Any tips for apartment hunting in NYC? Will be relocating for a new job and rather intimidated by the moving and apartment shopping process. * How much time to look for a place: 1 day, 1 week, 1 month? * Recommend finding a place before actually starting the job? I was going to move to the city a week before and stay in a hotel while searching for a place, but maybe itâs not enough time and maybe I should wait a bit too to make sure job goes well? * Is a real estate broker worth the moneyâcanât I just contact a place I find online directly and save the commission? * Any issues specific to moving from out of stateâcan I just keep my previous driverâs license for ID since wonât have a car, offer letter good enough to verify income and employment? TC: $300k
Park slope +1
Use a broker. They have access to listings you wonât be able to get on your own, and apartment hunting in NY is such a shitshow that itâs worth it to pay someone to do it for you
Thanks! My concern is that then problem changes from how to find an apartment to how to find a broker :)
Have went the âluxuryâ route and closed the deal on my own, would recommend if you have the finances to work in that $3000-$4500/mo price range. Fuck paying broker fees.
Seriously, it's 2019 and there are still brokers? Just use Streeteasy and don't bother even checking out listings without exact address.
Streeteasy is awesome except 90% of the time you end up needing to go through a broker to actually view and sign a lease for an apartment
You have two options in NYC. 1. Use a broker; if you want to find yourself in a nice town house or walk up this is really your only route. Itâs a scam but itâs how itâs done in the market. Apartments through brokers go extremely fast so you better be ready to sign the paperwork same day...itâs not like most areas of the country where you can go view 15 places in a week and then decide. 2. Focus solely on âluxuryâ apartments/condos that have their own in house leasing office. This process is a little more laid back but comparatively youâre gonna pay more for what you get unless you use the amenities to the max. Based on your TC this is what I would recommend, you can afford it and itâs a lot less hectic. No issues with maintaining out of state license. I lived in both NYC and Jersey City over two years and never got rid of my MD license. Given your timeline I would work over the phone with high rises. What areas of the city are you interested in?
ThanksâI have a wife and toddler, so thinking of Upper West Side and Brooklyn (Park Slope, Williamsburg, probably a few more), and maybe Jersey City.
Depending on your budget, I highly recommend the buildings along riverside drive on the west side. I spent a year living in The Ashley and have nothing but positive things to say about it. Regardless that area in general is awesome. Jersey City has a much more relaxed feel about it. I will say the apartment buildings in general are not nearly as well built as the condo buildings in NYC. There is a really nice apartment building in Jersey City that was an old factory. I donât remember the name of it but itâs like a 4-5 story building right next to the trump towers so itâd be easy to locate on a map.