New Intern, Renting (New York, Bedford, Ridge: for sale by owner, real estate, apartments)

[NieuweModus]

Hi folks, I've been lurking around for a while but have finally joined and have some questions maybe some folks could answer for me.

I am hoping to move to NYC when I graduate next spring. I have an internship that will start during the summer that would last a year. The pay is $30,500. Anyway, I've read that NYC landlords won't rent to you unless you make 40 times the rent (or else get a guarantor). So, basically I'd only be eligible for something $762.50 or less (nearly impossible to find). I also read on one one site that outside Manhattan you only have to make 30 times the rent but I've not seen that anywhere else. What's your experience been? True?

I'm been looking all over online to find apartments and craigslist has not been as useful as I'd have liked it to be really. I have gone to ArdorNY.com-New York City-Manhattan-Real Estate Made Easy!Apartment and Home Sales and Rentals, Office and Retail Space, and Investment Properties. and have found places in Fordham, Riverdale (though probably techinally Kingsbridge), and Ditmas Park that I could afford. Another website, »ú¿ÍÍø-°®ÍæÊÖ»úµÄÈË-www.159.com has places near the Botanical Gardens in Bedford Park that I could afford too (according to the 40 times rule). Any opinions? Any suggestions on other websites? Anyone used Rent-Direct.com: New York City apartments NO FEE nyc apartment Search & Find before?

Anyway, any suggestions would be really helpful. Basically I'm just looking for a small decent place to live where I don't have to live in a basement or share with other people and hopefully can make this happen. Thanks!

[Viralmd]

Some hospitals supply affordable housing. It depends on the institution. Their residency director should be able to help you.

[NieuweModus]

Thanks for the reply, and how'd you know I was going to be doing a hospital internship/residency? Good guess The hospital does have a relationship with one of the city's broker companies but their online listings didn't look so great. I also don't expect I'll be able to stay in the hospital's housing, hence my looking for housing on my own.

[Jdawg8181]

Originally Posted by NieuweModus

Hi folks, I've been lurking around for a while but have finally joined and have some questions maybe some folks could answer for me.

I am hoping to move to NYC when I graduate next spring. I have an internship that will start during the summer that would last a year. The pay is $30,500. Anyway, I've read that NYC landlords won't rent to you unless you make 40 times the rent (or else get a guarantor). So, basically I'd only be eligible for something $762.50 or less (nearly impossible to find). I also read on one one site that outside Manhattan you only have to make 30 times the rent but I've not seen that anywhere else. What's your experience been? True?

I'm been looking all over online to find apartments and craigslist has not been as useful as I'd have liked it to be really. I have gone to ArdorNY.com-New York City-Manhattan-Real Estate Made Easy!Apartment and Home Sales and Rentals, Office and Retail Space, and Investment Properties. and have found places in Fordham, Riverdale (though probably techinally Kingsbridge), and Ditmas Park that I could afford. Another website, »ú¿ÍÍø-°®ÍæÊÖ»úµÄÈË-www.159.com has places near the Botanical Gardens in Bedford Park that I could afford too (according to the 40 times rule). Any opinions? Any suggestions on other websites? Anyone used Rent-Direct.com: New York City apartments NO FEE nyc apartment Search & Find before?

Anyway, any suggestions would be really helpful. Basically I'm just looking for a small decent place to live where I don't have to live in a basement or share with other people and hopefully can make this happen. Thanks!

If you go through a broker, they will def. check your income...and the thing too is that any overtime pay you make isn't factored into it...it's only your basic income. Like my friend tried to get an apt and she makes like $33k-$34k but with overtime she makes a lot more. They wouldn't give her the apt b/c her income was too small...meanwhile with the overtime she would have really been able to afford it.

Try to look for an apartment for sale by owner. That way you don't ahve to deal with those pesky brokers and their fees.

Best option really- live with your parents if you can. $30,500 is unfortunately nothing in NYC these days. Hope this helps.

[Viralmd]

How'd I know? You basically told me: starting next summer, lasts a year and it's an INTERNship and the pay is ~$30,000.... It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out.

[Calibound-Yorkiemom]

Originally Posted by Viralmd

How'd I know? You basically told me: starting next summer, lasts a year and it's an INTERNship and the pay is ~$30,000.... It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out.

No not a rocket scientist but I guess it just takes someone in the medical field. I had no idea!

[Henna]

I think there may be quite a few landlord-owners of small buildings (like someone else suggested) where the rules for this 40x thing would be more relaxed. I would suggest looking in a place like Astoria, Queens for such a deal. There are many small buildings or houses where there may be a small apartment for rent. You may still have to go through a broker to find one.

You did not mention if you will have access to the upfront costs for renting an apartment (rental fee- could be 15% of yearly rent, first month, and one more month for security). If you do and you can afford $1100 a month for rent, look in Astoria. Try astorians.com . There are probably other neighborhoods where similar deals can be found. You could also try Bay Ridge Brooklyn as the rents are a similar range and there are also many 3 and 4-family houses/buildings.

[NieuweModus]

Thanks for those tips...I have looked on the astorians website which was helpful and I've seen local brokers in that area advertise for rents under $1000 (which, really, I don't think I could pay more than a thousand dollars). I wonder what brokers people recommend working with? And, besides Astoria, I did have a friend who lived in Bay Ridge and she really liked it, the restaurants and the seaside views etc though the commute was really quite long for her.

[Henna]

Alot of people on here are recommending neighborhoods in the Bronx. I am not familiar at all with the Bronx, but it's definitely worth a look.

Where is the hospital? This will help you narrow down your search for a neighborhood, because the last thing you want is a 3 hour per day commute roundtrip (which you could easily have if you live in Bay ridge and the hospital is in upper manhattan)