Your NYC Apartment- Page 7

[AC126748]

Posted: 4/17/07 at 12:24am

Oh, sorry Foster. I thought you were serious.

[matthius202]

Posted: 4/17/07 at 12:33am

I've been sleeping on a couch since February when I moved here. Finally, in May...I'm moving into my 3 bedroom apartment (with two other roommates of course) in Prospect Heights. (near Park Slope)

It's a great area and I'm very excited. Great price...a lot to do in the area: Brooklyn Museum, Prospect Park, Botanical Gardens, and plenty of little cafes/coffee houses. All within an 8-10 minute walk.

In all honesty, I'm just going to be glad to get off a couch and into a bed.

[Anakela]

Posted: 4/17/07 at 12:40pm

warning, long rambly email below...

Okay, so now what? So far everyone I've asked has said check craigslist. That's great, but there's...so many ads, most of which are not for the fall.

So what do you guys advise for now? Keep an eye out but don't really start looking till July/August?

That's what I would suggest- I moved into my new place in July 2006, and I didn't really start looking until end of May. In fact, in June I gave my old roommates 30 days notice that I was moving out, before I actually had found the new place.

And also, I hear everyone say things like if you put the work into it, you find the right deal. Could anyone be more specific, either via this thread or PM? For instance, WAT mentioned getting a great deal b/c he was the first to respond to a Craigslist ad. Does that happen?

My apt hunt was almost like WAT's: mid-June I was still apt hunting, and on Saturday afternoon came across an open house listing on craigslist, for the next day Sunday from 12n - 4pm. I was the first one at the open house, met the landlord who was showing the place himself (we rent from him directly, he doesn't believe in brokers), and I knew that this was *the one.* I left him copies of my/my roommate's financials, and I was prepared to drop a deposit right there, but he was only interested in meeting people, not committing to taking $$, that day. And then, I swung back around at the *end* of the open house that day, to touch base with him, show that we were seriously interested.

The next night Monday night I was signing the lease and the apartment was ours.

What I learned in that awful month of apt hunting (apt hunting really should be a sport in nyc):
- check craigslist *multiple* times a day
- be prepared to see a lot of apartments- I could see a place or two after work during the week, 3-4 places on Saturday and Sunday each
- have a plan of what you want: neighborhood, near what train, # of bedrooms, max rent. If roommate situation: is rent going to be evenly split, or is the person with 'the bigger bedroom' going to pay more, etc.? Our list consisted of: Astoria, 2 bdrm, prefer $1600-1800/month, no more than $1900/month, walking distance to the train (no taking the bus to the train areas), anything/ everything else we didn't care and were prepared to be flexible about, but for some people hardwood floors, large kitchen, no upstairs neighbor, etc whatever are important to them and so they should be on the list.
- open houses: pay attention to the start time, not the end time, our landlord wasn't prepared to rent to anyone the day he was showing the place, but there are places that if the open house was from 12n-4pm would have had the place rented out by 1pm.
- be prepared to drop $$ for a deposit right when you first see the place. Be prepared for that $$ deposit to have to be in *cash* for a landlord/broker who will not wait for a check (esp if you still have an out of state account) to clear.
- have copies of paystubs, etc., for all parties who will be renting ready to leave behind with broker/landlord. My roommate was moving in from out of state, so we were super-prepared and I had copies of her paystubs, credit reports, checking account statements (prove you don't bounce checks), etc. ready to produce if asked for
- I had a horrible broker experience trying to get one place, but brokers work for others
- ditto I had a horrible experience with a pay website, but again, rent-direct, etc type sites work for others
- when I first moved to NYC I thought it strange how many people paid rent in cash, and/or were on a month to month lease, or no lease, etc.- some places are set up like that, though, so figure out your comfort zone about this.

feel free to pm me if you have questions, i like sending out the good apartment search karma, builds up credits for when i have to next apt search myself. :)

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 4/17/07 at 4:04pm

Thanks guys, this is great!

Okay, next question: a pet cat. What are the chances apartments allow that, how much more would I have to pay for him, and what are the risks involved in sneaking him in?

[Calvin]

Posted: 4/17/07 at 4:15pm

From what I understand: Even if you live somewhere that doesn't allow it, if you keep a pet for a certain amount of time and they don't say anything (and it's a ridiculously short amount of time, like 30 days or something) they can't say anything about it from that point. Like my building is technically no pets, but I hear dogs yapping all the time. And I babysat a dog for a weekend, and the super saw me and never said a word.

[Anakela]

Posted: 4/17/07 at 4:38pm

a landlord has 90 days (3 months) to enforce a 'no pet' provision, once he/she learns about the pet- but the onus is upon you to prove that the landlord knew about the pet.

Someone else can translate the rest of this provision into English. :)

Sec. 27-2009.1 Rights and Responsibilities of Owners and Tenants in Relation to Pets Updated On: 4/17/07 at 04:38 PM

[Gothampc]

Posted: 4/17/07 at 5:05pm

Anakela brings up a very important point:

Have your checkbook with you and be ready to sign an application fee and/or deposit check.

One of the reasons I got my apartment is because all of these NYU students were looking at the apartment, and some of them were saying "I'd like to bring my mother back to see it." I was the first one to write a check for the $15 application fee (to cover a credit check). I was moving my furniture in while the NYU students were asking Daddy if a West Village rent stabilized, one bedroom, near the 1,A,C,E,B,D,F,Q was worth renting.

Updated On: 4/17/07 at 05:05 PM

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 12:19pm

Wow, that's AWESOME re: pets. I mean, my cat doesn't meow at all, he purs fairly loud, but if dogs are heard yapping and nothing is done...that is very good news, I miss my cat so much!

Thanks Goth, I would probably be one of those NYU students. But my mom will likely be footing the bill, so maybe I should have her come with me with the necessary preparations.

I mean, it's still a while away for fall, but I already feel so much ahead of the game thanks to all the great information and advice you are all giving me. Thank you so much!

[Anakela]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 12:54pm

I've never had a parent pay so I don't know the specifics, but fyi if your mom is paying your rent, some brokers/landlords have rules about how much income a guarantor has to have, could be like (75-80 times?) the monthly rent, could be more if parent doesn't live in the tri-state area, so you might want to just do some research on this to make sure you'll have all the info on mom that you'll need, if/when you need it.

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 6/22/07 at 9:36pm

So I started the apartment search, and I'm already understanding everything you guys told me a couple of months ago. I feel like I shouldn't even contact any craigslist postings put up more than a day ago because if it's a good deal, it's been snatched up.

Matthius (if you're still around), I actually think we're checking out a place in Prospect Heights. Seems like not terribly unsafe, an area near some cool things, and not terrible commute to Manhattan. We'll see.

Does anyone know anything about Sunset Park? Seems to be another place not terribly unsafe (like bushwick or bed-stuy) and not too far from Manhattan.

Hmm, Ridgewood is in Queens along the L, huh? Now I know Bushwick's on the L and not a great place to live, and I don't wanna be all the way down in Canarsie, but what about some of the other places along the L, safe enough?

When they want to see credit checks, do they need to see it for all roommates? Because one of my potential roommates, I think, once had a pretty bad credit situation.

Now also, I realize when we/I/my friend goes to see a place, if we want any chance at it, we have to be ready with some sort of money. For some places, it may just have to be the app fee, or definitely a deposit? I'd much rather the app fee for obvious reasons.

Umm...any updated advice? Anyone know anyone looking to lease a place on the cheapside? Let me know

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 6/23/07 at 2:41pm

Hope nobody minds a bump