Moving to NY - Ship vs Sell Home Furnishings & Car

Garaging for a car in NYC will cost b/w 400 (on a pier over the Hudson- salt water damage and probably undriveable in winter) up to 800 per month, plus you don't need a car in NYC. Have a look at zip car... That's what we used when we needed a car. It depends on the size of your furniture, whether it's worth shipping it - if your furniture is large ( like our 8 seated dining room table) best not, unless you have $8k-$10k per month to spend on rent. <em>edited by Mrs Laughan on 05/01/2011</em>

Have you been looking at the rents for 2 bedrooms in NYC?? Definitely won't need a car if that's your choice. For the price of a 1 bedroom in the city you could probably get a nice 2 bedroom in Park Slope - very nice neighborhood and not far to the city (just need to make sure you are on the right side of the park!). Also check out an area called DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass - downtown Brooklyn) where there are many lofts. Milan sounds wonderful.............

If your furniture is unique and not easily available (at an affordable/comparable price) in NYC - take it with you if you really like it. Let everything else go. I have certain pieces (including a dining room table the entire RiverDance ensemble could perform on and it wouldn't budge) that I will take home because I will never find it in North America. Period. Taking the car is a waste of money - get what you can for it. Low mileage and Western lady driver (always a plus in the ad!) you may get a slight premium despite it being a Hyundai (they have a lower resale value than the Toyotas and Nissans which get better second hand prices).

You need to investigate state taxes and import taxes on your goods, especially the car and the requiremnets it will need to have in order to enter the US. I'm not aware of state or import taxes imposed on shipping personal goods.

There are many factors to consider. Where in NY would you be living? In the city, one of the 5 boroughs? across the river in NJ? You can get to NYC very easily from Brooklyn or Queens. Great subway and bus service. There are express buses during the work week going to and coming from the city. If you plan on living in the City you wouldn't need a car. If you have the need to drive somewhere on a weekend you can always rent a car. If you ship your car it will have to pass certain inspections to meet US standards. I'm not sure if you would have to pay for that. Since you don't know how long you are going to be in NY you also have the option of leasing a car on a yearly basis. You can do a search to get an idea of costs. The lease agreement may include the cost of insurance, but you would have to check that out. As for your furniture, consider what it cost you and what you would get if you sell it. If I were you, I would certainly ship it as the pieces you have are probably very unique and you will probably take a big loss on the sale. If you invested 20,000 you would be lucky to see 1/3 of that on the sale and it would never cover the cost of you having to purchase new furniture. It really depends on how attached to some/all of it you are. To ship all of it (or most) you would need a full container. If the cost is too much then you may want to consider taking "favorites" and getting a half-container. Also, if you are going to take a 1 bedroom apartment in NY, you would need to sell one set of bedroom furniture. Obviously electronics/appliances will need to be sold as they are not compatable to the US. You will have to think about the time it will take for the furniture to reach you and where you would stay until then. There are agencies you can go through as people rent out their apartments in NY. A law has been passed that they can do it only if the term is for one month or more, which is probably the amount of time you would need for container to arrive and finding an apartment. I don't know if you are aware of it, but you will also be paying taxes. Figure 35% of your salary will be withheld for taxes. Good luck with your decision.

You need to investigate state taxes and import taxes on your goods, especially the car and the requiremnets it will need to have in order to enter the US.