Apartment Hunting in NYC

[Omaha 680]

Any advice from those who have done it before? Looking for an apartment in a new city typically isn't that difficult, but the NYC rental market is very unique from what I can see and I'm having a hard time figuring out where to begin. I have scoured craigslist and various broker sites for hours. I have found some good places in our price-range, but I have also heard brokers are notorious for the online bait and switch.

So what is the best way to get started? Go through a broker? Contact ads one by one on Craigslist? Walk the neighborhoods you want to live in and look for leasing offices or for rent signs? My wife and I will be in New York for a long weekend starting Friday and we hope to spend a couple days finding out for real what kind of apartment our budget will get us and where.

[Moliere]

Any advice from those who have done it before? Looking for an apartment in a new city typically isn't that difficult, but the NYC rental market is very unique from what I can see and I'm having a hard time figuring out where to begin. I have scoured craigslist and various broker sites for hours. I have found some good places in our price-range, but I have also heard brokers are notorious for the online bait and switch.

So what is the best way to get started? Go through a broker? Contact ads one by one on Craigslist? Walk the neighborhoods you want to live in and look for leasing offices or for rent signs? My wife and I will be in New York for a long weekend starting Friday and we hope to spend a couple days finding out for real what kind of apartment our budget will get us and where.

oxcoug is your man.

....and if you find a place, can MJ and I stay there when we visit the big apple?

[Surfah]

PM Tim.

[PaloAltoCougar]

I asked my Manhattanite daughter if she had any suggestions and she responded with the following:

He's right that it can be tricky... my first apartment I found through the NYC LDS housing group here. It's mostly postings for rooms in apartments (i.e. for singles) but there are a good number of postings for open apartments and sublets, the latter of which might be helpful if they end up needing something to hold them over until they find something more permanent. He can also post to the group about what they're looking for and might get some responses that way.

Otherwise, I'd say Craigslist or the NYTimes website real estate section is the way to go. That's how we found our current (CL) and previous (NYT) apartments. There are definitely some sketchy broker situations, unfortunately, but generally I think if you're smart and vigilant you can avoid too much of a headache. Overall, the thing to keep in mind is that if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

[Pheidippides]

Apartment Hunting in NYC

I asked my Manhattanite daughter if she had any suggestions and she responded with the following:

He's right that it can be tricky... my first apartment I found through the NYC LDS housing group here. It's mostly postings for rooms in apartments (i.e. for singles) but there are a good number of postings for open apartments and sublets, the latter of which might be helpful if they end up needing something to hold them over until they find something more permanent. He can also post to the group about what they're looking for and might get some responses that way.

Otherwise, I'd say Craigslist or the NYTimes website real estate section is the way to go. That's how we found our current (CL) and previous (NYT) apartments. There are definitely some sketchy broker situations, unfortunately, but generally I think if you're smart and vigilant you can avoid too much of a headache. Overall, the thing to keep in mind is that if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

This is much more helpful than my suggestion, which is to pray.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

This is much more helpful than my suggestion, which is to pray.

So the PAC family is more powerful than God. Honestly, I had my suspicions previously.

[wuapinmon]

Tim just did this. PM him.

[Omaha 680]

Re: Apartment Hunting in NYC

Thanks for the advice PAC. I'll hit Tim up for info too. I am in touch with a couple brokers that come well recommended from people I know, but man those broker fees are steep.

We are actually supposed to be in NYC right now looking at apartments but our flight was cancelled this morning.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

[Uncle Ted]

It seems the new trend in urban living is micro apartments...

New York's First Micro-Apartment
Confronting a chronic shortage of affordable housing, the City of New York sponsored a competition to develop reduced-cost "micro apartments" to accommodate the one-third of New York City households that consist of single people. The Museum of the City of New York exhibits finalists, the winning scheme, and tiny-apartment examples worldwide.


A computer rendering of the winning idea, designed by the Manhattan architecture firm nARCHITECTS, is New York's first micro-apartment development. Units ranging from 250 to 375 square feet will be built on East 27th Street in Manhattan by Monadnock Development LLC.

http://www.bloomberg.com/slideshow/2...partments.html

Not to be out done the city of San Francisco has approved micro apartments as small as 220 square feet...

San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors tentatively approved Tuesday a trial run of 220-square-foot “micro-apartments” — carefully designed compact living spaces that have become all the rage in urban development. Pending ratification and mayoral approval next month, the plan beats, in smallness, Vancouver’s 226-square-foot “micro-lofts,” and make the 275-square-foot units under trial in New York look like airplane hangars.

http://www.wired.com/design/2012/11/...partments/all/

It seems that both New York and San Francisco are trying to catch up to Hong Kong.