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In very expensive cities like NYC, Boston, SF it'll be $4k+ for 1 to 2 bedrooms, $5k+ for 2 to 3 bedrooms.

If you have 2 buddies and going on a $5500 3 bedroom in Boston, you'll likely be requested first rent + last rent + deposit + broker fee (=1 rent) = 4 * rent = $22k just to get the keys. That's $7300 per person. This is only to get the key, the next month you pay rent #2.

If you're going on a $4k 1 bedroom by yourself (or with your partner) you'll be hit with 4 * 4=$16k upfront cost, or $8k if you're lucky and have a partner.

Renting is extraordinarily expensive in big cities in the US right now. I'm sometimes surprised people can survive this market. I make ~$150k a year in a lucrative software engineering role, and rent is still too expensive for me. It's very difficult for e.g. teachers, researchers etc making ~$70k a year etc.

Some cities will be cheaper, some will be more expensive. E.g. I know that Philadelphia is particularly cheap when it comes to cost of living. Chicago is expensive, but seems to be slightly cheaper than NYC/Boston etc...




That's a bit outdated. NYC and the entire state of California have banned landlords from requiring both last months rent in addition to a security deposit, and the security deposit can be no more than 1 months rent.

I imagine some other cities have done the same.

Where I live, in a desirable Manhattan neighborhood with an old building stock, you can find a decent 1-bedroom for around $3500/mo and move in for a total of $7k. If you hunt for a deal and can make a few sacrifices, you can bring that down to $6k.


Oh that's very good to know, I stand corrected. I last moved late 2023 (Boston) and I was interested in market in a few cities around that times. It's always great to hear local governments can make progress for the people.


> It's always great to hear local governments can make progress for the people.

Sometimes it seems like they are the only governments that can!


Why is it so expensive to rent in Boston? I am surprised to see it in your list. The economy isn't nearly as large as NYC or SF(+nearby cities). The only explanation I can think of: NIMBY/BANANA: It is almost impossible to add new units (housing stock).


Renting is actually not that expensive in NYC relative to buying a condo of similar size and quality, I punched in numbers for a 2b2b in LIC and it’s just about a wash over 10 years


Did you also model increase in net worth after 10 years given a semi-fixed income and excess money going to the SP500 vs the condo?


I think the NYT rent or buy calculator prices that in




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