Is it worth waiting to move?
May 11, 2011 6:52 PM Subscribe
NYCFilter: How much do I really save by waiting until Fall/Winter to rent an apartment? I really want to find a place where I have a bit more space and privacy. I don't want to wait, but if we're talking hundreds of dollars per month, I guess it would be worth it. I am looking for a studio or 1BR in the LES, East Village, or in Williamsburg, around $1500-$1700 (these place do exist, I have visited them in person.) So can you relate to me your impression of how much cheaper rents are in the winter/fall? And when does the price begin to fall off? Thanks!
Previously.
Previously.
Previously.
If you read all the threads about this, you'll find a lot of very vague speculation. The one definitive answer that keeps coming up is that the best time to rent is now.
posted by John Cohen at 7:31 PM on May 11, 2011 [1 favorite]
Previously.
Previously.
If you read all the threads about this, you'll find a lot of very vague speculation. The one definitive answer that keeps coming up is that the best time to rent is now.
posted by John Cohen at 7:31 PM on May 11, 2011 [1 favorite]
I'm unclear on whether you're saying that you are already finding apartments in the East Village for $1500-1700, or you're not finding them yet and are hoping to wait so you can find them. Also, are you talking about living with roommates or not? If you're already finding apartments in that price range without roommates in the East Village, I would take one of them now, not wait around hoping to find an apartment for "hundreds of dollars per month" less.
posted by John Cohen at 7:45 PM on May 11, 2011
posted by John Cohen at 7:45 PM on May 11, 2011
Response by poster: Sorry, I didn't do a good job of searching for previouslies. I usually remember to, I swear! In my defense, some of them talking about rents going down as little as 2 years ago, which is contrary to what chengjih's article indicates.
The cheapest apartment I have found in the east village so far was $1550. It was kind of a shithole, but there you go. I've found perfectly decent studios in the $1600s. They're small, but I don't have a lot of stuff. On the LES, you get a bit more space, I think. These prices are for apartments that I've actually been to. I check craigslist several times a week, and have noticed that there are definitely deals like what I've described out there.
posted by !Jim at 8:00 PM on May 11, 2011
The cheapest apartment I have found in the east village so far was $1550. It was kind of a shithole, but there you go. I've found perfectly decent studios in the $1600s. They're small, but I don't have a lot of stuff. On the LES, you get a bit more space, I think. These prices are for apartments that I've actually been to. I check craigslist several times a week, and have noticed that there are definitely deals like what I've described out there.
posted by !Jim at 8:00 PM on May 11, 2011
Rents may go down in the fall/winter (I've heard this speculation, but have yet to see any hard evidence), but so does availability. You might find 3 shitholes now for that price, and only 1 in October.
Take the first one you really like that meets your criteria. If you never see one you really like, lower your standards / up your price and go again. Keep going until you run out of time, money, or find a place you can tolerate. I would not worry about the season, personally.
posted by ch1x0r at 8:08 PM on May 11, 2011
Take the first one you really like that meets your criteria. If you never see one you really like, lower your standards / up your price and go again. Keep going until you run out of time, money, or find a place you can tolerate. I would not worry about the season, personally.
posted by ch1x0r at 8:08 PM on May 11, 2011
Just this year I've gone through two apartment searches in NYC, in the same or comparable areas to what you're looking at. If I were you and had found an apartment you'd be happy with, without roommates, for less than $1700 a month, in the East Village, I would take it now and not give to a second thought to what things might have been like at some other time of year. Don't sit around waiting based on the theory that you might find the same thing for $1400 in November or something.
posted by John Cohen at 8:36 PM on May 11, 2011
posted by John Cohen at 8:36 PM on May 11, 2011
Effective rents were going down a year or two ago (as the NYC housing market was hitting some low point). I started my lease last June, and was able to get a month free (so the base rent remains the same, which will be used to calculate future increases). My impression is that those sorts of concessions are going away.
Note that, particularly with rent-stabilized apartments, landlords may be reluctant to lower the base rent, since it'll put them further away from decontrol and it will make it harder to raise it later. What you may see are free months or reduced fees than a lower base rate. But, again, my impression is that those sorts of concessions are going away, if not already gone.
posted by chengjih at 12:04 PM on May 12, 2011
Note that, particularly with rent-stabilized apartments, landlords may be reluctant to lower the base rent, since it'll put them further away from decontrol and it will make it harder to raise it later. What you may see are free months or reduced fees than a lower base rate. But, again, my impression is that those sorts of concessions are going away, if not already gone.
posted by chengjih at 12:04 PM on May 12, 2011
Response by poster: Thanks for the info, folks. My takeaway is best summed up thusly:
...the best time to rent is now.posted by !Jim at 1:16 PM on May 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by chengjih at 7:15 PM on May 11, 2011