My First Apartment! Nice Affordable Housing in the Bronx, Queens, Manhattan? (low income, apartments)

[MsJ27]

Hi everyone; I'm wondering if you all can help me out with this one. I currently live at home, but I recently got a new job which means I'll be able to move out probably within a year. I've lived in Co-op City my whole life & I wouldn't mind getting a one bedroom here for my first apt, but I want to know what else is out there.

I'm looking to pay up to $1000/month, and it's be great if electric, gas, & maintenance were included. I'm also not interested in having a roomate or living in a walkup. Are there any places besides Co-op? All my friends live in Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan and a lot of them have roommates, live in walkups, and a few of them are rich enough to live in Tribeca & Soho so I can't really look to them for guidance. I have student loans & other expenses to think about so I really need affordable housing. At the same time I do not want to sacrifice affordability for a VERY ghetto neighborhood. I can deal with a little ghetto because I'm already in Co-op.

Another thing I was thinking about was how luxury buildings set aside some apartments for low income people. In highschool one of my friend's mother got an apartment on west end ave in a brand new (at that time late 90's) trump building! She was definately low income... we were all like how'd you get to live here?! Anyway, how does that work?

I'm new to this whole apartment hunting thing so advice is very much appreciated. Btw, I have excellent credit and I only have student loans. Thanks

[Jeremie]

As far as luxury buildings go, $1000/month will not really cut it. Even with good credit, you will need to make about 40 times the monthly rent annually. A lot of buildings do provide a certain percentage for low income housing but that typically happens through a lottery so there is no promise you would get it.

If that was something you truly wanted to do, you should find housing first and then go through that process and maybe within the next year you could hope to get chosen but there is no promise. That lottery is not done by the building itself but in conjunction with the dept. of housing.

I would say you have a good budget for Brooklyn or Queens and your expectations will determine the neighborhood i.e. don't expect north williamsburg at 700+ sq. ft. for less than $900. Try Brooklyn and Queens Realty or maybe even renting out a basement apartment from a private owner.

As much as I know you probably want something very nice of your own, student loans are no joke. Consider the possibility of having more space in a basement apartment and decorating it nicely while saving a bit of money for the future.

[Chava61]

For $1000 a month you can rent a large studio apt. in Rego Park, Queens or for $1100 you could rent a small one bedroom apt. in Jackson Heights, Queens.

[SobroGuy]

Depending on your income, you may want to look into some of the city's affordable housing going up in the Bronx, and across the city for that matter. You should visit www.nyc.gov . However for $1,000, you should definitely check out Parkchester in the Bronx, which is a similar community to Co-op city, but it is lower scale, more community oriented/walkable, more diverse, and better public transportation options.

[MsJ27]

Thanks for the advice everyone!
@Sobroguy, do you know if Parkchester has electric, gas, maintenance included in the rent? I'm becoming a little more reluctant now because I found out the apartments (1 bed) are very small, & the buildings are old in that they pre-date the construction of co-op. Also, Id say the transportation options are good but the community and surrounding area is definately not better than co-op. I might consider it though.

[SobroGuy]

I don't know if electric is included..maybe someone on here can ask that. I would say that I like the community much better than Co-op city because it is very diverse whereas Co-op city is just Black/Hispanic (with a few 90+ year old Jews who never left), is walkable whereas you must have a car in Co-Op city, and I much prefer the lower density, nevermind you have an express train stop. Although outside of the complex leaves much to be desired, who cares..everything you need is really inside Parkchester. It is a very nice self-contained community you should def see for yourself. What one says is small may be a good fit for you...take the time and see.

[Crotonapark]

I will second what SobroGuy said about Parkchester. I checked out their website. Here is link: Parkchester

They offer "premier collection" rentals at 1300/month for 1 bdrm. You could check it out!