Moving from Manhattan to the Outer Boroughs, help requested

February 13, 2008 11:21 PM

My roommate and I are planning on leaving our filthy, shitty East Village apartment, to find something nicer and larger in Brooklyn or Queens. How do we go about making this move?

We're likely making this more complicated than it should be... Our current lease is up at the end of the summer, but we want to start looking for places as soon as possible. Obviously, no unit would stay vacant for six months, so we can't look at properties now, but is it at all possible to set up an arrangement with a broker, who might know what rental properties will be available in six months' time? Have any of you ever done this? We're thinking that by August, when our lease is up, our search will be complicated by the plethora of students looking for housing. Hence, we want to find something, and ideally have a lease, before then.

Neither of us have ever had to deal with a broker, having inherited leases from friends, so we don't really know how to go about making the first move. Do brokers deal with specific neighborhoods, or can I just call up any broker in the city and get what we're after? Can anyone recommend any brokers or agencies from personal experience?

(If it's of any relevance, we're looking at basically anywhere in Brooklyn, ideally "brownstone" Brooklyn, that's less than a half hour to the city. We'd prefer not to go past Prospect Park, though I lived in the Lefferts Gardens area before and found it to be quite nice. Failing that, Astoria or LIC in Queens.)

posted by incomple to home & garden (12 comments total)

Don't bother with a broker. NYC real estate runs on Craigslist nowadays, in my experience.
(Well, unless you love dropping thousands of extra dollars).

Talk to your landlord, it's possible that he'll let you leave a month or two early--depending on personality.

Also, in my experience, Brooklyn real estate is pretty consistent--you really don't need to try 6 months early, since it'll be the same moderately crappy apartments. I freaked out about this too (how can I find an apartment in 2 weeks? AAH!) but really, it's not a big deal.
posted by nasreddin at 11:30 PM on February 13, 2008

Craigslist is what I was fearing... Not that it hasn't been very useful for finding roommates in the past, but for getting a place on your own, it seems like half of the listings are obviously fake, only designed for bait-and-switch. It's such a headache. But, it's all in the game, I guess...

Also, that's good to know about Brooklyn real estate. Looking at my old neighborhood on craigslist, it looks like it's the same huge, beautiful places available for not a lot of money. It makes moving back seem pretty tempting.
posted by incomple at 12:02 AM on February 14, 2008

And upon looking at your profile, nasreddin, it looks like you're not far from where I used to live, Ocean and Flatbush. I haven't made it out in the past few years since I've moved... Has the neighborhood changed at all?
posted by incomple at 12:05 AM on February 14, 2008

I've only lived there for a couple years, but it's still Trini and Haitian, although there are increasing numbers of gentrifiers moving in.

I dunno; YMMV, but I've looked at a number of places and there weren't any fake listings. Craigslist charges $10 to advertise an apartment now, so there isn't much spam.
posted by nasreddin at 12:08 AM on February 14, 2008

Brokers have no idea what will be available in 6 months; they'll tell you to start looking in the month before. For the vast majority of leases, people are only required to give 30 days' notice. I'll second Craigslist as the only thing you need.

If you liked PLG, how about the neighborhood just south of it, Flatbush around Church Ave -- that's a really mellow and nicely mixed area where deals are still plentiful and it's less than half an hour to Manhattan on the F.
posted by lorimer at 12:25 AM on February 14, 2008

Ha, I was reading your minds while you were talking :) There are two really nice buildings there on the Q, run by AMA city living, that you might want to check out. No broker's fee and, as I recall, nicely affordable 2BRs.
posted by lorimer at 12:30 AM on February 14, 2008

Thanks, nasreddin and lorimer. I guess I'll just have to do the legwork myself, and save myself a few thousand dollars in the process.
posted by incomple at 4:52 AM on February 14, 2008

You really can casually ask your landlord to let you out of the lease without penalty. Stress that you are totally willing to stay and fulfill your obligation, but that if he'd like to think about turning over the apartment sooner than that, you'd be willing to work something out.
posted by hermitosis at 6:58 AM on February 14, 2008

Be extra cautious of the scams on Craigslist nowadays. I've had a couple friends who were stumbling upon them day after day.

In some neighborhoods, it might be nigh impossible to find a decent place without a broker. Dropping a couple thousand split between two people and over 12 months (or more) is probably worth a nice place or neighborhood. So don't rule it out if CL isn't working.
posted by yeti at 8:04 AM on February 14, 2008

i've broken leases three times in new york and never had a problem. it's only a problem if there's a chance they won't fill the vacancy, which in new york will never happen.
posted by thinkingwoman at 9:50 AM on February 14, 2008

Everything everyone's said here is true: most everything happens via CraigsList.

That said, it would help to make sure that everyone you know is aware that you're looking, so they can let you know what's happening in their buildings- i.e. if one of their neighbors is planning to move out or if an apartment is being renovated in preparation for being put on the rental market. Sometimes landlords begin renovating apartments several months before putting them on the market, and if you contact them directly with impeccable credentials, great credit report, headshot, firstborn, etc. they may be willing to arrange something before the apartment renovation is complete just so they won't have to deal with the hassle of finding a renter through CraigsList. If your friends know a place is being renovated in their building, or in the vicinity, they might be able to tip you off about it. (Incidentally, this is how I found my current place after two months of panic and misery sorting through scams and uninhabitable overpriced shitholes on CraigsList).

Also, you might be surprised by how pleasant some of the Brooklyn neighborhoods you assume of your range, lifestyle- or commute-wise are. It might help to spend a Saturday poking around the D, B, and Q lines, walking around Ditmas Park, Sunset Park, and even Prospect Heights/Bed-Stuy. All of these areas have a nice range of housing stock and are a very reasonable commute to Manhattan.

Good luck!
posted by foxy_hedgehog at 11:21 AM on February 14, 2008

along foxy-hedgehog's advice, another thing that's worked for friends in the past is going and walking around the neighborhood you want to live in and talking to the supers. maybe even slip them a little donation to their favorite charity to keep you apprised of changes in the buildings you really love.

it's a low percentage shot, but when you hit, you hit.

that said, i don't know that part of brooklyn that well. those buildings may not have live-in supers.
posted by elsar at 12:21 PM on February 14, 2008