Sara516

Inshallah we'll be looking to move out soon...
Since husband will be at work during the week, most of the responsibility will be on me to keep in contact with the owners/sellers, and maybe to go see the places.
I've never searched before....is there anything I should know? or be doing specifically? We know what we want and what our budget is... we're searching on craigs list... any other place we can/shoudl look?

other than that i'm lost :S

Mamaof3

Sara, where are you looking to go? And are you looking to buy or to rent?

If renting, esp in the NYC area, stay away from the agencies that charge a fee to find you an apartment, they're crooks - and they usually charge a full months rent for finding you something that you coulda found yourself.

Mirch

When you have decided to buy a home . Take a few of your friends with you who are experts in finding faults , defects and blemishes in things.
The home inspector and you might miss a lot of fundamental cosmetic defects which will cost you time , money and will take your valuable time to fix them, but if you can find them beforehand and get them fixed that will be good.

Mamaof3

...and are you concerned about school districts? Do you want to live near a Mosque? Do you need easy access to public transportation?

Sara516

Renting. Either upper manhattan, brooklyn, or the bronx.

Right now main concern is having a subway nearby. since we dont have a car (yet) an area with halal/desi grocery not too far away will be good.
oh and i want a nice big kitchen.. (hey a girl can dream )

Mamaof3

I lived in a beautiful building on 85th st between Lex and 3rd. 3rd ave is "restaurant row" and there was a GREAT indian restaurant just steps away. The apartments are small for sure, the kitchen tiny but nice. AND it had a little balcony with enough room for a small cafe table with 2 chairs. There were nice grocery stores right nearby, subway a couple of blocks away. And the street fairs - twice a year - were awesome, right down 3rd ave. It had washers and dryers in the building which was nice. I saw the building and just walked into the office and asked if they had any apts for rent. And the company has like 8 buildings, mostly right in that area but a couple of them also in midtown. So the thing to do really would be to go into the office of an apartment bldg and ask about apartments. That way, you dont end up paying a fee of up to 2000 dollars. If you want to live in Manhattan, thats the way to go.

In queens, theres a place called Forest Hills, its truly lovely and has halaal shopping in the area, has E and F trains right nearby, lots of shopping places, little cafes, nice restaurants. There, you might have better luck looking in the NY Times for apts since they're usually attached houses rather than the big bldgs. If its important to you, these usually do not have washer/dryers so you'd have to make a trip to the local laundromat.

I'm sure theres lots of other nice places, but those are the 2 that I know of....

best of luck in your search for a new home!

Sara516

ahh ur talkin abt midtown-east, i know that area very well...way out of our range. by manhattan i meant like way up town...

So do u think craigs list is not a reliable way to find an apt?
some of the ads are so vague, do they usually include hidden fees? i know most places will want first/last month rent (security deposit) but what other expenses should I look out for? so that i know its not a crook vs a normal practice?

i've opened up like 30 tabs on ads, so confuzed i am

Mamaof3

awww! You'll do fine! And you'll get to know the crooks from the true ads. Craigslist is probably fine....When you call about a place that you may be interested in, just ask if theres a "finder's fee" or a brokers fee. If there is, move on to something else. First and last months rent up front is a standard so thats pretty much a given...but when they start asking for the brokers fees or finders fees, kiss them off.

I'm not too familiar with further uptown but had a friend who lived in a far uptown place called Inwood..she loved it there, lived on her own and always felt very safe there even when she came home late at night. I'd stay away from the area around 3rd ave upward of the 100s, things are not so safe in that particular area. But when you visit the areas, you can pretty much see what may and may not be a safe area.

firenze

1) Foster / New Kirk / Ave H - M (Coney Island) - high desi land, feels like living on mall road..

2) Brighton Beach / Benson hut / Atlantic Avenue - moderate level of desi presence

3) Upper Manhattan - clean area !

whichever you prefer...

Sara516

How do you know if something is too good to be true?

I saw a listing for an apartment, everything looks pretty decent and best of all, the price includes utilities and cable and internet. Broker did not mention anything abt a brokers fee/finders' fee.
I'm not too familiar with the neighborhood though.....

I cant really go see it til next week, so is there anything i should look for when I go see it? anything else i should talk to the broker abt , be prepared for etc?

Mamaof3

Brokers charge a fee. Some charge one months rent, some charge a percentage of the first years rent. Usually its the renter that pays the fee but sometimes the owner of the apartment pays it. You should ask the broker about this even before you go see it, if the fee is too high you may change your mind about it.

lil_ash

hey sara, how did the search go so far? and as mamaof3 mentioned most apt finders do charge a fees, not sure about ny but out here they charge the most would be 300 dollars. what you can do is search them online on sites lik apartmentfinder.com and there are many more. when we searched for our apt in dallas, we found listings off of the websites online, and the catch was even better, if you write down on the leasing/renting paper that u find out about the certan apt through that webstie, u got like 50 or 100 dollars off of the first months rent. but I'm not so familiar with ny. Also when you decide on an apt, if the owner is not so grumpy, make a cute face and ask to reason down a bit on the rent amount do also make sure that if the price is a bit high, den is the gas or heat or water included and stuff cuz dese bills could add up to a heartattack. AND MAKE SURE U TAKE A GUD LOOK AT THE INSIDE OF CABINETS FOR ANY SIGNs OF PEST! and clean carpet or new carpet(u don't want someones pet flees) . overall make sure u don't have to call the management every week to fix something. adios

Afro-Sheen

Have you tried the classified ads in local newspapers, they usually have apartment listing, and no fees associated with that, other than normal deposit, etc...

pak-one

Hey Sara, congrats the plans to move. Let me throw out a few thoughts about areas in NYC:

- Lower East Side: Rents will definitely be cheaper than Midtown or UES, but the neighborhood is exoensive.
- Staten Island: Depending on where you guys commute to (work/school), it might be worth while to check out SI. It's definitely a good value right now.

If I were to move to NYC, I'd probably stay at my parents house on the UES (60s holla!) or right in Wall Street/Battery Park area. Easy commute

Crazy times in NYC two weeks ago. Double down on ducatis, FDR drive at midnight..Kush lounge in SoHo, Kebabs at Haandi on Lex...same drill, new crew.

Sara516

UES...in my wildest dreams! I went to school in that area though....lovely place.
Staten Island--not even looking there. not interested in taking a boat to school/work, express bus is too expensive and we dont have a car.

The apt search was put off on hold for a bit, and we've started back up now.

I came into contact with one broker about a couple of apartments. thing is he wants to meet us at his office and NOT at the building. everyone else I met with was willing to come to the apartment site. He gave me the street name but not the address....i tried to reschedule for during the week but since I work now and have a very long commute, i asked if he's willing to just meet at the building, since it will be easier for me and save me time, but he won't agree to it. i told him we don't drive he said its okay he will drive us to the place.

Is this normal????

sheyn

pak-one

Sara, you can always do UES thing when you guys are more settled in your careers. Just don't become a crusty old lady, promise?

SI is an acquired taste, definitely good value but I can see how the distance might be off putting.

The broker might legit or he might be shady, as in the apartment he advertised does not exist and he might be steering you to other (more expensive) places. I would definitely be careful, is this an "exceptional" deal? I would suspicious if it was. As far as I know rents are coming down in NYC, not super cheap but a definite decline.

I just came back from NYC, one of my good buddies moved into his new place in hell's Kitchen (sorry 'Clinton' in realtor terms). He's over in the 50s between 8th and 9the Ave, pretty convenient to his job/midtown and not too bad for a 1 bedroom. Definitely look at better commutes to where you work, hours on the trains/buses will definitely wear thin after a while.

Sara516

Promise i wont be a crusty old lady....better than a old desi auntie right

My job is temporary and will end in a few months and I don't plan to stay on, so thats why 'im not stressed abt the commute right now.

The apartments he's talking about seem pretty normal in the price ranges, (900-1000 for a 1-bed) etc. how much is ure friend paying in hells kitchen?

pak-one

yea the aunty scenario is much worse.

So where are you looking at this point? I recommend being near public transport because I am assuming that you will have to commute to work. My buddy is paying $1400 for a really nice place. It's a walk up but the apartment was totally renovated 6 months ago. He found a deal through a sublet situation where the other person was moving to Germany and needed to get out of the lease.

Sara516

ah 1400 is out of my league

Bronx or Brooklyn.