Buying or Renting a Home in New York
Graeme Chesters and Bev Laflamme
Buying or Renting a Home in New York is essential reading for anyone planning to buy or rent property in New York. It contains a wealth of useful information and insider tips to guide you through the New York property jungle, and save you time, trouble and money. Irrespective of whether you’re buying a family, holiday or retirement home, or a property purely as an investment, this guide will help ensure a smooth, problem-free transaction. Whether you’re seeking a penthouse overlooking Central Park, a loft in Greenwich Village or a mansion on Long Island, Buying or Renting a Home in New York will help make your dreams come true. Don’t leave home without it!
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Extracts from the book…
Why NY?
The main reason most people move to New York is work. New York is without a doubt the economic capital of the US – and, some would claim, the world. Wall Street has become synonymous with high finance and is the home of the New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ and the American Stock Exchange. Nearly every major international bank has one or more offices in Manhattan, and countless companies,
large and small, have their headquarters in or near New York. The City is the centre for many important industries in America, from the fashion business to mass media (publishing, journalism, music, etc.), advertising, tourism, theatre and the arts. As one of many popular songs about New York puts it, ‘if I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere’ and many young people consider an apprenticeship in the City to be a career maker or breaker.
Nearly 7m people commute into Manhattan’s Financial District each working day from as far as central Connecticut or the outer reaches of New Jersey. Many more work in the outer boroughs or in spacious corporate parks located in nearby suburbs to take advantage of all the City has to offer in terms of financial and business resources.
According to the US Census, workers in the New York area have the longest average commuting time in the country, at almost 40 minutes each way. It isn’t unheard of for people to live an hour or more from their office, or it’s common to see passengers on trains and ferries working away on laptops, handheld computers and case files en route to work.
Although property in New York is expensive and living costs nearly twice the national average, salaries are generally higher than in other parts of the country, averaging 17 per cent above the US average. Across the City as a whole, the average household income is about $60,000, although this hides the vast disparities between the richest and poorest households and between neighbourhoods.
Credit History & Rating
It has become more and more important to establish and maintain a ‘good’ credit history (or record) and high credit rating (or score) in the US, where everyone’s credit record is maintained by private companies, called credit-reporting agencies or credit bureaux – in particular Equifax, Experian (formerly TRW) and TransUnion. These
companies collate information reported to them by banks, mortgage companies, shops and other businesses into individual credit records and produce a credit history report and a credit rating.
Your credit history report contains information such as your current and prior addresses, bank accounts and major credit cards you hold, judgements or liens against you or your property, bankruptcies or foreclosures, as well as any failure to pay your debts on time or at all. Each agency produces its own credit rating, which is usually a number between around 200 and 800. None of the credit agencies divulges how its ratings are calculated. Then the three big agencies offer to give you a ‘combined credit score’, which is alleged to be a composite of their ratings, although again no formula is ever divulged and your combined score isn’t simply a numerical average.
Some businesses pay more attention to your credit history report, others to your ratings or combined score when assessing your worthiness to become a customer.
Credit card companies and insurance companies are said to judge strictly by your ratings, whereas mortgage lenders tend to look at the total of your monthly credit bill. Some potential lenders will turn you down if ‘too many’ recent inquiries are noted on your credit history report – even if you haven’t actually asked for or received a loan. You’re penalised in credit terms if you don’t use credit at all and some companies are said to devalue those who pay off credit card balances every month. You can even be penalised for having ‘too good’ a credit score!
Despite the vagaries of the system, and even if you don’t believe in borrowing money to pay your bills, you must often produce a credit rating and/or history when applying for a job, obtaining a credit or debit card or applying for insurance or government benefits. An impeccable credit history and a high credit rating are indispensable when applying for a mortgage or to rent an apartment, particularly in New York.
Credit bureaux can legally report negative credit information for seven years and bankruptcy information for ten years. The only information that can be changed in your credit history report are incorrect items and items outside the seven- or ten year reporting periods, although you have the right to add a short statement
regarding any item in your report with which you take issue or which you feel needs explanation. Credit bureaux are supposed to release your credit history only to your creditors or those with a legitimate business need for the information, but in practice this can include almost anyone wanting to obtain your business and willing to pay for a report. You’re entitled to a free copy of your credit history report once a year.
Due to the increase in identity theft (see below), you’re strongly advised to check your credit history at least once a year, to rectify any mistakes or qualify suspicious items and to see who has been requesting your credit history. If you find a mistake or a transaction you don’t recognise, you should ask to have the error corrected, although credit agencies can refuse to make changes. You’re entitled to add your own explanation of the item (up to 100 words), which must be added to your report, although additions to your report may take 45 days or more to appear.
It can be difficult for new arrivals in America to establish an acceptable credit rating, and in some cases having no credit history (or no available report from the credit reporting agencies) may be worse than having a less-than-perfect credit rating.
The best way for a foreigner (or anyone else for that matter) to build up a good credit rating is to be employed by the same employer for a year or more, have your pay deposited directly into your bank account, have a couple of bank accounts (cheque and savings) and always pay your monthly bills on time without overdrawing your account – and above all have lots of credit (a classic Catch 22)!
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PRICE: £11.95
PUBLICATION: September 2006
EDITION: 1st
PAGES: 384
BINDING: paperback
SIZE: A5 (210mm x 148mm)
COLOUR PHOTOS: 20
