Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with nyc and rent

How hard can it be to rent out a no fee ferchristsake

cestmoi15 — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 16:35:40 -0800

Where do you search for an apt in NYC? I'm looking to rent out my apt in NYC by owner, no fee. I've signed up with Craigslist, but have been out of the market for so long I no longer know where else people check. So, where is it the kids are rental hunting these days?

Lower Rent NYC Area Filter please help

spacefire — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 10:18:49 -0800

Lower my rent at my current residence and stay for another year. After the first year living in my current appartment, I didn't get an updated lease. The lease simply rolled onto the next year, or so they said. I'm not sure about the tenant/landlord right implications of this, but it might be of consequence. I live in Hoboken in a building managed by a corporation. Assuming the lease was automatically renewed, we have three months left.

I keep hearing that rents are dropping in the NYC metro area, and I would really like to pay less than what we are paying right now. My wife does not have a full-time job currently and I am going back to school full time, on a fellowship which, although bigger than average, still brings a big drop in income for our household. Can I approach our landlord and try to negotiate a new lease for another year with a lower rent?

Our next-door neighbors are moving away and soon and I could approach the new tenants and find out how much they are paying for rent, and if it is less than us, should I bring that up with the landlord? Who, again, is not a person but rather a corporation.

How should I proceed in this case?

Not Quite the King of Queens

acorn1515 — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 14:06:31 -0800

NYC Filter - I'm moving to Queens in August, and on the hunt for both neighborhood/broker recommendations. Astoria appears to be out of the mix. My boyfriend's in law school out on Long Island, (waaay out) in Central Islip. I work in midtown Manhattan. We've decided to move in together at the end of July, and I've agreed to meet him halfway from where I'm at on the UES -- which puts us out in the Forest Hills/Kew Gardens area.

We discussed Astoria, but he will most likely be driving to school most days for 9 a.m. classes and is concerned about traffic. We discussed Bayside/Flushing but I don't have a car and am not big on giving up life with easy access to neighborhood stores as well as the Subway and all parts of Manhattan.

We're planning to drive out around Forest Hills and Kew Gardens this weekend and begin getting a sense for the neighborhood, but would be interested in hearing other suggestions for both where we might considering living, tips about apartment hunting in the neighborhoods, or any brokers you might recommend.

The dream is for a 2 bedroom around $1,500, but it's looking like a nice 1 bedroom (without a bus ride to the Subway) is more realistic.

Advice for hunting for mid-range 3-bedroom apartment in NYC?

8k — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 09:01:11 -0800

Tips for finding a 3-bedroom apartment in NYC? A good friend and colleague is looking for a 3-br apartment in NYC (as they have 2 teenage daughters).
He's relocating for work, so he obviously has a reasonably good job, but definitely not a Wall St-type (either then or now) salary.

Everything >2 bedrooms seems to be quite high end - $4k and above - which is a bit too much. Kids' school is on upper west side.

Any suggestions for how to go about this? We are foreigners so the whole thing is a bit opaque.

Should I confront my roommate about overcharging me for rent?

lxs — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 14:28:48 -0800

I found out my roommate is overcharging me for rent - do I do anything? I recently moved into an apartment share with a roommate who has already been living in the apartment for about six months. I found an invoice today that contained the full rent amount, and it looks like I'm paying $100 more than what half of it would be each month. FWIW, I did not know my roommate before I moved in (we found eachother on craigslist), we're living in NYC, our apartment is rent-controlled, and the place is in her name.

I'm curious about the politics of roomshares, and whether I'm entitled to say something or not. Honestly, I most likely will not since the apartment IS rent-controlled and thus still a good deal, plus I do like my roommate and don't want to risk causing a situation awkward enough that I might want to move again. Regardless of what I'm inclined to do, I'm curious what the objective standard (if one could be said to exist) on these situations is - do I have a right to say anything? Is this common? Is it considered an unscrupulous thing to do, or just the way of the world when it comes to NYC apartments?

Thanks in advance for any insight.

Why is my landlord acting against his own economic interests?

raconteur — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 11:46:21 -0800

NYCRentFilter: My landlord is letting me walk after my lease is up rather than cut my rent, even though the apartment will be vacant for at least a month after I leave. Why? So I have a nice but pricey apartment in the West Village. Had a two year lease with the same rent the whole time. We signed the lease near the high water mark of the Manhattan rental market. When the landlord gave us our renewal forms, he left the rent the same, which in the NYC market is a pretty major concession to the current economic situation. But, my girlfriend and I felt, not enough. We sent a letter proposing a cheaper rent; we were hoping to meet in the middle-- taking roughly one month's rent off of the year, spread out over each month. They said they weren't in a position to budge arguing that: a, getting the same rent for another year was enough of a concession already and b, their properties are low vacancy and they are not having problems filling them.

For two years, we've been excellent tenants and always paid on time; the response to our letter by the landlord even said so. But still, not even a counter offer, just take it or leave it. We left it.

So here's the kicker: we found a great place in Brooklyn. We're very happy with it. But we found out our old apartment will be vacant at least one month for refreshing (repainting, cleaning etc.) while they find a new tenant. Why would they choose to expose themselves to this horrible market in addition to "losing" the same amount of money? By giving us a cheaper monthly rent would've made LESS work for themselves then having to find a new tenant as the market gets softer every day? If they had someone ready to go for 4/1, I could understand choosing to let us walk, but I was stunned to hear they'd rather eat a month's rent and risk worse tenants than give a discount to good tenants.

Speculation is fine, but I want some real concrete theories, based in taxes (taking an operating loss, perhaps?) or things like that. This is just really confusing me right now. Could they really be exposing themselves to the market, and the possibility that it won't bear our old rent, out of pure stubbornness? I should say this is a good size LLC with a lot of buildings, not a one person show. And our building is coming out of rent control, so a lot of people pay very little in rent compared to us.

That said, I can't wait to get to Brooklyn, so it's worked out for the best anyway. I just am trying to figure why my landlord seems slow to adjust to the new realities of market rent, when they seemed quite happy to accept market rent when it was high. I should mention also that the application process was grueling. They did not seem to be looking for renters to turn and burn at the time, but rather long term, stable people. Theories?

How can i fight a rent increase?

avex — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 22:09:01 -0800

My 1 year NYC apartment lease is up, and I just receive a lease extension offer with a $100 increase. How can I cite the economic downtown and renew the lease without paying the increase? I live in a 6th floor walkup in Manhattan and pay $2400 a month, and my one year lease expires at the end of March. The landlord/management company sent me a letter offering a 1 year renewal, but with a $100 rent increase!! I hope to stay here, but since the economy is in tatters, and I am a freelancer, I want to argue a strong case to keep the rent at $2400.

Does anyone have any advice on how I can convince the landlord that it is a poor time for a rent increase? Do I have any grounds to push back, or am I at their mercy?

I also got nervous today since my original broker called asking if I intended to renew, which made me think she was keen to put the apartment back on the market and was hoping I would leave. I was surprising to get her call because she never took any of my calls once the lease was signed even though I had some issues with the apartment.

The apartment is not rent controlled (but it was with the previous tenant who paid something like $400 a month!). I know the landlord can raise the rent to whatever they like, but a rent increases just doesn't feel like a good idea at the moment.

Thanks for your words of wisdom!

renter/subletter issue in Brooklyn

slograffiti — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 13:43:34 -0800

NYC: i have a weird rent/sublet situation and would like some advice on how to protect myself, stuff, and money WITHOUT signing a lease. read on... i'm moving in with a friend/acquaintance and will be able to pay rent week to week, or month to month. i DO NOT want to sign a lease because 1) i do not want to be tied down to a living situation and 2) the landlord is in the process of selling and i really just don't want to deal with him and the process that goes along with landlords in general.

HOWEVER, i am a bit concerned now about the landlord's and other house mates ability to give me the boot. is there any sort of document i can sign/make the roomates and landlord sign--SHORT OF A LEASE OR LIVING AGREEMENT THAT IS BINDING ON MY PART-- that will ensure the money i pay each month will be refunded or prorated if they do kick me out? i don't want to be pushy with them, as i definitely will benefit from this situation, but at the same time i don't want to put my money at risk. HELP[?]

Where to look for an Apt in West Harlem?

limon — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 07:10:15 -0800

One-bedroom Apartment in west Harlem close to the 1 train (Morningside Heights, Hamilton Heights, Sugar Hill) for $1500/month or less. Where to look, other than craigslist?

Apartment rent being consolidated: stay or go?

amicamentis — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 10:31:51 -0800

My landlady is going to start charging rent by apartment ($2000/month for all) rather than by room ($530/month for me). Is it worth it to stay? Backstory: I moved to NYC a month and a half ago. I found my current apartment in Jamaica, Queens from a guy on Craigslist. He had advertised it as $530/month, and I would only be responsible for my room (aka if another room was vacant or someone else was late, then that wasn’t my problem). I appreciated the lack of lease because I wasn’t sure how long I would stay there. The Craigslist guy (Bryan) lived in an adjacent room. He is in another country for the summer and hard to get a hold of.

The landlady is a Chinese woman whose English is very poor. Her daughter’s English is fine. I had them approach me when I returned home the other day and told me that since they’ve had issues with other roommates not paying rent (Bryan hasn’t paid for August, these two Ukranian boys in the other room had people in the empty room without telling the landlady, forcing her to clean it again) that now she is going to switch how people pay and charge $2000 for the whole apartment each month, rather than require individual payments.

This sucks. The Ukranians are moving out in early September and the other room is currently vacant. Clearly Bryan is not a trustworthy renter and I do not want to be stuck with his financial problems. However, $530/month is very good for this area, and I also have my own bathroom/two closets in my room that I do not want to give up if I move.

I paid the landlady one month’s security deposit when I moved in and she is allowing me to stay at the same price until October 1st.

Question, at last: based on others’ experiences, what should I keep in mind if I stay? Would Craigslist be the best way to find new roommates? Should I have them sign a lease? Advance deposits? I would rather not be responsible for others in this apartment, but if anyone has some good systems for dealing with this I will listen avidly.

Also, I would rather not have answers relating to lawyers or be in any way contentious. I do not want to be on bad terms with the landlady, and I can definitely understand her frustration. However, I just moved in and have been a model tenant. I don’t like being faced with this difficulty.

Is $1350 a month reasonable for an apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan?

oldlies — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 11:50:10 -0800

Is $1350/mo reasonable rent for an apartment on W 107th St. & Broadway (Upper West Side of Manhattan)? One bedroom, ground level, furnished, clean, utilities and cable included. Can you tell me anything about the W 107th & Broadway area? Nice? Stuff to do? Safe? If I had to pay for utilities + cable in Manhattan, approx. how much would that be per month?

Will I be able to move to Brooklyn in September?

scarylarry — Sun, 04 May 2008 22:47:51 -0800

When should I start looking for a room in a Brooklyn apartment, if I intend to move there in September? And where, besides Craigslist, are the best places to find ads? I am starting grad school in New York in the fall. I'll be moving from Providence, RI. I am planning to live in Providence through the summer in order to spend a few more months close to my girlfriend, who lives here.

I have looked at craigslist posts here and there, but no one is advertising yet for a lease beginning in September. I'd ideally like to rent a single room in an apartment, as I don't have much cash to work with and don't know anybody in the area.

Approximately when will people start advertising places that fit my timeframe? And can anyone recommend some print/web resources other than craigslist? Given my September move-in date and the fact that I'm only looking for a room, I imagine that sublet ads will be as helpful as rental ads....

Oh, also, I am not tied to Brooklyn; I'm just looking to live someplace near school that is relatively cheap and vibrant.

Thanks so much.

Where could I rent a cello in NYC?

paul_smatatoes — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 19:13:15 -0800

Does anyone know where to rent a high quality student cello short term in NYC? Ideally, I'd like something hand crafted and valued at 10 - 20 k, but if need be I'll go lower end. Looking for a bow, too. Thanks!

How do I best navigate through a bad landlord/tenant situation?

SeizeTheDay — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 23:07:32 -0800

Complicated, messy NYC roommate/landlord question: 4 roommates share a 3 bedroom converted into 4 (with permission). One roommate signed a lease for a new building without getting permission from current building to transfer name on lease to new roommate. Said old roommate now refuses to pay six months of rent (remainder of lease). Much, much more inside. So three out of 4 roommates want to get out of current lease by assigning the lease to new people. This was never a problem in the building before, but now building has new ownership, and they’re making this difficult/impossible.

Two roommates are unemployed and need to get out. One of two refuses to pay remaining 6 months of lease (even though he lied about his income and signed a new one year lease in NJ). Third roommate that wants to leave has signed a one year lease (in another building) starting in May.

Leasing agent for landlord will not give us a straight answer about assigning lease to other candidates. We gave management 3 very viable replacement candidates, including all application material. This morning one of the candidates was explicitly rejected by management because it was for the converted room (despite giving us (the current tenants) no notice of this). They refuse to comment on the other two applications.

I am one of the three that wants to move out. I am willing to pay my 6 months remainder of the lease to avoid credit problems, court appearances, etc. but (as I said earlier) one roommate refuses to pay the next 6 months and other two roommates refuse to cover the deadbeat’s share (and eventually sue deadbeat). Important note: landlord refuses to accept partial payments of rent, so if deadbeat doesn’t pay and we don’t cover his share, leasing agent won’t cash our checks.

Leasing agency refuses to break the lease. Deadbeat refuses to pay. And the third roommate that wants to leave (who signed elsewhere) is starting to think that he should refuse to pay as well and let them sue us all.

I don’t want to be sued. I want to pay my 6 months and get the hell out of this situation. Ideally, I want management to take the applicants we gave them to replace us, but if that’s not going to happen, I need to know what my best option is. Should I: 1) Refuse to pay and let them sue, knowing full well they’d sue anyway because deadbeat won’t pay. 2) Pay my rent and pray that they cash my check and understand the situation (I’m going to camp out in the office on Monday until they at least hear my case). 3) Promise the landlord a check for the full amount of my share if they leave me alone. 4) Something else?

What happens if they sue me? Will I be on the hook for the entire unpaid amount (which may be up to $30000, assuming no one pays ever from now until lease end)? Can I use old checks to prove I only paid x dollars/month and the judge will only require me to owe x? I really have no clue here.

I’m in NYC. I have contacted legal aid and lawyers. I will be speaking with a lawyer that specializes in this on Monday. But I don’t want to pay $300/hour given how ignorant I am of this situation, because that consultation would end up costing me hundreds alone. So before I go to the lawyer, I’d like some anecdotal and street advice about my options. Sorry for the length. ANY help at all is unbelievably appreciated right now. Thanks.

Help me get to know Brooklyn

bingo — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 19:38:48 -0800

Send me on a tour of Brooklyn that will help me decide which part of it to live in. I have been in the NYC area for about four years now...spent some time living on the UWS (too crowded, too many strollers, horrible - if fast - commute to midtown). Spent over a year now in Hoboken. But it seems like everyone I end up hanging out with or dating lives in Brooklyn, and people who get to know me are often surprised that I don't live in Brooklyn.

So, okay, I'm tired of my window-less room in Hoboken, and I'm tired of being surrounded by bars that are mostly designed to cater to people who want to watch the football game. Since I'm moving anyway, I'm going to have a look at Brooklyn.

The thing is that I never spend enough time there to really get a feel for it. I've been to a bar here, a party there, a restaurant here, a show there. My times spent there have been so geographically scattered, and so scattered across time (and I have such a bad sense of direction), that I really still have no sense of Brooklyn neighborhoods at all. Instead of waiting for a lot more such occasions to accumulate, I want to just spend a few Saturdays in a row out there, getting a feel for various areas.

So, a few parameters:

- I don't have a car, and don't plan on getting one.
- Right now, my rent is $1,100 (with a roommate in Hoboken), but I can afford to pay more...I would really like to keep it under $1500, though.
- I could live with a roommate again or by myself, either way, depending on the neighborhood and affordability.
- I need the streets to be relatively clean. Trash all over the place depresses me.
- I will not live within half a mile of a check-cashing place. I have learned from years of experience that those places are very accurate indicators of exactly the kind of neighborhood I don't want to live in.
- There needs to be a health food store within easy reach, preferably walking distance.
- A gym within walking distance would be ideal.
- I work in midtown Manhattan near 23rd St., so the easier the commute, the better.
- I'm a film geek. I love movies, especially indie movies. Proximity to, or ease of travel to, film geek locations, would be a plus.
- I like to go out for brunch on weekends.
- I like restaurants that serve food that is not fried.
- I am a single white guy in his mid thirties.
- I am not a hipster, but I like hipsters and alt types of all stripes: punks, goths, stoners, etc.
- I am, I suppose, a yuppie (if you can be 36 and still be a yuppie), and I'm fine with living among other yuppies too.
- I often wear blazers or suits, and I often work late. If walking through my own neighborhood in a suit at night is going to get me assaulted (jeered at is fine), or even if I have to think about the possibility much, then forget it.

I'm an open book in terms of additional info that I can provide.

So, what I'm asking for, really, is for you to tell me, not just specific neighborhoods, but how to get there, where to go, and what to see when I'm there. Like, 'take the L to X stop, walk south on Y street, observing the bars and restaurants to your left. This is a popular hangout for posers from Memphis, and gained notoriety last year when twelve people were killed in a bizaare tricycle accident. Have a coffee at Z bistro, which is the ultimate in pretentious yuppie film culture, and is exactly the sort of place I imagine an asshole like you hanging out in.' That would be great.

Comments that begin with 'you might like Cobble Hill' or whatever, are fine, except, please keep in mind that I don't know shit about how to even get there, and if I end up taking a Saturday afternoon to go out there based on your recommendation, I need more guidance, or I might just walk around the wrong area and not really get a feel for it.

Thanks!

Help me find a Manhattan apartment for 3-6 months

kanuck — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 13:43:43 -0800

Looking for resources / advice on finding a Manhattan apartment for 3-6 months (Feb-July 2008). Furnished would be preferable, but I can deal with buying some throwaway furniture.

I'm open on price range, though if it gets up to "corporate temp housing" level expensive, that isn't too useful.

I live in Seattle and am expecting to take a trip in order to handle closing arrangements. I've considered just coming to NYC for a week (is that enough?) to do everything in person (looking at places, haggling, signing papers etc) -- thoughts on that approach? (in particular, how far in advance would be best to maximize my odds?).

Other thoughts:

1) Craigslist: most of the ads seem to be for comparatively short term sublets (days or weeks, rather than months). I'll probably post a "housing wanted" ad there at some point, but am really looking for other options.

2) Apartment brokers: given my requirements, will they useful / required?

3) Universities/colleges: do any in Manhattan make student housing available to non-students?

Rent - Now on Broadway (and 170th)

jake — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 00:41:38 -0800

How can a freelancer with a decent but sporadic income convince someone in NYC to rent to him and not just point and laugh? Fellow freelancers, help a brother out!

My fiancee and I would like to move into northern Manhattan from North Jersey in the next year, but my self-employed status will surely complicate things, even though I'm making twice what I did at my old office job, and we're looking at apartments in the same price range as we pay now.

I get paid infrequently from different clients in large lump sums. The money goes into savings, and we transfer some over to checking as needed. Thus, I don't have any sort of pay stubs or "employment verification letters", but we can certainly make rent with no problem every month, and new work is rolling in all the time.

My fiancee makes 30k/year as a computer technician, which wouldn't cut it alone for a 1500/month apartment. She has excellent credit, mine is so-so.

I'm not a registered business yet, so I can't write myself checks and thus prove "steady income". Would that be a wise / legitimate course of action, anyway? What do you guys do, or what would you do?

I'm terrified that strict requirements with most agencies/brokers will mean I'll get rejected outright, even if I have money in the bank. It seems that people around here are way more cautious, even owner-listings on craigslist tend to be very stringent.

The good news is we're not in a hurry - this is not under a strict timeline, just "soon as we can". So any suggestions that require a few months to get rolling will be appreciated as much as any short-term ideas.

Incidentally, any NYC people who help out, if you live in the city, I'll totally take you out for drinks. Hopefully hit some meetups and whatnot, anyway - this move is mostly to increase my happiness, and that means more friends! I'm a shut-in over here, it's got to end.

Help me not pay twice as much rent!

Anonymous — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 18:17:21 -0800

Moved out: roommate won't give me my last month's rent back. What do I do? The sequence of events -

1) I moved into a room into a two-bedroom apartment (this is in NYC), and signed a sublease agreement with the lease owner (my roommate). The sublease agreement was month-to-month. I paid him the first month's and last month's rent

2) After little more than a week after living there, I told my roommate that I wasn't staying, and that I was moving out. I posted notices up on Craigslist, and found him multiple people willing to take the room (he wanted to make the final decision).

3) I kept on living in the apartment for the next three weeks.

4) Fast forward to now: I moved out after a month, gave him the keys. I asked for the last month's rent back (since I paid two month's rent, but only stayed a month), and he told me that his financial situation was bad, and that he would only be able to give me $20 a month, unless things change or he gets a paying job (which I assume means that he doesn't currently).

On top of that, he told me that I was on the lease as well! I had never heard anything about this, nor had he told me anything about a lease, especially since the agreement was most certainly a sublease/sublet agreement. He said that he just went ahead and put me on the lease, since he thought I would be staying for a while -- but not to worry, since I didn't sign the lease, and so it's not valid. What??

I told him I'd have to think things over - $20 a month comes to a bit more than three years! I was also counting on getting this last month's rent, since my own financial situation isn't that great (credit card debts, etc).

What should I do? What are my options? Small claims? Quite honestly, I'm angry and annoyed, and $20 a month is pretty unreasonable. I know I should have talked to him earlier about this, but I feel like it's pretty obvious that if that I told him that I was moving out after a week or so, he would have set aside the second month's rent to return to me. Also, the thing about me being on the list is strange and kind of creeps me out...

I have an email account at: AskMeRoomateProblem@gmail.com (Yes, 'roomate' is spelled 'roomate'). Thanks, AskMe!

Shouldn't our landlord sign the lease too?

edlundart — Mon, 28 May 2007 20:11:30 -0800

We signed a lease (2 copies) on a new apartment in NYC, at our broker's office. The 2 copies were sent to the management company. As promised, the management company sent one of the copies back to us about a week later. It's got our original signatures, but the landlord didn't sign it! The line for the landlord's signature is empty. Doesn't this mean that we're bound to the terms of the contract, but the landlord is not? It seems very wrong. Is it normal? Should we demand a copy of the lease with the signatures of both parties on it?

Cheap/Dangerous places in NYC

iamck — Sun, 27 May 2007 13:51:07 -0800

Where do the poor folk live in NYC? Rent in the city seems prohibitively expensive. But where do the working class, poor folk live? Where are the dangerous slums? Did gentrification push poverty out of the city?

NYC broker recommendations

twoporedomain — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 07:29:26 -0800

NYC broker recommendations and resources The boyfriend and I are hoping to move within Manhattan soon, and are in the uniquely advantageous position of having a flexible end-date to our current lease, having the budget to afford an apartment in our ideal neighborhoods, and having most of the moving and brokerage costs reimbursed by his company. This last point, combined with our laziness, means that we want to go through a broker. I’ve read previous threads about renting in New York (1, 2, 3, 4), and understand that there is a strong anti-brokerage firm sentiment here. But given that we’ve already decided to use one, can you help us out with the following:

1. Recommendations for (or against) a particular firm or agent? We are especially interested in brokers that cover Chelsea and the West Village areas. Personal recommendations or anecdotes are appreciated, as well as links to helpful forums.

2. I’ve read that late summer/early fall is the worst time to look for apartments. How true is this? And does going through a broker mitigate this at all?

3. How long can we expect this process to take, given that hopefully most of the legwork will be done by someone else?

Thanks all!

Should she fuggedabout residence?

Dasein — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 12:24:00 -0800

IsManhattanReallyThatExpensive? Filter: My girlfriend is going on exchange to Fordham Law School next fall. She is thinking of living in residence because of the convenience, but is somewhat stunned by the $6000 they want to charge her for 4 months (food not included). Is this reasonable? If it's not, where should she live? Obviously, Manhattan is very expensive. Still, this seems an awful lot to charge students (though we probably have different expectations of what it costs to be student, since we're in Canada).

Is it worth paying that kind of amount for the convenience of living in Manhattan and being close to school? How much could she save if she lived off campus (say with a roommate)? Would the distance she would have to live from campus to save significant money not be worth the travel time?

Finally, if she does move off campus, what areas of the city should she consider and where should she avoid?

How do I pick the right tenants to sublet (or swap for) my apartment, and how do I help them feel at home?

allterrainbrain — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 16:05:12 -0800

Have you done a short-term sublet (or housing swap)? If you were the renter: how did you evaluate applicants, and how did you help your subletter feel at home? If you were the subletter: what worked, and what do you wish the renter had done for you or told you? I'll be subletting my apartment in NYC but I'd love to hear from people in all areas & situations. I'll be allowed to sublet my rent-stabilized apt if I give advance written notice. I will ask to make sure, but I assume the same rule would apply if I did a housing swap (where two people in different cities trade apts, with no exchange of money).

I'll give details here but will divide them into three parts (in case there's only one part you care about).

• CHOOSING PEOPLE:
I'm not worried about finding enough applicants (since my rent is low both in absolute terms and relative to location/niceness), but I don't know how to evaluate these applicants. Other mefi threads emphasize checking references -- but "references" are almost as easy to fake as self-decriptions are (as a seven-year New Yorker, I've seen my share of people lying in all kinds of contexts, especially real estate). I don't care about financial references since I will ask for the rent up front, but I really care about find people I can count on to do what I'm asking (keep the place clean, water my plants, never smoke inside).

• WELCOMING PEOPLE:
I plan to
- orient each subletter in person on the first day;
- leave welcome stuff (some food & toiletries, a Metrocard & subway map, and my general NYC maps & books);
- put together a good neighborhood guide & map (all the local food/services/etc.);
- leave a page of apt stuff (landlord contacts, plant watering instructions, etc.); and of course,
- leave everything clean & leave space free for their stuff.

What else would a subletter appreciate? Also, I think I should allow couples to apply as well as single people -- are there advantages or disadvantages of subletting to couples, or swapping (:)) with couples?

• PAYMENTS & TIMING:
I'm planning to do a few short sublet blocks (ranging from 2 to 8 weeks -- maybe 3.5 months total) over the course of each year. So I think in each case, I should ask for all rent up front (payable on the arrival day), plus a small security/damage deposit (payable in advance to ensure against flaking?) which I'll refund in cash when we meet at my place on the departure day. On my end, I'll pay these months in advance to my landlord, and I'll make a big advance payment to the utility company.

I pay for electricity & cooking gas, so I guess I should estimate a fair-but-safe max usage and include that in one "all utilities paid" rent amount? If I end up getting broadband at home (still undecided since there are so many free-wifi places around), I'll just include its cost in the amount. I have a white iBook I can leave for the subletter to use in the apt & take out to free-wifi places (so if a subletter wanted to use it, I'd make a fresh user account for them and I'd make their security/damage deposit include the iBook's current value).

I also need to figure out some way to ensure people won't flake with little or no notice. And if the only real anti-flaking insurance is an advance deposit, then I need to figure out how an out-of-town person can trust *me* enough for that (since of course I could be totally faking my apt pics & info, to collect "deposits"). If they're able, would it help for them to video chat with me while I'm in the apt, so I can show them stuff live & answer their questions?

Thanks for your thoughts on any of this!

How do I get over my fear of moving in NYC?

scazza — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 09:00:28 -0800

How do I get over my fear of moving? How do New Yorkers deal with this overblown rental market? My fiance and I are moving. We need an apartment with rooms and walls (living in a one room loft is hard on a couple), I'd like to be able to walk to the park like I could in Chicago, I'd like trees on the street (Park Slope/Windsor Terrace). But mostly we need walls, oh and our current apartment is way overpriced for this shit neighborhood.

The last time I moved it was really bad. I regretted moving to New York at all. Chicago to New York, lost the apartment we had halfway there, drove through the aftermath of hurricane Ivan, stayed in an extended stay place on Long Island for 2 weeks with my cat and plants, we put our stuff in storage while we looked for a place, no one would take us, finally we get a place, we get in an accident with our rental car while moving in, and our new apartment has 12' windows with no shades for weeks, and we have no furniture and no money and no jobs. It took about 2 months for things to get settled at all.

I know there are a lot of factors in that story (the accident, the hotel, no furniture, no jobs, no money, the chicago to nyc transition) that don't apply here. We actually have a place to live right now. But, I feel a small fear that that is going to happen again, everything falling apart, that that is what moving in NYC has to be. I feel that I'm getting paralysed in the face of it and that I'll just put off looking for an apartment. I'm scared of dismantling what was such a struggle to put together, the packing, putting my things in boxes again. I'm scared of dealing with New York brokers.

So should I just not make it personal? Is that possible?
Stay motivated by keeping in mind why I have to move, what I need, at all times?
Emphasize the differences between where I am now, maybe being a more attractive renter, with our situation back then?
How do I deal with a system I beleive is fundamentally wrong, unfair, and exploitative?

I think I need to get out of my own head, so all outside advice is appreciated. Any moving sites, articles that have addressed moving in nyc are appreciated as well.

How to avoid paying an insane broker's fee when renting a Manhattan apartment?

Afroblanco — Sat, 08 Jul 2006 13:41:04 -0800

How to avoid paying an insane broker's fee when renting a Manhattan apartment? My roommate and I are looking to move into a 2-bedroom apartment on Sept. 1.

All of the brokers that I found on Craigslist say the same thing - "You're moving at the worst time of the year, and our fee is 15% of annual rent."

There don't seem to be too many non-broker options.

What are some strategies for getting around this? As far as I see it, Craigslist has already failed us.