Hi all, I am from Seattle, I'll be moving to NYC next month, August 03. I need your advice about searching for apartment. I can afford to pay about $700 each month only, 1 hour each day for commute. I'll be working near grand central, Lexington Ave. Do you know where should I stay, what service should I use ? Thanks in advance.
yeah, a card board box maybe. what are you talking about. you can't even share a 1 bedroom for 700/month in manhatten. i live in hoboken, which is across the water in jersey for christ's sake, and i pay 1500 for a 1 bedroom. you'll need to a) not only find multiple roomates b) you'll have to share a bedroom if you do and c) you'll have to up your rent to 900-1000 even to do that. for 900-1000, you might, MIGHT, find a place in queens. i would start there. you're looking at a nice commute though. there are some pretty decent areas in queens, but i'm not sure what the rent is like. probably similar to hoboken i imagine.
dafuggin is right. i lived in hoboken for most of the last 15 years - moved out 2 years ago. 3 or 4 years ago, if you lived on the far west side of hoboken, you could get 700/1 br small. not anymore. a friend of mine is renting a 2br on bloomfield/4th for 1800/month, and knows he's pricing it below market. you won't be able to live in manhattan, maybe in spots that are away from the subway...alphabet city used to be somewhat ok for cost when there were dealers in front of each building, but that's calmed down. nowhere decent in brooklyn. queens is tough now, as well. i'd suggest checking out jersey city, or newark. but realize that even in those places, the rents will be far higher than you expect. for jersey city, if you get somewhere near the path trains, you'll be looking a little more than 1 hour commute each way. don't even waste your time checking out long island - the rents are WAY above what you're thinking about. i'd suggest rooming with someone, you can get a larger place. if you want the name of a good real estate agent in hoboken, blip me a private email, but you'll have to considerably up your target.
I have been spending only $700 for my apartment where I live alone in Seattle. It is a studio apartment which has 6 windows around, beautiful water view, downtown view, and freeways view, bunch of restaurants and super market in 5 mins walk. I love Seattle, very comfortable climate, friendly community, it's also clean, don't want to leave this place at all. Oh man, New York city, what can I say ? So I will have to rise the speding to at least $1,200 ha ? Which area is more convinience for commute ? Spend 1 hour each day for commute is totally OK. Thanks for your reply man.
some pointers (these are from YEARS ago, so check before doing them) as well. -> the village voice comes out on wednesday. certain places have the voice on tuesday evening - i seem to remember them being near astor place at the cube (which is a couple blocks away from the voice's offices). -> the other free paper was on the same timeframe for official release date. i preferred reading that one. -> look for way out of the way places. hell's kitchen used to have stuff - i saw 1 place in an old schoolhouse that was 1200 with a real small kitchen, real small bathroom, bedroom barely fitting a bed, and a 'living room' that could have 3 people sitting in it, no more. and that was...7 years ago. i think the places right near the brooklyn bridge used to be cheap. stuff near the world trade center is far above your range. on other things - a friend of mine lives in a place in brooklyn that's not in a good area, in a 1br, that is a quick sell at 130k now. that's significantly up. again, these worked years ago. don't know if they're still applicable. more in a sec.
more stuff. nyc subway map: http://www.nycsubway.org/maps/route/ see that big block of emptiness between the 7 and L in queens? that's not near a subway stop? that's a decent place to look...for price considerations. checked your other posts, and though you proclaim your american-ness, i'd STRONGLY suggest implementing your korean background. i'm sure that if you play that angle, and search online, there might be cheaper places in a korean neighborhood (ie. queens) and people willing to help a fellow countryman, than if you're checking the same spots as 9 million other WASPs. (btw, there's a real good korean rest. in manhattan between 36 on 5/broadway. and if you can afford food eventually, check chowhound.com) i've been to seattle, and had a good time out there. the prices for housing - both renting and owning - are so far differnet here than there. if you've been to san francisco, use that as a comparison point to nyc, rather than seattle / portland / most other cities. oh, riding from the 1st stop in brooklyn to midtown (around 51st st.) is i think a 40 minute ride...and you can't afford to live in that 1st stop in brooklyn.
Hell's Kitchen has gentrified and is named "Clinton" now, and it's gotten chic. The rents are likewise. Lots of musicians/actors/theatre people. You may try the "DUMBO" area in Brooklyn (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge"), another art people area and a quick train ride under the river to lower Manhatten. But that area has been getting a lot of attention, as the last bastion of reasonable rents. Bayside, Queens is a good area, lots of pubs/restaurants/nightfile around Bell Blvd and Northern Blvd. and a relatively short LIRR train ride into Penn. The tradeoff for you is this: People give up great stuff, like your Seattle apartment, to come live here because this is the center of the world. Everything you could want is here, except for peace and serenity. You can get peace and serenity here, but it's $600 for a half hour session. Other than that, world class and no class meet at the corners of Posh and Poverty, and if you ever watch Sex and the City, that's just about what it's like to be a Manhattanite.
New Jersey sounds good, especially Hoboken. I just found some places, for instance http://www.apartments.com/search/oa...&partner=google&srt1=0.74&srt2=0.45&srt3=0.64 This one too, http://www.apartments.com/search/oa...&partner=google&srt1=0.74&srt2=0.45&srt3=0.64 This one http://www.apartments.com/search/oa...&partner=google&srt1=0.74&srt2=0.45&srt3=0.64 Not too bad, you guy scared me eek: ) I will choose somewhere in NJ. Thanks a lot.
To best fit in quickly, learn to just call it "Joizey". Also check out Fort Lee, although I imagine the rents may be on the high side because I heard it's a great place.