

There are lots of homes in Westport under a million. I recently looked at 59 Roseville rd. So cute and a big yard. Great schools and town amenities. The train ride is an hour but most people work on the train

here is the link to 59 roseville rd. it has been sold

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/59-Roseville-Rd-Westport-CT-06880/58839322_zpid/

Do you have any idea how long this commute is? It's a 15 min drive to the train station in the morning. Then parking and waiting for the train. Then an hour on the train. Then transferring to the subway at grand central and taking the subway wherever you need to go. We are talking three hours of commuting each day at a minimum and possibly up to four of your job is in downtown Manhattan. That's a serious commute!!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^pp but who wants to live in a tiny house and go on crappy vacations when you're making half a million a year??

Modest lives in these towns can actually be very nice if you are not worried about keeping up with the Jones. if you are in Westport or Greenwich, the town has a lovely beach so you don't need a summer vacation and in Westport there is a town pool club that any town resident can join that is very cheap and has a really nice pool and tennis courts. There is even a town sailing school where you can rent boats cheaply. This stuff is all available to everyone - whether your house is cheap or worth $5M. And the schools are great and almost everyone does public - even the hedge fund millionaires. If you ski you can drive to good skiing it;s less of an issue if you can't afford to fly out west.

The point is, the people you will likely be socializing with will be going to the Hamptons, the Cape, the Vineyard, or Nantucket for the summer. Kids and mother decamp and financier father flies in on weekends. They'll have a pied-a-terre in the city and will constantly be regaling you with stories about how they saw Hamilton with the full cast. They'll be going to the Caribbean for week when schools are out in Feb. and spring skiing out west for spring break. Two week vacation in Europe or an Abercrombie and Kent safari in Africa at the end of summer after having been at the beach in the months preceding. You will feel poor and envious in comparison with an annual income of 500k. That is just how it is.

That's IF you have the 2mm to buy the cheapest house on the block that, oh by the way, is outdated and needs work.

[Anonymous]

I had a lot of friends who lived in condos in fairfield county growing up and my parents live in one now after downsizing from their house. These condos aren't like city condos - they are basically townhomes in developments that have a pool and a gate house to make sure only residents enter. There is no stigma to living in one and they are very nice. My parents have a small yard. you could easily live there with two kids. Their condo would sell for well under $1M.

With older kids condo living would have advantages over many of the detached homes because the condos tend to be walkable to stores, while the homes typically aren't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are nice homes in Westport for under a million.

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/9-Park-Ln-Westport-CT-06880/58840231_zpid/

http://www.trulia.com/property/3237015958-24-Mills-St-Westport-CT-06880

real estate market in NY suburbs isn't nearly as hot as DC (prices are still high in NY suburbs but it isn't as crazy as here, homes stay on the market longer, no escalation clauses or having to waive inspections like people do in DC).

There are lots of homes in Westport under a million. I recently looked at 59 Roseville rd. So cute and a big yard. Great schools and town amenities. The train ride is an hour but most people work on the train

here is the link to 59 roseville rd. it has been sold

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/59-Roseville-Rd-Westport-CT-06880/58839322_zpid/

Do you have any idea how long this commute is? It's a 15 min drive to the train station in the morning. Then parking and waiting for the train. Then an hour on the train. Then transferring to the subway at grand central and taking the subway wherever you need to go. We are talking three hours of commuting each day at a minimum and possibly up to four of your job is in downtown Manhattan. That's a serious commute!!!!

+ 1

I'd put a bullet in my brain after 6 months.