Why won't anyone house me?

August 17, 2010 11:43 AM

How can I find a short-term sublet not using Craiglist? In Queens.

It's not that I don't know how to do this--I've done it before, and I've done it through Craigslist, but I'm looking for a 2-month sublet in suburban queens and I feel like there is no one offering what I want--Everyone on Craiglist wants long term, or they don't even reply. I'm starting to be concerned that I can't find housing at all. I'm here, so I can visit or do IRL things.

posted by Michael Pemulis to Travel & Transportation (3 answers total)

Walk around the neighborhood. Ask at bodegas, ask in laundromats, anything that's not a chain that looks like it's been there a while. Look for handbills advertising CUARTO. That's 'room' in spanish and they are used to people coming and going.

What you want is there, it's just there under the wire.

Also, have you tried around the universities?
posted by micawber at 11:51 AM on August 17, 2010

Check the newspaper.
posted by amro at 11:54 AM on August 17, 2010

Seconding micawber's idea for "SE RENTA CUARTO" signs. They're on every pole and post in my neighborhood. You might have to try a few times before you get someone who speaks English. Having a Spanish-speaking friend make the calls for you (and, obviously, stating they're asking for someone who doesn't their language) would help you out a lot.

Also: go to young-people bars in the neighborhood you like and look for bulletin boards. You can even put your request on it. This works more in the more chill, quiet bars than the packed-to-the-gills-on-Friday sorts.
posted by griphus at 12:05 PM on August 17, 2010