5 More Little Known Tips for Apartment Hunting in NYC
The inside scoop from brokers, movers, and native New Yorkers.
So you’re looking for an apartment in New York City. Just like the city itself, it can feel like the search never sleeps. Personally, I thought I’d never find good roommates and a place to go in on together. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
This is everything else I wish I knew before moving and some of the tips I picked up from brokers, movers, and native New Yorkers along the way.
1. Utilize brokers and real-estate websites
There are a few ways to go about looking for a place in the city. You can go through a broker and have them show you places. You can also take the DIY approach and research your own apartments through real-estate and renting websites. That’s the beauty of the internet.
There really isn’t one right way to look for places. I’ve known people who have found places both ways. Each approach has pros and cons.
Going through a broker cuts out a lot of the work and you may be able to see apartments through them that you otherwise wouldn’t. There may be more hidden fees this way and you are stuck with one specific broker.
Searching yourself is definitely a lot more work. I took this approach and had to scour various real-estate websites for a few weeks just to find a few potential options. I also then had to set up the times with specific brokers myself. That being said, looking for apartments myself opened up a lot of options and kept my schedule flexible for viewing them.
It all just depends on what works best for you. If you have the extra time to spare, looking yourself may be the way to go. But if you work full time or just want the process to be taken care of for you, going with a broker may be better.
2. Live near a subway hub or an express line
Living near several subway lines, or at least one express line, is a great way to shorten your commute within the city.
Express trains skip multiple stops, while local trains hit each one, considerably lengthening your trip. I lived near two express lines in Brooklyn for a year and I could make it to upper Manhattan in about thirty to forty minutes. Now I live closer to the city, but on a local train and the same commute takes me an hour.
If you can’t find an apartment near an express line, having several lines to choose from is the second best option. Even if all of the trains at your stop are local, you will have more routes to take when deciding how to get places within the city.
Despite now living on a local station, there are three trains that stop there. It does take a little longer to get places, but I don’t always have to change trains or take the same one every time. When I first moved to Brooklyn, I lived off of one local train. I constantly had to transfer trains and leave early to get places on time.
3. Don’t take “no pets” for an answer
For those looking for apartments that can accommodate their pets, don’t worry, the city is surprisingly pet friendly. In my experience, most places will accept cats and small dogs. With larger pets, it is admittedly more difficult to find a place, but nothing is set in stone.
If you’re looking online for apartments and one is labeled “no pets”, it never hurts to call the broker or landlord themselves and clarify. There were several times that I called, explained the situation, and was then allowed to have pets at the apartment.
4. Seek out a building with a live-in super
This took me some time to discover, but having a live-in super makes all the difference if you have a leak in the middle of the night or a pest problem over the weekend.
The super or handyman doesn’t always live in the same building. Often they service several buildings within one management company. And they usually are only on call during weekdays. So, during off hours you may be on your own.
To combat this, it helps to have a live-in super. They still won’t be available 24/7, but their response time will be a lot quicker if they just have to go down the hall to solve your problem. It also helps with building a good rapport with them.
5. Hire movers
So you’ve picked a place, made sure it’s on an express line, and called about the pets. What now? My last piece of advice when moving within the city is to hire movers.
I never thought I would be this person, but after trying to haul my stuff up a five story walk up I will never go back. For a few hundred bucks, it is entirely worth it to have someone else navigate the stairs and the streets of New York for you.
Generally, they aren’t too expensive, especially if you split the cost with the other people you live with. My roommates and I paid about $250 each for a company to move all of our stuff. There are three of us in total, but we have quite a bit of furniture and other heavy items, so it was definitely worth it in the end.
