Moving from UES to Bay Ridge,Brooklyn! Advice much appreciated (Bath: real estate, apartments)

[Jasmine39]

Hello
My husband and I are considering moving from the UES to Bay ridge Brooklyn for work reasons. We will have a car though and Ive heard that parking can get a little tight around here. are there any parking garages in the residential areas. if so what is the cost for monthly parking.
we are looking for a 1+br/1+ba around $1700.Looking to move around June1- July 1. We would really like to move to a town-home/residential block.Any ideas /leads on how to get one without contacting a real estate agent would be much appreciated
Im really not for paying broker fees but if the situation demands it and if the property is really good I dont mind.So far brokers have only gotten back to me with "The pictures posted are not of the actual apt.”
Other than this we were also looking at the following neighborhoods
Any thoughts or opinions are appreciated.

Neighborhoods: In Order of preference
Bay Ridge/Fort Hamilton: Shore road/ along the subway route
Park Slope
Sunset park : South and East Sunset park preferable
Prospect Heights
Clinton Hill
Cobble Hill

[JustinBrannan]

Bay Ridge is gorgeous. I grew up here and still live here but I've also been around the world. I love Bay Ridge for its small town feel. And early on a Sunday morning, it almost still has that sleepy beach town feel that it had back in the day when this was considered the "Gold Coast" of Brooklyn and there was a beach where the Belt Parkway now sits. Sometimes you forget you're in Brooklyn not to mention about 6 miles from the center of the universe: Manhattan. You can easily find a very nice 1BR for the price you've mentioned here. Yes, parking can be tough depending on the area. Lots of big apartment buildings where everyone has a car = parking nightmares. Hard to bypass the real estate agent aspect of finding something here unless you know someone or go for a walk and snoop around. Otherwise, the agents scoop up most of the good stuff. However, if you are looking for a nice place - and possibly a parking spot - and want to avoid a situation where "the pictures posted are not of the actual apt" - then you should go with a real estate agent. I'd be happy to make some very good recommendations if you'd like. My email is [EMAIL="BrannanJ@aol.com"]BrannanJ@aol.com[/EMAIL] take care & good luck! Hope you decide to move here!

[jeffcon0]

I'm not sure how common it is to find a W/D in apartments in Bay Ridge or Sunset Park but those are the only two areas you listed where you'd even have a chance of finding a 1 bedroom with those things for the price you mentioned. Usually amenities like W/D are are found in new construction buildings of which there are few in Bay Ridge. You could find it in the other neighborhoods but I'd guess you'd be looking at $2300-$2600.

If you remove the W/D and dishwasher requirement then you will have no problem finding a nice place in Bay Ridge within your price range.

EDIT: As the above poster mentioned, parking in Bay Ridge is regarded as some of the worst in Brooklyn.

[sirk98]

not sure how to vote in this forum, but I did EXACTLY the move you are considering about 7 years ago. Love the Ridge! I dont rent, but I believe the rents in Bay Ridge are WELL within your range. Dishwasher shouldn't be an issue. W/D is tough as many of the building are older co-ops that have plumbing that just cant handle everyone having a W/D.

Not sure about how to rent a townhome. I would check with Bay Ridge Parents Yahoo Group (especially if you have children?). Parking can be tight, but the area west of 3rd Ave, while devoid of shopping, seems to have better on-street parking options (especially in the '70s). You can also scour Craigslist to see about renting someone's driveway

Good luck!

[nightcrawler]

Originally Posted by jeffcon0

I'm not sure how common it is to find a W/D in apartments in Bay Ridge or Sunset Park but those are the only two areas you listed where you'd even have a chance of finding a 1 bedroom with those things for the price you mentioned. Usually amenities like W/D are are found in new construction buildings of which there are few in Bay Ridge. You could find it in the other neighborhoods but I'd guess you'd be looking at $2300-$2600.

If you remove the W/D and dishwasher requirement then you will have no problem finding a nice place in Bay Ridge within your price range.

EDIT: As the above poster mentioned, parking in Bay Ridge is regarded as some of the worst in Brooklyn.

you can usually have a washer, and most buildings ( more in Sunset park) have clotheslines attatched to huge iron ladder towers in the back yards, connected to one of your windows.

we have them where we live here in Bath Beach.

Parking in Bay Ridge and Sunset, well to put it blunt - suck big time.

BR does have the nice bike trail up to bay parkway, it is great and owls head park is beautiful