Moving to New York

[lofter1]

Interesting ^^^ that a licensed real estate broker (who I would assume is bound to abide by the law under the State regulations by which the license was issued) would be encouraging you (& informing you how) to break the law in regards to Fire / Safety Codes :cool:

I'd try to get something in writing from the broker (although you might want to play dumb) just in case there are problems in the future.

Spread the pain around, ya know?

[Shapeless_Like_Water]

maybe someone can answer this. I need to ship my stuff to NY but I won't have an address until I find a roommate situation. so fedex and ups tell me I can ship to a center around the area and pick it up. but I won't have a vehicle to go get it, any ideas?

[lofter1]

Depending on how much stuff you have either (1) use a taxi or (2) call a car service in NYC (Carmel , Tel Aviv , etc.) order a van and load it up.

[The Benniest]

A little while ago, I came across the most beautiful apartment building I've ever seen ... in the Big Apple. I currently live in Iowa (:confused:) and was wondering about prices, since i WILL move to the city someday. Even though I've never been there. LOL! So ... how much would it cost to live in the city but not go waaaaaaaaaay overboard on apartment prices? For instance ... I don't wanna live that far from for instance, Madison Ave. or 5th Ave. but I don't wanna live on those streets, as I'm sure prices are MASSIVE.

How much would an apartment like this cost?

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/195/492647398_f7f01e33f3_b.jpg

Thanks so much!
thebenniest

[Front_Porch]

What nice taste you have, the benniest.

I didn't bother to look up that townhouse by its exact address, but a townhouse that pretty with that much frontage on the street would be, oh, $8 to $10 million.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

[NewYorkDoc]

Thats a very nice home.

[Schadenfrau]

Sorry, but Madison and Fifth run parallel to each other. Aim farther, dear Benniest. Much, much farther.

[thenextnaomicampbell]

Hello,
I am a 16 year old model from London.. I wish to be the next Naomi Campbell- so I have decided to move to New york, as I believe there will be more opportunities available for me..
However, I haven't a clue about how I am to move, the procedures ( if i need a visa etc.), where I should stay and how much I would need to bring with me ( to get me started)..
I love fashion, so ideally I would like to stay in a fashionable area, close to shops and FAR away from crime.
Please could someone kindly advise me on the best places to live and roughly how much money I would need..
Thank You

[Derek2k3]

Since your the next Naomi Cambell...come here on vacation, wack someone with your cell phone, and land yourself in the big house. Free room and board.

[thenextnaomicampbell]

Derek2k3, you are VERY funny- I wish to be the next Naomi Campbell in terms of success NOT in terms of going around and attacking people, however I believe shes innocent (there's always two sides to a story) and those people who have accused her are all GOLD DIGGERS!!

[fishermb]

can anyone comment on the F train service from brooklyn to manhattan during rush hour commutes? i'm looking at moving to a different area of brooklyn, one where i'd have a 7-10 minute walk to a number of express subway lines, but would have the F right outside my door, which lets me off right outside my office in midtown.

[econ_tim]

just moved in today and it already feels like home. all i need now is some furniture . . .

[RustyShackleford]

im a young person, im 20 years old. i've been to NYC 4 times and i absolutely love the city. this last semester of college i had to drop out and i dont know what im going to with my life. is it possible for someone without a college degree to live in Manhattan, the last time i was there i slept in my car, but the last few days a very nice lady let me stay with her and here daughter in east harlem, is it possible to live in a nieghborhood like that without a degree or having a roomate, she gave me the impression that it was. if so what what are some good jobs for people in the city who just have a high school diploma, i know there has to be people in manhattan who are like me, if i have to i could live in brooklyn or Queens, but i would rather live in the city. any info would be appreciated

[endure25]

ROFL I posted here like a year ago and wow its grown, but my ID got cancelled and wow... anyways

to the 16 year old person wanting to live in NY rich parts...start saving money, you will need it

I already have my GED and have 7000 dollars in bank account and im only 16 rofl, wanting to get into NYU as undergraduate, im gonna do it as soon as i get out of chicago, god i hate it here

oh and u will need a visa and a lot of other Identification but i dunno w.e

[kmistic]

I personally had a job lined up several months before I moved out here, and unless you have a fair amount of money saved up, I would not recommend moving here jobless.

Can you offer any advice on how to secure a job before moving? for example, did you use a placement agency, monster, or "know someone who knows someone", etc...

Thanks.

[fishermb]

Can you offer any advice on how to secure a job before moving? for example, did you use a placement agency, monster, or "know someone who knows someone", etc...

Thanks.

i applied for a job, got interviewed, and was hired. companies in my industry dont post on places like monster, i had to look through employment sections of the company's websites to find openings to apply for.

[Atlwebguy]

Hi -

I am headed to NY in late Sept for a new job. I've spent a lot of time in NY, so I know the neighborhoods (Manhattan only) pretty well. My new job is near Lincoln Center. I know I'll be working a lot of hours the first year, and ideally I'd like to find something on the UWS but I am open to others. I prefer not to be above Columbia.

My knowledge as a renter is limited to craigslist and backpage listings for price ranges. I'll be up in a couple of weeks to spend a weekend dedicated to looking for a place.

Other than using an agent, does anyone have suggestions for neighborhoods - with bars and food, that would be convenient to LC subway for a 1 bed around $16-1800 per month?

Let me know if I haven't posted enough detail to be clear. Thanks!

[conezone]

Hi -

I am headed to NY in late Sept for a new job. I've spent a lot of time in NY, so I know the neighborhoods (Manhattan only) pretty well. My new job is near Lincoln Center. I know I'll be working a lot of hours the first year, and ideally I'd like to find something on the UWS but I am open to others. I prefer not to be above Columbia.

My knowledge as a renter is limited to craigslist and backpage listings for price ranges. I'll be up in a couple of weeks to spend a weekend dedicated to looking for a place.

Other than using an agent, does anyone have suggestions for neighborhoods - with bars and food, that would be convenient to LC subway for a 1 bed around $16-1800 per month?

Let me know if I haven't posted enough detail to be clear. Thanks!


Most of the bars are on Amsterdam and Fairway, Zabar's, and Barzini's are all on Broadway for groceries. You should be able to find something for $1800-$1900 between 86th and 96th. I would recommend walking the streets and looking for "for rent" signs in windows and asking doormen if they know of any available apartments. There are a ton of doormen buildings on and between West End Ave. and Riverside, as well as a lot of walkups. As far as the 1 train, no matter where you are, you are always fairly close (79th, 86th, and 96th). There is also an entrance to 96th on 93rd and Broadway which comes in very handy.

[NewYorkDoc]

There is also an entrance to 96th on 93rd and Broadway which comes in very handy.

Agreed. I volunteer on Amsterdam and 93rd on the weekends...I'm glad I dont have to walk further.

[Front_Porch]

You should be able to find something for $1800-$1900 between 86th and 96th.


Atlwebguy,

Don't forget to set your time machine for 2002.

I do agree that pounding the pavement is the best way to find an apartment -- and don't PM me, because I don't work the UWS -- but I find it extremely tough to believe that in a city where 1-BRs are averaging around $3,000 that you're going to find a 1-BR for that that far south. I'm in the West 50s, and studios in my building are going for $2,800.

A better course of action might be to get a sense of prices through nytimes.com, where there will be fewer fake ads, and then going the craigslist/pavement pounding route.

I think I could do something pretty cute (fireplaces and moldings) in Park Slope for $2,100, but there'd be a fee on it -- if your job's not picking it up you're probably better off on your own.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

[conezone]

Atlwebguy,

Don't forget to set your time machine for 2002.

but I find it extremely tough to believe that in a city where 1-BRs are averaging around $3,000 that you're going to find a 1-BR for that that far south.

They exist. I live in one. :)

[Front_Porch]

conezone,

I don't doubt they existed when you got one, but do they exist now . . . that's the question??

If you've got an unlimited supply of them I will send you two of my friends who are busting out of Tudor City.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

[simplecitylife]

Thinking of moving to NYC soon...just checking out real estate looking at property.
Does this duplex look good to you? What would turn you off from it? It's on East 33rd, between Lexington and 3rd ave...5000 a month. Ignore the price if you want to. What would make you, save the price, not want to rent it? Also I'm a bit confused...it's a duplex but it has a yard...does this mean the bottom is for rent and not the top?
http://unfurnished.new-york-apartment.com/en/description/3435533-east-30th-street-duplex/

[Front_Porch]

They certainly do get points for photos, don't they?

Looks like the agency is offering the bottom two floors of a town house -- the lower level is the living room and kitchen, out to the "yard" -- the upper level is a back bedroom (with the double windows) and a front bedroom (the narrow one, with the single window facing the street).

There would be a similar unit or units above you with other tenants.

It is a nice neighborhood and the place looks to be in excellent shape. If I were renting it, I would enquire about the dimensions of the smaller bedroom just to make sure it can accomodate whatever you need to put in it -- looks fine for a single child's bed or a desk, but do you need to put a double adult bed there?

ali r.
{downtown broker}

[simplecitylife]

They certainly do get points for photos, don't they?

Looks like the agency is offering the bottom two floors of a town house -- the lower level is the living room and kitchen, out to the "yard" -- the upper level is a back bedroom (with the double windows) and a front bedroom (the narrow one, with the single window facing the street).

There would be a similar unit or units above you with other tenants.

It is a nice neighborhood and the place looks to be in excellent shape. If I were renting it, I would enquire about the dimensions of the smaller bedroom just to make sure it can accomodate whatever you need to put in it -- looks fine for a single child's bed or a desk, but do you need to put a double adult bed there?

ali r.
{downtown broker}

Thank you! I'm glad you cleared that up, I wasn't sure where the smaller bedroom was, on the first or top floor. I would probably need to fit a twin bed in there, but would a bunk bed fit?Also, since you were so helpful, how would you go to the upper unit? Would you walk in the door and there would be two doors, one leading to the lower unit (this one) and one leading up with steps to the upper one? And for the yard, is it fenced in? Is there a gate...does it look safe?Thank you!

[Schadenfrau]

Judging by the photos of the staircase, it would appear that you could just take the internal staircase to the second floor. There might be two doors on two different floors, but you wouldn't need to use them.

It certainly looks safe.

ETA that the yard appears to be in the back of the building. You would likely be able to access it through a door in your apartment, and the area would be surrounded by other apartments on the block.

[kel_atx]

Hi all,

Not sure if you'll be able to help with this, since it's fairly specific to my situation, but trying just in case. I'm talking with a recruiter about potential jobs, and it's possible that I will end up with paid relocation - if not outright relocation, then an adjustment to salary (probably in the form of a "signing bonus" to help cover the expense). I need to provide the recruiter with an estimate, as well as an adjusted salary figure in the absence of relocation.

I'm moving from central Texas to New York - roughly 1700 miles. A friend of mine recently used some of the portable storage units to move from TX to DC, and it ran in the neighborhood of $1700 - I'm assuming that tripling that would probably be a wise move, and that's if I do something like a U-Haul or the storage containers (which then necessitates hiring someone to unload the truck/container once in NY).

I'm planning to cut posessions to the bare minimum, so I'll likely be moving a small studio's worth of boxes and furniture.

Any ideas? Thanks!

[econ_tim]

kel atx,

you should call some moving companies and get quotes. that will show your employer that you have done your research and have realistic figures, which should make it more likely you get adequate relocation expenses.

[simplecitylife]

Since you all were so helpful in the last layout of an apartment, I was wondering if you could help me with this one.

http://www.nycdwellers.com/apartments/detale.php?ap_id=121313&n=0&rec_start=0

2 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms and an office...3 floors and the building has 6. Does that mean two floors of entrance doors to the apartment, and each apartment is 3 stories tall? Also, where is the other bedroom and 2 of the bathroom? I can only see one of each in the pictures.

Also, the picture of the door outside, looks like it's on the ground floor, since there is a gate. I know the apt. is on the ground floor too, since you can see out the windows into the trees and road. But is that outside door leading to a shared backyard? The black door with the tiles in the background is the same door, but from the inside..where is that located? In the lobby? Or in an apt? Just a bit confused.

Thanks..if you can answer any of these that would be great:)

[jj2007]

Hi,

I already live in the area but my lease is about to expire and I'm looking to find a roommate to save some cash. Can anyone reccommend any good websites or referal services (other than Craigslist)?

Thanks!

[Pietro]

Hi.

Could somone clue me in on the American/New York tax system. I know it gets complicated with deductions and all that, but basically what income tax rates are paid to who? Theres a federal rate and a state rate and maybe a local rate ... Is that right? Are they all computed against your gross income or is each computed against whats left after the previous one is deducted?

Or to put it another way, if I earn $100,000, how much of that do I get to take home?

Are there other taxes I wold have to pay?

Thanks.

[Mohamed]

Can I live peacefully:) in New York .
I hard-working :cool:

[Duff2k7]

I currently live in Northern Ireland which is shit but I'm considering moving over there and joining the NYPD, I'm just wondering if anyone knows if they're on a 'comfortable' salary?

Also, how long do I have to be there before I can apply for citzenship?

Cheers.

[Schadenfrau]

You can't work for the NYPD if you're not a legal citizen, and they definitely don't start at a comfortable salary.

[Duff2k7]

That's why I'm asking how long before I can apply for citzenship?

[Schadenfrau]

Personally, I can't provide details, but a search of the forums will. However, I can say that applying for citizenship after you move here won't do you much good for city jobs. If you're looking to move here quickly, get married to an American citizen. The cut-off age for NYPD appointment is 35, and you should be running a good two years ahead of that.

[sonki]

Check this site out. http://www.poopka.com . I am sure this help in what you are trying to find out.

[Pedersen]

I read at some site about a year ago, that after 5 years of living and working in the us u can apply for a green card and american citizenship?
But then u have to have a legal working visa, which seems pretty hard to get unless u are some kind of genious.

I doubt a guy like me who only went 9 years in school and then started to work in warehouses would have any chance of getting a working visa...
i hope but i doubt it..my biggest dream is to move and start a new life in the US. I´m sick of Sweden. hehe.

[Schadenfrau]

Good riddance to you, Mike3244. Crawl back under that rock you slithered out of.

[ZippyTheChimp]

Snivelling Mike and his childish posts have been removed.

[Bosendorfer]

Hi all,
Wow, what a fantastic treasure trove of information this has been! I've spent the last many hours reading all 103 pages of this thread and have learned so much. Only wish I had discovered this a week ago, before I signed a lease :p

I'm not a newbie to moving, but this is the first time I'll be living in NY. I'm moving from Cambridge, MA, to Greenwich Village for more grad school, and as frightened as I am of the congestion on the city streets, I'm thinking that I'd like to take a U-haul with my loads of books and some furniture. My question: is this an absolutely ridiculous proposition, given how absurdly difficult it is to find parking?

Here in Cambridge, when people move, they can reserve the parking space in front of their new residence for free for the days they are moving in. "No Parking" signs get posted on the parking meters so that it's relatively easy for you to park your U-Haul close to your home. Is there anything like this in Manhattan? (Haven't seen it discussed here, and nyc.gov has been no help.)

I'm moving to a very small, one-lane street in the Village, and I worry that if I can't reserve the space, I'll be either double parked (and thus blocking all traffic on this street) or having to park many blocks away and hauling my furniture manually from a distance. How the heck do people move their stuff into this area? :confused:

[Front_Porch]

Harvard or MIT? (Harvard alum here)

The first thing you need to do is to make sure your building's super knows when you're moving in, so he can reserve the elevator, put masonite down on the floors, etc.

The second thing you do is bring friends to watch the truck when you're hauling things in. Those friends jump bodily into empty parking spaces whenever one opens up . .

ali r.
{downtown broker}

[Bosendorfer]

Hooray! Thank you so much for your quick response. That makes sense, though I guess it means I'll have to recruit more friends to help me with the move...

Harvard, actually. I had another question that maybe as a Harvard alum you might understand (not sure when you graduated, so maybe not):
Like many incoming students, when I first arrived to Boston, I picked up a book that I positively wore out during my first few months: The Unofficial Guide to Harvard (or something like that). Part local reviews, part Lonely Planet, I used this book to learn about everything around me, from where to get a decent haircut on a student budget to which laundromats to avoid lest I risk losing all my quarters. Locations and hours of study-able cafes, how to navigate the T, best bets for cheap Malaysian... It was all in this bible for newbies. Is there any similar resource covering these sorts of mundane but essential concerns for students in Manhattan? All I'm finding are guidebooks for tourists, but as I'll be living there for good soon, I'd be much more interested in reading a comparison of local bank branches or internet service providers, say, than sightseeing stuff.

I do fully intend to explore and discover NYC on my own, too, of course. I'm just feeling a bit overwhelmed right now, and I'd love gather all the information I can so I'm not completely lost when I get there.

Thanks in advance!

[Front_Porch]

I can't think of anything quite like the Unofficial Guide, but I didn't go to NYU, so I would ask there, they might have something.

My web site www.frontporchllc.com, is set up for real estate clients, but it has the odd recommendation for a good bar, so it might be worth looking at.

Specific questions can be asked of wiredny -- search on your keyword first, and then start a new thread. The people here are really nice, and collectively the hive mind knows a great deal.

But my best recommendation, demographically and tonally, is Time Out New York, which is a weekly magazine with a fairly searchable free website:

www.timeoutny.com

For specific transit info: I find www.hopstop.com to be invaluable for getting subway updates, and www.onnyturf.com/subway/ is a google map hack that puts the subway map, which isn't to scale, onto a real map of New York.

ali r.
{downtown broker, Adams House '87}

[Schadenfrau]

This website/book might be of some use, Bosendorfer:

http://www.notfortourists.com/ny-pdfs.aspx?city=NY

[Bosendorfer]

Front Porch and Schadenfrau, thank you so much for all of this. I've been surfing the sites for the better part of an hour now. I'm getting so excited for my move, I can hardly contain myself. Hopstop is especially amazing and I can tell I'll be on it a lot as I get settled.

Thank you again!

[kliq6]

Hi.

Could somone clue me in on the American/New York tax system. I know it gets complicated with deductions and all that, but basically what income tax rates are paid to who? Theres a federal rate and a state rate and maybe a local rate ... Is that right? Are they all computed against your gross income or is each computed against whats left after the previous one is deducted?

Or to put it another way, if I earn $100,000, how much of that do I get to take home?

Are there other taxes I wold have to pay?

Thanks.

in NY 100,000 is about 58,000

[Pietro]

in NY 100,000 is about 58,000

Thanks for the reply ... Thought the post was forever buried.

Wow ... an effective rate of 42%?? Thats much higher than I expected (Its actually more than I pay over here in Europe!). I thought it would be more like 30-35%. Dang :(

[kliq6]

Thanks for the reply ... Thought the post was forever buried.

Wow ... an effective rate of 42%?? Thats much higher than I expected (Its actually more than I pay over here in Europe!). I thought it would be more like 30-35%. Dang :(

In NY you will pay Federal, State and City Tax. Also Social Security, Medicare and NYS Disability tax. My figure was based on also giving 5% of pretax earning to a 401 plan.

[Front_Porch]

I doubt anyone moving directly to NYC will be seized with a desire to live in Sniffen Court, since it's sort of a hidden gem, but it's a mews of converted Carriage Houses in Murray Hill -- and they don't come up that often.

so forgive me for posting inventory -- the regulars know I don't usually do this -- but anyway, there's a 1-BR available if anyone is feeling Victorian and wants a patio. $3,500/mo.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

*Edit -- for those of you who don't know NYC rental policies, the landlord would probably want proof that the tenant earns 40x rent ($140,000 a year) or has a co-signer who earns probably $250K+

[luke77]

Hi everyone,

I've been planning on using craigslist to find a place and sign a lease in downtown Manhattan for a September 1st move-in, and after replying to dozens of posts for shares and/or rentals, I'm convinced that it is more trouble than it is worth. I didn't hear back from 75% of my emails/calls, and the ones that I did hear back from either sounded really shady or flaked out on me. At this point, if I can find a broker who I feel is not ripping me off, I'm ready to use a broker to find a place. I have found someone who will go in on a share with me, so we're now looking for a broker recommendation.

My only real requirement for a place: within walking distance (preferably a walk of less than 15 minutes) from my workplace at Greenwich St and Hubert, in Tribeca. This means that we could live in Tribeca, Soho, Battery Park, northern FD, southern West Village, or western Chinatown. After that, my next priority is price - I work long hours and am not picky with regards to amenities, luxuries, etc, so I'd rather have a place that is not quite as nice if I can save a few hundred a month on rent. I certainly wouldn't mind living in a luxury building, but not if it is going to cost more (although if the building has a free gym, it would save me ~75/month). I am also willing to live in a converted 2br. Ideally I'd like to spend $2500 or less on a converted 2 (or true 2br), but I'm not sure whether this is feasible or not.

Anyways, with these requirements in mind, can anyone recommend a good broker who deals with apartments in this area? Also, I won't have a whole lot of time to go searching, because work is picking up. Are brokers willing to email you floorplans and pictures of potential places, and then you can go look at the place after you've more or less settled on it? Or do they prefer that you actually go around with them, looking at places? It seems like it would be easier on their end to just email various potential places, but I don't know how these things work...

Thanks,
Luke

[lofter1]

Luke: Send a PM to the poster above you (Front_Porch, aka Ali R.) She's a "downtown broker" who will do good by you ...

[Front_Porch]

I am happy :) to respond to any PMs, but that price range is not realistic for Manhattan. I could maybe get a downtown 1-BR for $2,500 -- with a fee on top of it -- but there's no hope of a 2 or a convertible 2.

To give Luke an idea of market prices, a nice Chinatown 2-BR is $4k a month -- a tiny one might be achievable closer to $3K.

If the poster wants to stay near work and on budget, then he needs to consider Jersey.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

[lcarter]

Hello,

I read through about the first 30 pages of this post before deciding that my question is specific enough to warrant a new post, so here goes...

I am (another) recent college graduate who recently moved to manhattan to work at an investment bank downtown. My "plan" is a little different from most of my friends - I'm not here to get rich; I hope to save as much money as possible during my 2-3 year analyst stint and then return either to business school or a Phd program. I've been looking to sign a lease for several weeks now. I had planned on getting a share with one of my colleagues because like I said, I'm trying to save as much as possible. However, I came across a place the other day and would really appreciate some opinions. It was advertised on craigslist, and is a no-fee studio in Chinatown for $1350/month. My immediate though was, "yeah right", because I was under the impression that studios downtown can't be had for under $2000 at the low end. So I went and looked at the place the next day. It is indeed the world's smallest studio - it's basically a small bedroom, hallway, bathroom, and mini-kitchen. It didn't look to be in bad shape, though, and had new hardwood floors, new-looking fridge, etc. It is basically large enough to sleep in and do little else. However, I thought about things, and this is all I really need. My job is basically one of those programs where they take fresh graduates and work them around the clock in exchange for high pay and great learning opportunities, so I am seldom at home to do anything but sleep. In my off-time I end to go to coffeeshops, parks, or friend's places - I don't generally have people over.

So I guess what I'm asking is, how do I tell if there is something "wrong" with the apartment? Even though it is extremely small, $1350 seems too low for a studio in Manhattan. It seems dumb to say, "Oh, well, this is too cheap, I'll assume something is wrong with it". The neighborhood is...okay - it's Chinatown, so loud outside, of course, but the place is somewhat interior. What should I be looking out for to see if there is something wrong with the apartment? The link to the listing is here:

http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/abo/401361494.html

Thank you very much.

L

[Front_Porch]

We can't see the place, but if it meets your basic requirements, take it.

Most apartments at most price points have defects, and they can usually be corrected with money. If yours turns out to have problems that you want to correct, you're already ahead of the game money-wise, and you can decide if you want to correct them.

for example, you've said the apartment is quite small. If you decide one month you can spend $2000, that's your $1,350 rent plus a nice weekend in a Manhattan hotel.

Plus, Chinatown is a pretty fun neighborhood to live in.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

[sharpy060187]

hey everyone.

i've been dying to visit america for a few years now, im english and am massively influenced by american media and am fascinated in the culture. im 20 years old and have a year left at university, but following that i'm seriously considering a move to america, and in particular new york.

could anyone give me any help on places to look for renting property? small and cheap :D and also about getting a job. anything just to get me started. i all of these things can be changed once im there, but i need a place to sleep and some money to spend from the off. i dont really have any idea how someone moves house to another country, and when the time comes ill give all of this alot more thought, but if anyone could spare any advice, information and in particular websites that might help me get an idea of housing costs etc i would really appreciate it.

i would most likely be moving alone, is this a wise idea? if ny is like it is in the movies ill probly get mugged on my first day haha. but i rly need a change of pace to my life.

thanks in advance.

x

[lcarter]

We can't see the place, but if it meets your basic requirements, take it.

Most apartments at most price points have defects, and they can usually be corrected with money. If yours turns out to have problems that you want to correct, you're already ahead of the game money-wise, and you can decide if you want to correct them.

for example, you've said the apartment is quite small. If you decide one month you can spend $2000, that's your $1,350 rent plus a nice weekend in a Manhattan hotel.

Plus, Chinatown is a pretty fun neighborhood to live in.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

Thank you! Yeah, I really like Chinatown. Before I commit to this place, though, I have one more question. My older sister has been helping me look for a place and she came across this place:

http://www.nyhabitat.com/new-york-apartment/roommate-share/5571

Does anyone know anything about the agency, New York Habitat? The page I linked to seems much too good to be true - a room like this on craigslist would be at least $1600. Even if there is a broker's fee of $100-200/month, that is an incredible price. I will try calling them tomorrow, but does anyone have any experience with this agency?

Thanks.

[lofter1]

Don't know the agency ^^^ but prices like that for a share in a Tribeca apartment / loft are not unheard of by any means -- particularly if the unit is governed by the Rent Stablization laws of NY State (and whereby it would be illegal for the leaseholder to charge more than the proportionate share of the rent to a roommate -- and could be evicted / treble-fined by the amount of the overcharge for renting at a higher level).

[rightwing]

I have been in working NY for months, and thinking about asking my wife to come over studying. I'm just wondering if I pay her tutition, can my tax be detucted? I am holding a workng visa but not making lots. Tax+, FICA this and that are killing me(Want to have baby but seem impossible.). But I dont want long-distance relationship neither.

Any good suggestion is very appreciated.

Oh, I am thinkng about moving to Astoria, Queens, any issue? any idea of how much it costs for a place for couple?

[Schadenfrau]

Yeah, I'd wager that a baby is impossible at this point.

I don't know how much help this will be, but it's a start:

http://www.nasfaa.org/AnnualPubs/TaxBenefitsGuide.html

Also, you've posted a few times in the past week about moving your girlfriend over here, and now you're calling her your wife. It's an important legal definition in this case, so you'd probably want to get that worked out before you get serious about anything you're asking.

[dennisonNYC]

Hello to all,

I'm considering a temporary job in Westbury, NY while I look for a permanent position in Manhattan. My question is this: Where should I search for a sublease/share if I want to be fairly close to both areas? And does the subway even go to Westbury?

Thanks much!

[Schadenfrau]

Ha, no: the subway does not go to Westbury. You'd have to take the LIRR to the subway:

http://www.mta.info/lirr/html/ttn/westbury.htm

[IGARLAND]

HI everyone. I'm going to be moving to NYC in November with my girlfriend - and I have no idea what neighborhoods to look for housing in!
I'd love to live in Manhattan, but it's more important to have somewhere with a bit of space in a good area that isn't too far from town.
We'll be working in Midtown. We'll have a joint income of about $90k and are prepared to pay $1,500 - $2250 a month in rent. What kind of areas should I look for?
Thanks!

[Schadenfrau]

Which part of midtown- east or west? There's a big difference there.

Also, what do you consider to be a good neighborhood? How old are you? How often will you be taking subways/cabs? What do you consider to be the most important aspects of a neighborhood? Sorry, but your initial question is too vague to answer.

Also, I would bet that you'll be living in "town" no matter where you move. You have been to New York before, right?

Finally, how long of a commute are you willing to deal with?

[IGARLAND]

Thanks for the prompt reply. I've visited NYC twice, but only as a tourist. My knowledge of neighborhoods is limited
I'm 28 and will be working on Madison Ave - on the north east corner of Madison Square Park. I'm not fantastically fussy about where I live - as long as there are good shops, restaurants and bars relatively nearby. In an ideal world, I'd love a bohemian neighborhood, that's slightly rough around the edges. But I am very realistic about what I can get for my $.
I live in London now and commute 45 mins each day. I can handle that - although I'd prefer less. I have been recommended Murray Hill for Manhattan and Williamsburg for Brooklyn. Are they in my price range? Thanks again for the help.

[Schadenfrau]

The area you'll be working in isn't Midtown, it's more Gramercy/Murray Hill. Unfortunately, I don't think you'd be able to afford much more than a studio in Murray Hill. Your price range is on the low side for Williamsburg, as well.

This list might give you a better idea of where to look:

http://www.newyorknabes.com/

Be aware that the prices quoted are also on the low end, though.

[Dennie]

I am planning to move to Brooklyn and work in Manhattan. I am coming up in October to interview for a week and was wondering what to expect inasfar as percentage of taxes deducted out of my checks?

[IGARLAND]

Thanks for your help. I'll check it out

[Infectious]

Hello everyone, I'm thinking about a move to NY and have been researching the idea for months now. I wanted to run my plans by you all to get your opinion on whether my plan is feasible or not. I also wanted to ask a couple questions about a couple neighborhoods not mentioned in this thread. I've read this thread in its entirety and have compiled a huge MS Word document with info from this thread regarding Neighborhoods, Useful Links and Articles, Restaurant Reccomendations, a Glossary and a couple maps. Thus, I hope some of my questions don't come off as annoying in any way. I'm not the type of person who doesn't do any work themselves. By the way, I'm the type of person who tends to write a lot, just a fair warning. And with that said, I'll move on.

Ok so here's the deal. I'm a 22 year old Art Student who will be graduating by the end of this year. Once I graduate I will have a BFA(Bachelor of Fine Arts) in Media Arts and Animation. I'm looking to move around 2-3 months after graduation, something like February or March, perhaps even April. I'm not currently working but will be looking for a job in the next 2 or 3 weeks and working full time(hopefully) for the next 3-6 months, depending on how long I stay here after graduation.

I currently live in Washington D.C, a great city in its own right but I feel as if NY is a better fit for me. I can't drive and honestly have no desire to learn so the fact that I can take the subway anywhere really appeals to me, that's not exactly something I can do in D.C. Also from what I've seen on a Craigslist and Digital Art employment sites, there's a good market for people with my type of skills, which include elements of preproduction such as concept art, storyboards etc. and 3d modeling and Animation.

Anyway, I've also been able to do a little freelance work as an artist in the recent past and will probably use this as a small source of income when I do make the move. My plan, however, was to get a crappy little job that allowed me to pay the rent but also allowed me enough time to work on my portfolio on weekends or nights and try and work my way into a job in my field in the years to follow.

As far as housing goes, I've looked into current rates for apartment shares and have come to the conclusion that I would probably be able to afford up to $750 a month. Obviously I would have to live with 1 or 2 roommates and that's perfectly fine with me. I've been looking mostly at places in Brooklyn and this budget seems O.K. I'm not looking for anything extravagant, ideally I would make the move with a laptop and a bag of clothes and store my stuff in a storage unit until I find a permanent place. Oh I should mention that my initial plan is to find a 2 week-1 month furnished sublet while I look for work and find a more permanent place. Does that sound reasonable? I've even looked into staying at a hostel and am not opposed to the idea. I also have a couple friends in NY that might let me crash with them for a week or two but I'm not going to count on that.

Ok...this has gotten way too long and I actually want some opinions on this so I'm gonna try and wrap this up. Basically, I want to know if any part of what I've planned out already sounds too naive. I'm only 22 and have yet to live on my own. What's a good amount of money to save before I make the move? Enough to live off of for 1 month? 2 months? I read housing should be a quarter of our monthly income so that would $2,800 right? I'll round up to $3,000 just in case. Would it be nuts to move with only $3,000? I REALLY want to make it in NY, I've wanted to live there ever since I was in 5th grade and every time I've visited I've never wanted to go back, especially when I was there last April. I'm willing to work crappy jobs if I have to. I'm the quintessential starving artist. Just let me know if my plan sounds like its O.K or if theres more I should take into account. I feel like I've thought of everything and theres even more I haven't written for the sake of brevity.

Also...one last thing. I've been looking at apartments and have seen a couple online in places I don't know much about and weren't covered much (if at all) in this thread. I wondered if anyone could provide information on the following neighborhoods. I will also add these to my MS Word document so that I can upload it online and share all this great information with others.:)

Bed-Stuy
Bensonhurt
Boerum Hill
Brighton Beach
Flatbush
Greenpoint
Park Slope
Sheepshead BayOk, so that's it for now. I have SO many more questions but I'll just leave it at that for now. I hope some of you can help and I hope that no one curses me out for asking so many questions. I'm a spontaneous person but when I can't be spontaneous I like to do lots of research.:p Look forward to hearing from you. Thanks!

[Schadenfrau]

For someone with your age, interests, and budget, I'd probably scratch Bensonhurst, Brighton Beach, and Sheepshead Bay off the list. They're fine neighborhoods, but pretty suburban and old-school. I'm guessing that's not what you're looking for.

Considering the rest of the list, Park Slope is probably a bit out of your budget, as well. Greenpoint sounds good, and I'd add East Williamsburg/ Bushwick to your list.

It sounds like you're being very practical and pragmatic, so that's one thing you've already got going for yourself.

[simplecitylife]

I've always been interested in keyed elevators..looking online it seems that a lot of lofts have elevators that go into the apartments themselves...:confused:

How exactly does that work? Can anyone go in the elevator and then only open the door to an apartment if they have the right key? Is there like 10 or so key holes in the elevator, if there are 10 apartments/lofts in the building?

And to leave your apartment/loft...how do you work it? Do you just open it with a button or a key? Isn't that dangerous with small children?

Thanks:)

[lofter1]

In an key-access elevator building one must insert & turn a key to allow the elevator to travel up to the desired floor.

This is how the freight elevator works in our building. Each different floor requires a different key. Each resident living on my floor has a key which allows use of the elevator -- but (theoretically) no one else can access the floor via that elevator.

[simplecitylife]

In an key-access elevator building one must insert & turn a key to allow the elevator to travel up to the desired floor.

This is how the freight elevator works in our building. Each different floor requires a different key. Each resident living on my floor has a key which allows use of the elevator -- but (theoretically) no one else can access the floor via that elevator.

Thank you! So how does it work from inside the apartment? I'm just thinking how dangerous that could be for dogs/children if it just goes anytime..

[lofter1]

You can have it set so that a key (at the exterior of the elevator cab / inside the unit) is needed to call the elevator up and / or open the cab.

[simplecitylife]

You can have it set so that a key (at the exterior of the elevator cab / inside the unit) is needed to call the elevator up and / or open the cab.
Thank you so much! Just something I was wondering for awhile:D

[Front_Porch]

We teach clients who live in keyed elevator units to think of the elevator as their front door -- you come up and walk in, you lock it; you go down and you leave -- you lock it.

However, not everyone who lives in a loft wants their cleaning lady, say, or their kitchen contractor to have access to their home day or night. So I have seen really high-end lofts where on top of the key system there is also a card access system -- many people in corporate offices have this -- and the cards can be coded to allow access only at certain times -- say, 12-2 pm on Tuesday.

That way if when your contractor is done, you just get the card back from him. If he forgets to return it, you don't lose sleep that it's floating around out there -- you just disable his code.

Some buildings also use fingerprint ID technology, but I have heard users complaining that it is still pretty buggy and doesn't work as well as one would desire.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

[IvanK]

Hi,

I'll be moving to New York from Paris on November 1st. I have a job lined up with annual salary of $55000.

Can i realistically imagine finding a place in Manhattan? I don't mind a small place and am aware of real estate prices (Paris is expensive too). A roomate would be fine although not ideal.

I'm willing to pay a broker's fee to get a nice place.

Any suggestions on places to look for apartments?
Any neighborhoods to suggest?

Any advice would be welcome.

Ivan

[Front_Porch]

Ivan--

You should try to keep your housing expenses to around a quarter of your salary -- So $1,150 a month in rent is about right.

You could go up to $1,600 a month, but you would feel like you have less money to go out -- what you spend in Paris will probably give you some idea.

For $1,500-$1,600 a month you can get a studio in the prime parts of Manhattan -- but it will be small. I would advise instead looking for a roommate share on craigslist, or thinking about neighborhoods that might offer more bang for your buck like Astoria or Prospect Heights.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

[Infectious]

For someone with your age, interests, and budget, I'd probably scratch Bensonhurst, Brighton Beach, and Sheepshead Bay off the list. They're fine neighborhoods, but pretty suburban and old-school. I'm guessing that's not what you're looking for.

Considering the rest of the list, Park Slope is probably a bit out of your budget, as well. Greenpoint sounds good, and I'd add East Williamsburg/ Bushwick to your list.

It sounds like you're being very practical and pragmatic, so that's one thing you've already got going for yourself.
Thanks for the reply Schadenfrau. I was worried someone would tell me I was being unrealistic but...I guess not too unrealistic.

I have been looking into the places you mentioned, they seem to have some places in my price range so that's good. I've heard that Williamsburg is where all the "trendy" people are. Cool people are alright but ehh I'm guessing a lot of them hang out in bars and clubs. That's not really my scene at all, I don't drink really.

If I wasn't taking advantage of Williamsburg nightlife (I'm assuming there is one) would it still be a place you'd recommend? At the moment I'm more concerned about a place to live as while I get myself settled in. I keep seeing ads for apartment shares in places like Flatbush, Bed-Stuy, and Midwood. Any info on these places would be greatly appreciated from anyone.

Thanks.:)

[Schadenfrau]

Those are all pretty big neighborhoods, and they all really vary from block to block. If you're just looking for a place to settle in, they're fine neighborhoods. You'd probably do well to get yourself a short-term situation and figure out what you want from there, just as you're already planning.

Really, I do think you're on the right track. Nothing you're talking about is ringing any bells with me at all, and we've seen a lot of warning signs on these boards.

[Infectious]

Thanks for the prompt reply Schadenfrau. Yeah you're right...I keep forgetting I'm doing the short term sublet thing. I just get really excited with my research that I need to know everything now. Heh, wish I'd been this way in college. :p

Since I've read every page in this thread I'm quite aware of some of the dumb things people have asked and said and have also noticed you were often the one that pointed out these absurdities. It's a good thing though, otherwise they would've made these mistakes in reality and it would've been harder to recover from them. So I'm glad you were honest with them and honest with me now.

The fact that you think I'm on the right track means a lot to me, to be honest I was afraid you'd tear me a new one.;) I don't think I have any more questions...I'll just take it easy now and wait for the day that I can call NY my home. Thanks.:)

[mattuk87]

Hi,

I'm from the UK and i'm about to start my last year at university where I study Television Production Professional Practice. Once i finish i'd like to move to New York for maybe 4 or more months. I have family that live in Huntington, Long Island so i was thinking of staying with them for a couple of weeks and then maybe trying to go it alone. I realise that 4 months isn't a long time to be renting an apartment for so if theres any other options could you please tell me. Also, if there is anybody on here in the Media industry could you please give me a little information about the industry in New York and finally i'm a bit confused when it comes to visa's, permits etc. Can i just fly over to American, stay with my family but work for instance in a supermarket for 4 months? Is that possible? Last thing, promise. I've been driving in England for 3 years, will i be able to drive in America or do i need to take a test.

Any advice at all would be very helpful, i just want to get out of this crummy little town i live in, it makes me so depressed and i'm only 20. I want to live life.

Peace!

Matt

[alonzo-ny]

Matt,

You need a visa to work, you need an offer of employment for a visa, if you have a british license you can drive here I believe but you may need to get an international license to do it, sublet for your stay find on craigslist and look while you stay with your family. The only thing you need is a job offer. Unfortunately thats not my industry so i cant help you there but media here is huge so you should find something but dont leave it late to find one, think about coming here maybe for a couple of weeks of you can afford the money/time as meeting people will boost your chances. I am from glasgow and got my job by visiting a company while i was here. If you are only planning on being here for four months you will most likely come on a PCT program you can find info on this at www.ciee.org or www.istplus.com the british agent of ciee. This program can last 18 months so you have an option of staying longer. If you plan on moving here permenantly its a bit different. Im on the program i described and i dont plan to leave so ill be job hunting after new years and then need a new visa, sneaky option! It just depends on your plans really, if you only plan on coming for 4 months what i described is enough info, just gotta get out there and find a job!

[mattuk87]

Matt,

You need a visa to work, you need an offer of employment for a visa, if you have a british license you can drive here I believe but you may need to get an international license to do it, sublet for your stay find on craigslist and look while you stay with your family. The only thing you need is a job offer. Unfortunately thats not my industry so i cant help you there but media here is huge so you should find something but dont leave it late to find one, think about coming here maybe for a couple of weeks of you can afford the money/time as meeting people will boost your chances. I am from glasgow and got my job by visiting a company while i was here. If you are only planning on being here for four months you will most likely come on a PCT program you can find info on this at www.ciee.org (http://www.ciee.org) or www.istplus.com (http://www.istplus.com) the british agent of ciee. This program can last 18 months so you have an option of staying longer. If you plan on moving here permenantly its a bit different. Im on the program i described and i dont plan to leave so ill be job hunting after new years and then need a new visa, sneaky option! It just depends on your plans really, if you only plan on coming for 4 months what i described is enough info, just gotta get out there and find a job!

thanks again for the advice. looks really helpful :). You said you need an offer of employment, can that be in any job for example, working as a cashier in a supermarket or is it only full time qualified jobs?

also, can i ask what job your currently doing and what you did when you first arrived in american. it would help me a lot...thanks

[alonzo-ny]

Im in architecture and have a bachelors degree. No it has to be skilled work something relating to your degree.

[Front_Porch]

I just saw a decent converted 2-BR in Chinatown for $2,550 -- a decent deal for two people who want location in an elevator doorman building and are on a budget.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

[chgreer]

I am likely moving to NY with relatively short notice. I'm making a consolidated post of tips I've read here with an introduction on my personal situation. Hopefully you nice people will be able to poke any holes I have in my reasoning. I've done the apartment hunt thing several times in Chicago, but the NY rental market is an altogether larger and much more intimidating beast. I appreciate all the help so far just answering other's questions.

Hopefully, especially the latter part of this post might serve as a general FAQ.

Situation:

My situation is a little unusual, but so are most.

After spending the last several years as a graduate student in Chicago, I've been offered a job with a financial start-up. The business is located in SoHo, at roughly W Broadway and Broome.

I am married and living apart from my wife (who will be remaining in Chicago). We've arranged it so that I will use my base salary (60K) to live here. Unfortunately, I have little in the way of savings that isn't tied up long-term into IRAs and whathaveyou. Still, 1/45 of 60K leaves me 1300/month for rent. I will be working long hours, and I don't really go out much. I don't need much space. I have excellent credit. I don't have pets. I don't smoke.

My goal:

+An apartment, studio is fine.
+Less than 1200 dollars a month in rent.
+Less than 40 minutes away from my office, door-to-door.
+Well-kept, clean.
+Passable kitchen.
+'Decent' neighborhood.

Specific comments on the goals:

'Decent' is a vague, catch-all word that means different things to different people. I'm looking at places like Bay Ridge, Brooklyn Heights, Jackson Heights, Hoboken, Jersey City, Forest Hill, Crown Heights, Bushwick, Williamburg, etc. I get the impression that even these designations cover
a wide range of possibilities, so that asking a general question about 'Crown Heights' for example, might be too broad. This email is more about procedure. I'll have more specific questions about neighborhoods later.

Preparation:

Items I need to collect when hunting for an apartment:

+job offer letter on company letterhead with salary,
+last four months of bank statements,
+a copy of a credit report,
+a letter from my current land-lord,
+cash for up to three-months worth of rent (roughly 3500-4000 bucks in my case).
EDIT: And I should add, from a good tip by Ali. R., a decent set of clothes so that I don't look like a total bum.

Specific questions about the items above:

1) Am I missing something?

2) Are any of the above items made redundant by another?

3) The letter from the landlord will be a nightmare. She is in Chicago, I am currently in Tennessee. Even when we're in the same city, she is notoriously flaky. Is her phone number/business card a reasonable substitution? She is a residential broker in Chicago who rents on the side, so has formal contact information, which might make things easier.

4) By targeting apartments with monthly rents less than 1/45th my annual base pay, will my lack of savings be less of an issue?

5) I am looking only at no-fee apartments. For my needs, I don't really need to pay a broker. Or is it really possible that I will see some benefit for using a broker?

Apartment Search Execution (this sounds corny, but I don't know what else to call it):

+Spend Mon-Thurs working at new job. Use downtime to find listings and set up visits Fri-Sun.

I have local friends who will, presumably, allow me to crash on their couch until I find a place to stay. It's a mixed blessing though. While having a place to stay is nice, the friend works for the same company and lives in New Jersey. Thus, I'll likely be starting my job as soon as I move up there, limiting time for actual apartment visits, and have to deal with my base of operations being in NJ.

1) The above plan is pretty simple. Am I missing something particular to the NY market?

2) Is finding a place given my plan and constraints in 2 weeks a reasonable goal? (I don't want to wear out my welcome with my generous friend.)

3) If Chicago is any guide, it's really not that useful to look for places this size and budget much more than a few days ahead of when I'm ready to see them in person/apply for them. The market for desirable units is typically so hot that they get posted to craigslist and then are rented within a week (if not a day). Looking much more in advance just allows one to get the general sense of what is available. Is this true here? Why then, do people suggest contacting lessors a month or more in advance? Perhaps this is for more luxurious digs than I'm seeking?

Once I get this nonsense out of the way, I've got more specific questions about given neighborhoods.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this post. Hopefully it wasn't too ridiculously simple.

[Front_Porch]

http://www.realestatejournal.com/images/residential/logo/logo.gif

Be Prepared to Surf the Web,
Couches for a Manhattan Pad



By Emily Meehan
From The Wall Street Journal Online (http://www.wsj.com/wsjgate?source=homesite&URI=/)
"MADISON AVENUE 2 BR ---- ONLY $1000 a person!! – SEE TODAY! (Upper East Side)"

NEW YORK -- This real-estate listing from Craigslist.com is the kind of hyper ad that anyone moving to New York City would likely encounter. The manic punctuation reflects the mood of apartment hunting season, which typically peaks in the fall as New Yorkers try to move before snow and recent graduates migrate for the city's myriad opportunities.


Lately, those younger people have been sleeping on couches and saggy air mattresses for longer than they imagined.


http://www.realestatejournal.com/images/wsj_icons/it_cityscape.gif
Enter the itinerant attorney: Ryan Perry learned that it's easier to find a job than an apartment in New York. The 26-year-old moved from San Francisco last year after finishing law school to take a well-paying job. He was determined to live in downtown Manhattan, a plan that took three months and four sublets to realize.


Mr. Perry didn't initially want to use a real-estate broker to find a rental, but ended up working with several because his long hours precluded time for browsing.


"It was a terrible experience," he says. "Brokers continually show you the same places just because they want to dump them." One apartment's living room was a converted hallway, he says. The managers of a few nice places rejected Mr. Perry because he had only been working a month. "A few would ask for my parents to be guarantors, and I said no. It seemed bizarre."


In the meantime, Mr. Perry sublet rooms in the apartments of other twentysomethings, week to week. "I would move into a room off Craigslist and immediately start calling new places, and in between I'd have to stay at friends' houses," he says. "I'd have dry cleaning over in some area of the city and then when I'd move I'd have to track it down like three days later." In November, through a real-estate broker his friend endorsed, he found a one-bedroom apartment in SoHo, for $1,900 a month.


People with short resumes and small account balances have perennially struggled to win leases in Manhattan's competitive, expensive real-estate market. New York City's rental vacancy rate since the 1960s has historically been one of the lowest in the country, below 5%. The rate was down to 2.2% in the third quarter, according to data released Wednesday by Reis Inc., a New York property research firm. Landlords usually decline playing referee to hoards of applicants, and instead hire rental brokers, who then charge chosen tenants about 12% to 15% of one year's rent.


The past two years have been exceptionally treacherous for financially vulnerable newbies. Average rent in Manhattan increased almost 12% in 2007 from last year, according to Property & Portfolio Research Inc., a real estate research and advisory firm based in Boston. A studio apartment in Manhattan now goes for $1,958 on average, according to local rental agency Citi Habitats. A one-bedroom rents for $2,632, and a two-bedroom for $3,721.


New York by the Numbers
• Population: 8,214,426
• Population 20-34: 1,803,997
• Moved from a different state in 2006: 104,628
• Median age: 35.9
• Residents over 25 with at least a bachelor's degree: 32.1%
• Median earnings for male, full-time, year-round workers living in non-family households: $41,639
• Median earnings for female, full-time, year-round workers living in non-family households: $38,333

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau's 2006 American Community Survey The trial doesn't end once you've found a place you can barely afford. Landlords are known to charge move-in deposits that can rival home down payments in humbler cities.
Soraya Eltomey and her three roommates just paid almost $20,000 to lease a four bedroom apartment in Harlem that rents for $3,100 a month. The security deposit was five month's rent -- and they paid a broker's commission.


Ms. Eltomey moved from Chicago to work as an assistant media buyer. The 23-year-old browsed vacancies in her spare time while sleeping on the couch of a friend's friend, and was shocked by the magnitude of paperwork prospective landlords required. So were her parents, who had to be guarantors on her lease. Their daughter's income does not meet the standard ideal of Manhattan landlords: about three times the annual cost of rent, which is commonly relayed as 40 times the monthly rent.


"I had to give her money and my ex-husband did, too, to make that $5,000 up front," says Ms. Eltomey's mother, Jean Hemingway. A doctor in Orlando, Fla., Ms. Hemingway had to fax her last two pay stubs, her bank statement, a letter of employment from her employer, sign the lease herself, notarize it and FedEx it back to New York.


"It was wild," she says. "I'm running between patients, back and forth from the fax machine, and she's calling nonstop. It's stressful when you have a kid in New York and you don't know where they're going to be living."
Henry James Ferry, a real-estate agent at brokerage firm Mark David and Company (it's their exuberant classified posting at the beginning of this column), says high rents coincide with unprecedented parental subsidies.
"They're helicopter parents, very involved with purse strings," Mr. Ferry says. The father of a recent, 22-year-old client contributed enough to keep her in a $2,650 a month apartment even though she only made $35,000 a year.


For those willing to give up the downtown dream, gems still exist and landlords can be merciful. Sarah Thibault pays $815 per month to share a loft with six roommates in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant, a historically black neighborhood of alternately preserved and decaying brownstones, about 25 minutes from Manhattan. She says her deposit to move in was $1,600.


Ms. Thibault, a 26-year-old artist and administrative assistant, came here in the spring after graduating from art school in San Francisco. She's relieved to get along with her roommates, because the first shared rental she found didn't work out. "It's been pretty intense," she says. "I lost my deposit, and I had to come up with a new deposit. At one point I had to decide whether or not I wanted to make this work."


http://www.realestatejournal.com/images/buyingselling/20071005-meehan2.jpg Emily Meehan Apartments in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. On the other side of Manhattan and across the Hudson River are other, more affordable options, like the New Jersey cities West New York and leafy Hoboken. The commute to Manhattan is short, but waits for trains and buses can be long in the wee hours.


Even though Laurie Bella believes that upon moving to Hoboken last year she inadvertently leased the "worst apartment on the planet," it was at least affordable at $1,800 a month, split with one roommate. (Ms. Bella says the landlord neglected building maintenance and she suffered a burglary.)


After a year, the 23-year-old assistant account manager found a new place to share in the same town, for $2,100 a month, by applying directly to an owner's classified listing, thus avoiding another broker's fee. "I basically stalked Craigslist for 11 months," she says.


For Manhattan dreamers, there is one fairy tale. Julie Waring, 22, just moved into Manhattan's Upper East Side, a wealthy residential neighborhood that has the Metropolitan Museum of Art and, according to Mr. Ferry, the most vacancies for some of the best prices in the borough. She graduated from college in Cleveland in May.


Ms. Waring found the place on her own after persistently browsing the vacancies of building management companies online for a couple of weeks. After pleading with the managers, she says she managed to dodge demands for a guarantor. Her deposit is standard. And rent is just like the ad: about $2,000 for two people, Ms. Waring and her boyfriend. She says the bill takes about half her income from a software sales job.


"Before I moved, all anyone said to me was how expensive New York is," says Ms. Waring. "It's true …but you can't find another place like it. No other place has Central Park, random street fairs, Times Square and the industries here. I would rather experience a ton and not save any money for a few years than be bored in another city."


Email your comments to rjeditor@dowjones.com.
-- October 05, 2007

ali r.
{downtown broker}

[Schadenfrau]

Call me jaded, but nothing in that WSJ article sounds too out there to me. Like, the next thing you know, people out of college with have to start living with ROOMMATES because they can't afford their own apartments. Oh, the indignity.

[Front_Porch]

well, I think it is a drag that the experience of newbies to New York City isn't what it was twenty years ago -- when I came. I think there is a value to living alone and learning to operate that independently that makes you, to cite just one example, a better married person.

but the housing situation clearly is what it is, it won't change anytime soon.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

[bclew]

Hey everyone,

This is my typical moving to NYC thread. Basically, I am going to describe what my plans are, and see if you guys think this is realistic. I have been researching it for the past 2-3 days, and I have never been to NYC (I plan on taking a 3 day trip around Christmas) so I am still very new to the whole concept.

Alright: My girlfriend and I are both 21, we live in rural NH. Neither of us have a degree. She has waitressing experience so can probably get a good paying job pretty easily. I have 3 years experience in retail, 2 in food service (cooked/delivered pizza), and 3 years in manufacturing. In terms of classes/credits I am almost through my freshman year at a local tech, with a 3.4+ GPA.
We want to move to NYC. We would probably end up with a studio or 1 bedroom apartment. It needs to be pretty safe area, able to commute to work (wherever that may be) and I am thinking somewhere around 600-1200 a month, with or without utilities. The bills I can think of for us would be: rent/utilities, food shopping, all the essentials for living (toothpaste, toilet paper etc.), individual cell phone bills, metrocards, school (probably with student loans) and spending cash. We would both be selling our cars and relying on public transportation. We aren't looking to live a high roller NYC lifestyle, we want the big city experience I guess.
I don't know where I would work, but I would think I would need to make a minimum of $12.00 an hour, at 40 hours a week. I am going to be looking for jobs and stuff online however I can. After about 6 months or so I would look into getting back into school, possibly Brookyln College.
Some of the areas I have looked at apartments (on craigslist.com) in are: Queens, Astoria, Yonkers, Brookyln. I think Manhatten is out of the question because it would be too expensive. A small apartment wouldn't bother us, we aren't looking to be fancy. But a key thing would be a relatively safe area, and this might be a dumb comment, but I would like to know my girlfriend is safe if she is riding the subway home after a shift at 1 am or whenever.
I have read some things that say a person needs to make $80,000 a year to live comfortable alone. Some people have told me we BOTH need to be making a minimum of $3000 a month to live. That seems like an awful lot, and it makes me wonder how everyone can make that much.:confused:
But I am also a naive country boy to be realistic.

Please if you have any opinions or experiences or any guidance for that matter, its all apreciated..

Thank you

Bclew


**EDIT: Well I just read that WSJ article and feel a little more knowledgable about the subject. Still would like opinions!! Thanks**

[Schadenfrau]

Honestly, I'd advise that you both get your degrees before you move here. $12/hour is on the high end of the pay scale for retail work, and even unskilled jobs are hard to come by at times.

Also, you've got to get the idea of paying $600 in rent for anything out of your mind. You won't be able to find anything near that price, and are more likely to be looking at $1,200 a month in rent on the low end. Queens (Astoria is in Queens) and Brooklyn are huge places- you need to narrow down your focus there. Yonkers is not in the city and isn't as well-served by public transportation.

The idea that you both should be earning at least $3,000 a month to live comfortably is not unrealistic.

[bclew]

Honestly, I'd advise that you both get your degrees before you move here. $12/hour is on the high end of the pay scale for retail work, and even unskilled jobs are hard to come by at times.

Also, you've got to get the idea of paying $600 in rent for anything out of your mind. You won't be able to find anything near that price, and are more likely to be looking at $1,200 a month in rent on the low end. Queens (Astoria is in Queens) and Brooklyn are huge places- you need to narrow down your focus there. Yonkers is not in the city and isn't as well-served by public transportation.

The idea that you both should be earning at least $3,000 a month to live comfortably is not unrealistic.

Alright thank you:). I do realize that 600 a month would be silly low, that was just a number I threw out there. $1200 was more what I was thinking for something... So I should look more to Queens and Brooklyn? Do you think it is possible to find something for $1200 a month in rent (split between my girlfriend and I $600 or so..) in these areas? I know from craigslist it is there, but after that article from the WSJ I am a bit disheartened from using craigslist.. Also a big concern is that it would be safe, and by safe I mean my girlfriend can take the subway at 1 am or later, and not get shot/mugged/raped (forgive me if I am being unrealistic, I'm a country bumpkin going off the medias portrayal)

And you are definitely saying we would each need to make about $3000.00 a month to live there? We aren't looking to have much, just a studio apartment to share, no cars. We will own what we need when we move out, and basically just be living for the experience and eventually I would like to continue my schooling in NYC.

Sorry if I come off as stupid but I just want to confirm things before I tell my girlfriend.

Thanks again,

Bclew

[Schadenfrau]

You don't sound stupid- just like you need to do a bit more research. There are plenty of people who live in the city for less than $3,000 a month, but what you can afford will be determined by your own needs. Consider how much of your income will be going toward taxes, and come up with a budget for yourself.

Whether or not you'd prefer to live in Queens or Brooklyn is also up to you- consider where you'll likely be working, check out subway routes from different neighborhoods to those areas, and pick out some neighborhoods you're interested in. As I said before, both Queens and Brooklyn are large areas with many neighborhoods.

As for safety, I do think that you're overly worried. The subways aren't abandoned at 1AM, so your girlfriend won't be riding alone. It's been repeated a million times here, but everyone just needs to keep their wits about themselves in any neighborhood. Living in a supposedly safe neighborhood is no guarantee that you won't be a victim of crime, as crime can and does happen everywhere. There's not some invisible forcefield that keeps it confined to certain blocks. It's always a possibility, though not necessarily a common experience.

[bclew]

Im unfamiliar with New Yorks taxes, is there a tax on sales and income? are there more things taxed?

Thanks again,

bclew

[lofter1]

Depending on your income level, marital status, etc. once you add up the Federal, NY State & NY City income taxes then you count on ~ 30 - 40% of a check NOT being available for deposit into your personal account (a chunk of which you might get back via a refund at the end of the year).

Or you can try to dive into the details of the US tax system in order to "Pay Later" via the claim of deductions on your tax form -- but "Pay Later" can involve interest and penalties, so is often NOT recommended.

Total sales in NYC = 8.375%, but is not payable on clothing items under $100 and food in stores (other than "take out" type prepared foods.

Bottom line: NYC is more expensive than you think. So plan accordingly. And be thrifty when you first get here.

[bclew]

Hey everyone,

Just out of curiosity, How much would a certified personal trainer make on average in NYC? Im sure its a broad question, but I know on average in NH they charge $30.00 an hour, given NH clientele is hard to find. I would think in NYC you would make more and clientele would be easier to find.

Thanks again,

Bclew

[antinimby]

I am likely moving to NY with relatively short notice. I'm making a consolidated post of tips I've read here with an introduction on my personal situation.chgreer, your situation and expectations look reasonable. You should be able to find accommodations in some of the areas you mentioned.

[sharleni]

Hi
I am a third yr university student, in england. I want to move to NYC after i finish uni (maybe not straight away). I want a career in brand marketing, but am finding it hard to find a site that has marketing jobs, that aren't sales assistant jobs.

plus the job has to be for a beginner,since i have no experience of marketing.

sharleni
x

[Rhegaana]

Alright thank you:). I do realize that 600 a month would be silly low, that was just a number I threw out there. $1200 was more what I was thinking for something... So I should look more to Queens and Brooklyn? Do you think it is possible to find something for $1200 a month in rent (split between my girlfriend and I $600 or so..) in these areas? I know from craigslist it is there, but after that article from the WSJ I am a bit disheartened from using craigslist.. Also a big concern is that it would be safe, and by safe I mean my girlfriend can take the subway at 1 am or later, and not get shot/mugged/raped (forgive me if I am being unrealistic, I'm a country bumpkin going off the medias portrayal)

And you are definitely saying we would each need to make about $3000.00 a month to live there? We aren't looking to have much, just a studio apartment to share, no cars. We will own what we need when we move out, and basically just be living for the experience and eventually I would like to continue my schooling in NYC.

Sorry if I come off as stupid but I just want to confirm things before I tell my girlfriend.

Thanks again,

Bclew

Hi new to the forum, and just stumbled upon it...Anywho it is possible to live in nyc with about $3000 a month (take home). You just have to limit some of you fix cost, like no cable or find an apartment that has some free utilities. Finding the cheapest possible rent that offers decent living helps. Our rent was $1300/month in Queens village. Also this is a big point, if you can't handle bugs (ie roaches) you had better find a house type setting rather than an apartment, to better your chances of avoiding them.

[Schadenfrau]

Also this is a big point, if you can't handle bugs (ie roaches) you had better find a house type setting rather than an apartment, to better your chances of avoiding them.

I completely disagree with you there. I've always lived in apartment buildings, and have never had a bug problem. I also know people in houses who've had more than a fair share of roaches.

I'm not sure where you're getting that equation from. You might want to avoid living directly upstairs from a restaurant, but avoiding apartments altogether? Not only irrational, but impractical for anyone who doesn't want to live in suburban areas.

[Rhegaana]

I completely disagree with you there. I've always lived in apartment buildings, and have never had a bug problem. I also know people in houses who've had more than a fair share of roaches.

I'm not sure where you're getting that equation from. You might want to avoid living directly upstairs from a restaurant, but avoiding apartments altogether? Not only irrational, but impractical for anyone who doesn't want to live in suburban areas.

Sorry didn't want to ruffle any feathers but was only speaking from experience. I lived and visited many apartments from brooklyn, queens and even in the city (63rd and 1st) and I have seen on occassion roaches. Im not saying they are running all over the place but if the building has them, and I honestly feel most do, from timr to time you might encounter one. BUT!! not frequent enough to be a big deal. Also BTW the places I lived in were not slums or anything like that. In fact some had doormen and had few critters.
Ron

[lofter1]

Be careful if you have things in storage ...

Oftentimes it is those stored boxes that bring the critters with them :eek: .

[luke77]

Hello everyone,

I recently moved into a sublet agreement in manhattan that was arranged through one of the "roommate-finder" companies (I'd rather not say the name - I don't really want to badmouth them...yet). I am subletting from a nice, honest-seeming guy and basically staying in a large bedroom in his house. The share seems like an ideal situation as it is located exactly where I need to be, but I have a small problem. The way the agreement was arranged, the roommate-share broker faxed a standard share agreement form to me stating, among other things, the rent, security deposit, etc. and that utilities were included in the rent. I paid a fee to the broker for the service and was instructed to deal with the owner after that. Now that I am here in the apartment, the guy that I am renting from says that utilities are not included in rent. I believe that guy and think that it was a mistake the broker made when drawing up the contract - however, the contract does state that utilities are included. I think that the broker probably told him one thing and me another (I guess - I really don't think the guy is lying). The copy of the roommate agreement I have is unsigned by the owner, because I was supposed to sign first, but I imagine that the owner was given the same contract. I haven't raised the issue with him yet (I went ahead and paid for utilities for the first month) because I wanted to see what my options are first - I don't really want to start off on a bad foot with the guy I'm living with. It seems to me that technically, I don't have to pay utilities because this is what is agreed on in the contract. I probably will not push it, though, if it means that the guy I am renting from does not get the money, because I do not want to create a money conflict this early in my stay. However, shouldn't the broker have to bear some responsibility if she truly told me one thing and the guy I'm renting from another, even if the contract stated what she told me? Any opinions/suggestions/legal knowledge are greatly appreciated.

[NYatKNIGHT]

Hi
I am a third yr university student, in england. I want to move to NYC after i finish uni (maybe not straight away). I want a career in brand marketing, but am finding it hard to find a site that has marketing jobs, that aren't sales assistant jobs.

plus the job has to be for a beginner,since i have no experience of marketing.

sharleni
x

Sharleni, I moved your post here, you may get more replies.

[Front_Porch]

Luke 77,

I have never used a roommate share agency but it seems like the obvious thing to do is to bring up the discrepancy to the share broker -- if he/she says that the owner lied to them, perhaps they have some recourse that you and I cannot think of.

Of course you're right, maybe "lying" is a strong word here, but you do want to get it resolved -- maybe once you talk to the broker you talk to your roomie and ask him to sign the unsigned contract?

The good news is that utilities in a New York City apartment can't be that much, maybe $30 for electricity. (Cable is rarely included in apartment rents so if the guy is charging you for cable, he's not ripping you off.)

ali r.
{downtown broker}

[rwinkett]

Looking to move to New York with my partner, can anyone recommend any recruitment agencies specialising in finance / accounting roles ?

[brianac]

Be careful if you have things in storage ...

Oftentimes it is those stored boxes that bring the critters with them :eek: .

The Ansonia Is Plagued by Cockroaches, a Lawsuit Says

By ANEMONA HARTOCOLLIS (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/h/anemona_hartocollis/index.html?inline=nyt-per)
Published: October 10, 2007
The Ansonia has been home to Babe Ruth, Igor Stravinsky (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/igor_stravinsky/index.html?inline=nyt-per) and Angelina Jolie, but now an Upper West Side couple say that a substantial part of the 14th floor in the historic building has become home to “a horrific plague of roaches.”
The couple, Alan Arkin (not Alan Arkin the actor, but handily for this purpose, a lawyer) and his wife, Suzanne Bagert, a consultant to private equity funds, say that since mid-September, they have hardly been able to sleep at night and have stopped using their kitchen, for fear of the pesky invaders. They started seeing roaches about a year ago and had an exterminator spray, which helped only temporarily.
Ms. Bagert, who works at home, imagines roaches crawling on her neck. “My hair brushes my neck and I scream,” she said in an interview yesterday.
Her husband found a roach in his sock yesterday morning, and Ms. Bagert has stopped cooking gumbo from her native New Orleans, or anything else for that matter, emptying her kitchen of all but a few staples like organic milk, lemons and walnuts.
She goes out for coffee since finding a roach in the coffee maker. She sleeps with the light on, she said, ever since she woke up in the dark and found a roach crawling on her.
So yesterday, after what Mr. Arkin called “a biblical-type explosion of roaches,” the couple filed a lawsuit in State Supreme Court in Manhattan against the Ansonia’s management, Sirius L.L.C., charging them with interfering with their ability to “use and enjoy their apartment” and causing a nuisance through its own negligence and reckless conduct. Mr. Arkin is serving as his own lawyer.
“This infestation,” Mr. Arkin wrote in his court papers, “has rendered their apartment completely unfit to live in.”
The lawsuit, almost breathless in its detailed recitation of the problem, seeks a trial for unspecified damages from the building management.
Mr. Arkin’s lawsuit says that his complaints have been met by “doublespeak and half-truths” from the management. Representatives of Sirius have told Mr. Arkin and his wife that if they are so upset about the roaches they should move, according to the lawsuit, and that management is “doing all they can” and that the couple needs to be patient.
A call and several e-mail messages to Sirius requesting comment on the lawsuit were not returned last night.
In his court papers, Mr. Arkin says that management has said the infestation is caused by an elderly tenant on the same floor who will not allow her apartment to be treated.
The couple lives on the 14th floor of the Beaux Arts building, with its corner turrets and mansard roof, which is said to have been the inspiration for the Hotel Gloriana in Saul Bellow’s “Seize the Day,” and was home to Walter Matthau’s character in “The Sunshine Boys.”
Formerly a residential hotel, the Ansonia converted to condominium apartments in the early 1990s.
Mr. Arkin and Ms. Bagert rent their one-bedroom apartment from its owner, a family friend, they said, for $2,400 a month, though similar apartments in the building on Broadway between 73rd and 74th Streets rent for much more, Mr. Arkin said. Mr. Arkin, 36, has lived there since 1996, and his wife, 39, moved in more recently, but they have never seen anything like this, they said.
They live with a Yorkshire terrier, Cali, who unfortunately does not hunt roaches.
The nadir was the night of Sept. 14, the lawsuit says, when the situation got so bad that the roaches were on the floor, the walls, the ceiling, the curtains and even the couple’s bed.
As evidence, they have collected about 50 dead roaches over the last three days, storing them in a jar, and they are also keeping a log of roach sightings.
Management, he says, has responded by sending a maintenance worker to knock cockroaches off the hallway wall, vacuum them up and then wash the walls with soap and water, a treatment that Mr. Arkin calls “grossly and negligently” insufficient.

[bclew]

Hey everyone,
another question,
Is anyone here a personal trainer? I am considering getting my certification (I have been working out for 4-5 years and working off/on at the gym same amount, should be fairly easy)

To me this would be a good solid fall back and a career while I hopefully continue school for business/communications.

I have talked to a few gyms in Queens, and I have an idea of what I would need to get hired. But what I would like to know, is what do you make on an average week? I did the salary.com and got a 25-75 percentile is like 42k-74k a year. Now this sounds good but I can't be sure as its a free service.

I understand personal training probably depends on the gym, and I know the average hourly rates, but thats just it, you need clients to charge the rate to and make the actual money.

Basically I am just looking for some insight on this profession in the big city, and how realistic it would be for a nationally certified trainer with 4-5 years experience in a gym environment making a living of 50k+ a year.

Thank you all again,

Bclew

[bclew]

Finally, all 108 pages read. I skipped a lot about families and people with 100k+ a year salaries, but that doesn't apply to me, at least not all of it.

Any personal trainers available for questions? Im wondering since it is such a client based profession if I would need a 2nd job. I really would prefer one solid job, same hours. I have done the whole three jobs at once juggle, not preffered.

Thanks again,

Bclew

[Front_Porch]

I am not a personal trainer but one of my former tenants had a gig at New York Sports Club -- It was part-time, and he was supposed to drum up his own clients -- so if you're new to the city, I don't know where you client base is supposed to come from till you meet people.

On the other hand, he loved having access to the equipment.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

[Strange Fruit]

I'm a fashion designer in Hong Kong, been working in the industry for couple of years since graduated from college. With a degree in fashion design. I'd love to work and relocate in the fashion capital New York, but it seems like just too hard to come true. Can anyone give me some advice about what can I do, or is there any angency dealing with similar cases or international headhunters or some other suggestions that might help?
Thank you very much in advance!

[IhaveNoName]

Hi, I'm planning to move to nyc with a target date of 3/31/08. Obviously that's several months away so I haven't found a job or place to stay. I want to narrow down which neighborhoods to live in before I start taking trips to look for apts. Im willing to spend around 1400-1600 per month, so I'm thinking somewhere in Harlem or Brooklyn will be ok for that price range. Which area in Brooklyn is most accessible/closest to the city for that price range? My ideal area in manhattan to live would be around WSP, just to give people an idea of what kind of area I like.

[Schadenfrau]

What's WSP?

Brooklyn is in the city- are you asking which parts of Brooklyn are closest to Manhattan? Also, which part of midtown are you talking about- east or west?

[IhaveNoName]

Sorry, I meant washington square park. I work for the federal govt, we're acronym happy. I meant which parts of brooklyn would be closest to midtown. It doesnt really matter which side, but I'll say the west.

[NYatKNIGHT]

WSP = Washington Square Park (my guess).

[Front_Porch]

I'd look in Prospect Heights -- decent access to transport, borders a big and fun park, and has an energy and diversity that seem like the Village on its better days.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

[Stella]

Hello everyone,

I'm moving to New York in December for three months, and I have some questions:

-I'm going to live in Park Slope and I'd like to know if you could give me some more info. Is it a nice place to live? How far is it from Manhattan? I'm sorry if the question has been asked a hundred times..!

-I'm from France and my visa doesn't allow me to work. But since I've heard a lot of people who are in my position (no work visa) do work, do you think it would be possible for me to work in the city? Is it hard for a foreigner to find a job? Would it be that risky??

Thanx for your answers :)

Stella

[dennisonNYC]

Hey everyone! Long time, no visit. Hope life is treating you well!!

I am currently looking for 1 bedroom apartments under $1800 a month anywhere in the city for a January move. Preferably no fee.

I just found what looks like an amazing deal on Craig's List and emailed the owner of the apartment about it. He got back to me and sent me this:

Hello,

The apartment is available. If you need to know anything else email me, I am the owner. Right now I'm in St. Louis, MO with business. The place has 650 Sq. ft.

This property is move in cond. with furniture or not if you like to take your own. Just add food and wine. Everything works. Address: 52 Riverside Drive, 10024 - New York, NY

THIS APARTMENT IS IN NEW MOVE-IN CONDITION
This 1 bedroom, 1 bath apartment is located in a wonderfully elegant pre-war, mid-rise building on peaceful Riverside Drive, alongside charming, architecturally distinctive buildings.
Just right across the building is Riverside Park for your recreational or physical activities.
A great starter apartment, this ground-level basement apartment boasts of full-size, full-view windows!

At a good 650 sq. ft., this unit features hardwood floors, an entry hallway, a hallway closet, a living room/dining room combo, a bedroom that can accommodate a queen-size bed, a full bathroom, and a separate galley kitchen.
East-facing windows can be found in the living/dining room, the kitchen and the bedroom.
Building amenities include: Full Time Doorman; Attended Elevator; Live-in Superintendent; Bicycle Room; Laundry Room; Common Storage Room; Pet Friendly.
This beautiful building is only 2 blocks away from the number 1 subway and the number 5 bus stops directly in front of the building.
Located between 77th street and 78th street, the cross town bus is located just one block away.
Just 2 blocks away is lively Broadway where you can enjoy a myriad of shops and restaurants and do errands quick.

The price includes 1 assigned parking space (outside) and 1 garaged parking spots.

If you decide to take it or hold it I will need a $1,800 security deposit (for 2 months rent) in advance and $900/month for 1 Bedroom and 1 Bathroom. The security deposit is refundable in case you do not want the apartment for some reason.
Lease/Rent Terms : 3 Months, 6 Months, 9 Months, 1 Year, 18 Months, 2 Years, Rent-to-Own, Lease Purchase.

Thank you for your interest


My issue is... this looks too good to be true. Don't you think? If you guys think it's reasonable I'll shelve my doubts and send money ASAP. But should I be at all suspicious? $900 a month on Riverside Drive???

Thanks to everyone who responds- appreciate your thoughts! :)

[718Bound]

If you decide to take it or hold it I will need a $1,800 security deposit (for 2 months rent) in advance and $900/month for 1 Bedroom and 1 Bathroom. The security deposit is refundable in case you do not want the apartment for some reason.


Front porch and others can tell you what you can expect to pay for that area, to be honest I have no idea.

As far as sending 2 months security... Have you been to see the Apt? Are you just sending the money wire transfer or pay pal? If you are I hope you can afford to lose that $1,800 because you may send it to him / her and never hear from them again. Is this a reputable realtor? I would never send anybody (especially if I had never met them in person) money for an apartment I have never seen.

[NewYorkDoc]

It seems very sketchy to me. You're going to send him money in St. Louis without viewing the apartment? I'd be cautious, if its too good to be true, it usually is!

[Schadenfrau]

You've got to be kidding me- of course that's a scam.

Every single detail sounds completely fake, but the idea of a reserved outdoor parking space made me laugh out loud. What, this place has a parking lot, as well?

[Schadenfrau]

Well, here you go. Is this the apartment you're looking at?

http://www.c21nyc.com/RealEstate/160113/2/353595.aspx

Note that the maintenance fee is approximately the supposed "rent" price.

If you're getting e-mails that swing from broken English to chipper real-estatese, try a Google search of one of the phrases. The Nigerian scammers clearly did.

[Front_Porch]

Do I really need to chime in at this point? 1) Schade has already answered, and she is to be trusted.

2) You hand shouldn't hand over money until you sign a lease, so that the landlord has your check but you have a copy of a legal contract.

3) The one case where you would hand over money before that, would be to give application money in a non-cash form to a member of the Real Estate Board of New York, because REBNY members can at least be hunted down in case of trouble.

and 4) 52 Riverside is a co-operative, and you could not possibly assume a tenancy without being approved by the building's board. The landlord can't possibly "hold" the apartment for you, because you and the landlord coming to an agreement isn't enough to establish your tenancy.

Am I done yet? Oh, 5) I don't work the Upper West Side, but a good deal in that area would be around $2,100 for a one-bedroom. For $900, the thing should come with the Brooklyn Bridge, because it's just as likely that's where you'll be sleeping.

Oh 6) Report this to craigslist, please. These people give us real New York real estate fiends a bad name.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

[dennisonNYC]

You guys are great, thanks so much for clue-ing me in.

I will definitely report this to Craig's List. It's amazing how blatant these scammers are and how easily naiive non-NYCers like me can be duped.

I will continue the hunt!

[ManhattanKnight]

These people give us real New York real estate fiends a bad name.


Therere are fiends and FIENDs. Recently, a Korean student, about 20 years old, in NYC to improve her English, needed a place to stay. A fellow student (from Germany) took her to see his one-room apartment in a West 90s SRO, where the two of them encountered the broker who had found the room for the German student. He showed them another vacant room in the building. When she heard what the requested rent was, she said that she couldn't afford it and left. A few days later (and probably intending to avoid paying the broker a fee), she returned to the building and rented the apartment directly from its on-site management. She had signed no agreement with the broker or even been told what his proposed fee was.

When the broker learned of this, he started calling her at all hours with threats and and banging on her door demanding to be let in. He approached her twice on the sidewalk when she left to go to school. The building's management told her that this guy wasn't even supposed to be in the building. She was terrified.

A mutual friend asked me what she should do. I advised her to call the police if he called or accosted her again. (I also verified that this thug was a duly licensed RE broker in NY.) She then received a threatening letter from a lawyer claiming to represent the broker. This lawyer, a little research revealed, worked in-house for a large lower Manhattan investment bank. She sent the letter from her Westchester County residence. She claimed that the broker had compiled audio and video tapes that he was prepared to use against her, threatened to sue her and told her that she would have to pay the broker's legal fees if that happened.

She was so intimidated at this point that she met with him on a street corner and forked over what he demanded -- 1 month's rent on a 6-month SRO lease -- $750.

Not always proud of my adopted home town.

[Front_Porch]

Hmm.

Hard to sympathize with terrorism.

On the other hand, I ruined my relationship with one of my best clients -- someone I met on Wired, in fact -- when one of their referrals didn't pay me.

I didn't stalk, but I did complain about the deadbeat behavior not only to the non-payer, but also to the referrer, who happened to be his boss.

You do feel like, "hey, I did the work, and you got the apartment, why are you trying to stiff me? would you shoplift groceries?"

ali r.
{downtown broker}

[ManhattanKnight]

Well, I hope that you don't prey on vulnerable and intimidated foreign visitors who barely speak English, do disclose your fees up front and do get your brokerage agreements in writing. And don't get some buddy with a JD after her name to threaten dire legal consequences to enforce a contract that never existed.

[718Bound]

Well, I hope that you don't prey on vulnerable and intimidated foreign visitors who barely speak English,

Oh come on. I don't care where anybody is from how could anybody expect someone is going to take up thier time and expect no payment to show people / get people deals on places to live. I think (then again this is just my opinion) she knew she would have to pay a fee (maybe the broker didn't go about it the right way and disclose the fee upfront). So she hears what the broker fee is tells the broker "I can't afford the rent" goes behind his back and rents the room she cannot afford without paying the brokers fee.:confused:

I am not sayng the brokers actions where appropriate neither were the actions of the stufdent.

If I or dennisonNYC pulled the same stunt of saying "sorry I can't afford the rent" then rent it from behind the brokers back... instead of this happening to the Korean student, the story would have ended the same... Threats from the broker, maybe some threats from his buddy the investment lawyer... So I don't think this can be played out as victimizing poor foreigners. More like victimizing people who you think screwed you out of money.:D

[Front_Porch]

I do all my buyer/renter representation deals on a handshake, everybody does. (Here's two corollaries: when I ask my lawyer to do something for me, I don't have it in writing that I'm going to pay him $350 an hour. Similarly, I don't have a written contract with my tax accountant -- at a certain level, these professional agreements are verbal contracts).

But of course that discussion is made, and that handshake happens, and I disclose my fees upfront -- just as my lawyer and my accountant do -- perhaps you'll find that to be the difference.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

[ManhattanKnight]

Of course, that is the difference. Oral real estate broker's contracts are enforceable in New York. But there simply is no contract where price has not even been mentioned, much less agreed upon by both parties. That's what happened here.

Not so incidentally, when this goon got the student to fork over cash during their sidewalk encounter, he had her sign and backdate his firm's standard form written contract, clearly indicating that his firm does not do handshake deals.

BTW, if you have a history with your lawyer and have paid her or his fees for similar work in the past, a written fee disclosure or contract or for each new legal task undertaken is not necessary. Unless that's the case or the expected fees are under $3,000, New York law requires more than a handshake between lawyers and their clients. Title 22, N.Y. Compilation of Codes, Rules and Regulations, sections 1251.1 and 1215.2. (http://www.courts.state.ny