The Old New York, New York Forum

Moving to nyc

Hi all. What a great forum!!!

I just recently accepted a job in Manhattan and will be moving to NYC in short order. I will be in town from Sept. 7-15 looking for an apartment. My preference: the Upper West Side, a one-bedroom for $1,600-$2000 per month. It would be preferable to have a place that can accomodate an upright piano... although I will never be in town to play it because of the travel required in this job. ;-)

I've got a broker a friend hooked me up with who is going to help me look, but I am trying all other avenues as I know this is really how you find the best digs! I would greatly appreciate it if someone emails me with any good leads.

Thanks in advance for the help! And I hope I get to meet some of the other New Yorkers on this forum at some point. I've been to nyc many times, love it, and am really looking forward to becoming a fledgling New Yorker.

John

John Perkins
Wednesday, August 27, 2003

The best sources for apartments on the upper west side is the New York Times classifieds. These days there are a lot of open houses on weekends, many of them for "no-fee" apartments so you won't have to pay a brokers fee, which is usually two months' rent!

Second best source of cheap apartments is the Village Voice classifieds. Yes, under $2000 = cheap.

Third best source is the New York version of craigslist.org.

Joel Spolsky
Friday, August 29, 2003

Thanks Joel. Question: It seems almost all the NY Times ads are either associated with brokers or one of the "no fee" internet sites (Gotham City, EasyRent, NoRentalFee.com, 212 Apts.). Any words of wisdom on these so-called no-fee sites?

Thanks!

John

John Perkins
Friday, August 29, 2003

These listing sites charge you a fee to get listings from them and then you have to contact directly the super/landlord for the building. The fee is refundable if you aren't able to rent from the listings they give you, except for a $15 or so admin fee.

I've personally never used one - my friend used one once and still ended up getting an apt through a broker.

http://www.Tenant.net

squidbob
Saturday, August 30, 2003

http://www.jakobson.com/ They own buildings all over the city, and they rent them all out themselves. I got an apartment from them when I first moved to NYC. Their buildings tend not to be on the upper end of things, but plenty livable.

I really don't like the notion of paying middlemen, and I fully encourage you to dump the broker. The market has turned around, and it's relatively easy to find apartments these days.

Oh, also, the upper west side's kinda boring. If you're moving to the city for the first time, pick a more exciting neighborhood to live in for your first year or two.

Jeremy

Jeremy Wallace
Tuesday, September 2, 2003

Hey Jeremy,

Thanks for that link. I will definitely check it out.

I know what you mean about the middleman thing, but not getting an apartment during my 9 planned days there and consequently having to put off my job's start date would end up costing me more than the middleman fee. So, I am going to try both avenues. Hopefully, I've got a good broker (a recommendation from a friend).

I know the Upper West Side is a little slower, but hey, I am *old! ;-) Actually, I love the West Village, Soho, etc., but Central Park is also a big draw for me.

John

* "Old" in software engineer terms. Heh.

John Perkins
Tuesday, September 2, 2003

When I moved to NYC, I had to find an apartment fast, so I did use a broker. I went to quite a few looking for apartments on the UWS, and the best broker by far was JK Dansar. They're at 252 W 76th, phone number 212-721-2700. The worst apartment they showed us was better than the crap that the bigger brokers tried to push. I'm extremely happy with my current apartment, which is right around the corner from their office.

And the UWS is great. Excitement is easy to get to, parks are easy to get to, and you'll be close to the best groceries in the city.

Michael Davidson
Wednesday, September 3, 2003

If you can't find anything while you are up here, you might consider throwing all of your furniture into storage and subletting something for a while until you find a place. That way you don't have rush into a longer lease for a place you don't like, and you don't have to put off starting work. I also advise everyone looking for a place to look at the Cobble Hill, Carrol Gardens, Park Slope neighborhoods in Brooklyn because they are beautiful neighborhoods (you typically are renting a floor or two in a 19th century brownstone) and neighborhood shops and restaurants are more charming and friendlier.

Keith Wright
Monday, September 8, 2003

The results: A very nice one-bedroom with totally redone kitchen, bathroom and closets in a great part of the upper west side for $2100 per month. For a little less than that I found two other great apartments -- for $1950 and $2000. (Note that these I found all these via craigslist, not through a broker.) I must've looked at 20 apartments total. It was a draining experience, but I'm really happy with the outcome.

John

John Perkins
Saturday, September 13, 2003