Astoria: not dog friendly? (Inwood, Washington Heights: apartments, rent, broker) - New York City - New York (NY) - City-Data Forum

em31 · 02-09-2013, 01:17 PM

I am moving from Toronto to NYC in the next couple of months (once my visa app has been approved). I will have a $70K salary, and $500 per month rent subsidy. I was originally looking at Manhattan, but to be honest,what I can get for the money is just not appealing (I have a dog AND will be working from home quite abit..so..an apartment the size of a postage stamp just wont do). I actually now have my heart set on Astoria, checked out the neighborhood quite a bit and really like it. Only problem: met with a realtor and she said it is borderline impossible to find dog-friendly buildings!

She said I may have more luck in Brooklyn in general, but also said that I should check out Sunnyside, Queens. Thoughts? I am a bit confused because I have found MANY apartments online in Astoria that say they are pet friendly..

aptnyc · 02-09-2013, 01:36 PM

It actually is pretty tough but not impossible. Brokers in Astoria generally are awful. They don't want to do any work for you at all..and there are SO many of them it's ridiculous. You'll probably get stuck paying a broker's fee anyway, but do your own looking on CL for pet-friendly apartments instead of fully relying on a broker.

DitmarsNY · 02-09-2013, 02:21 PM

I've rented to people with dogs many times, to me it just depends on who i'm renting to. If they seem responsible enough it's fine, I rent/live in Astoria.

hsg9000 · 02-09-2013, 02:23 PM

Em31, have you looked into Inwood? I have big-dog friends there, and when I visit, I see other big dogs coming and going out of buildings with their owners. By big, I mean Rottweiler size.

Chava61 · 02-09-2013, 05:04 PM

I would also suggest Washington Heights. I know people live there with dogs.

Astorian31 · 02-09-2013, 06:50 PM

Get a different realtor. I've lived in Astoria for over a decade and I know that is not true. Sure, some buildings have a no pets policy, but plenty of private houses and buildings in Astoria will allow pets. You just have to do a little leg work. Unfortunately for you, your realtor seems too lazy to do any serious leg work for you. If you really want to live in Astoria you can, good luck.

em31 · 02-09-2013, 07:33 PM

Thanks for the responses!

I am open to different neighborhoods ideas, as long as I can get a decent sized, well-kept apartment. Will look into your suggestions

I am also going to keep my options open and try a few different realtors, she seemed awfully pessimistic which I did not like.

em31 · 02-10-2013, 07:17 PM

update: talked to a different realtor today who is showing me a pet friendly apartment tomorrow

she was way more optimistic about it!

skinnayyy · 02-11-2013, 09:35 AM

Since you mentioned sunnyside, I would really recommend that area because it's close to astoria so you can get all the perks of it, and also theres going to be a dog park finished being built this spring/summer in sunnyside. It's very dog friendly.

Also, the first broker your saw.. sucks. I was shown a few apartments in astoria that were dog friendly and I was only able to look for 2 days.

em31 · 02-11-2013, 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by skinnayyy

Since you mentioned sunnyside, I would really recommend that area because it's close to astoria so you can get all the perks of it, and also theres going to be a dog park finished being built this spring/summer in sunnyside. It's very dog friendly.

Also, the first broker your saw.. sucks. I was shown a few apartments in astoria that were dog friendly and I was only able to look for 2 days.

Thanks! I will look into Sunnyside as well.

I actually went to see a pet friendly apartment today in Astoria, it was great! It was on 31st avenue, between Crescent and 23rd street. Any opinions on this particular area? Seemed pretty nice to me, felt safe, but obviously didn't have a chance to walk around at night.