Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Well I am making the big move up to New York City sometime late August and I am flying up there in a few weeks to find an apartment. I am looking primarily at Queens, but am still keeping my eye open on Manhattan in case I get lucky (key word LUCK) and find something in my price range.
My question is about meeting the requirements. I just graduated in May from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge and I have a job with Ernst & Young (an accounting firm) starting September 3 with a starting salary of 58k. My problem is that from what I am reading around most landlords want paystubs, bank statement, and letter stating length of employment (along with other things).
Obviously being a recent graduate I do not have any paystubs, my bank statement isn't very impressive except for the money I have stashed away for fees/deposits and the only thing proving my employment and salary is a letter stating my acceptance into the company and an email sent to me by my HR contact stating my start date. Will landlords accept things like that and be slightly understanding? Any suggestions of any other kind of things I can bring to the table to ease the landlords worries?
Also how early should I schedule to meet with landlords? A week? 2-3 days? Thanks!
Many times landlords run consumer credit checks for a fee so the paperwork you mention sometimes is used if the applicant doesn't want to pay the fee for the check. I did this when i got my second apt--instead of paying a $50 credit check fee i gave 12 cancelled checks and a pay stub
For my first apt I got when i was employed only 6 months, They verified my employment by phone and photocopied an ATM receipt showing how much $$ was in my savings and checking accounts
I think an offer letter will sometimes suffice. Is there someone at your firm you can ask about this? You could also call a few brokers in advance and ask them how you can best be prepared.
You mention "meeting with landlords". Sometimes you can rent directly from a landlord but more often than not you will be going through a realtor and paying a 15% fee.
In terms of timing, start makign appointments as soon as you get here. Do NOT wait til 2-3 days before you want to move in somewhere to start looking for a place. But also don't look any earlier than early August for a Sept 1 move-in.
Where in Queens are you looking? If in Astoria, check out the real estate board on Astorians.com
Im trying to bypass using a broker to avoid the 15% fee. I've been using
rent-direct.com to do my search. I am planning on moving in the last week of August and I am going up there to apartment search August 4-8 so about 3 weeks before. The "2-3 days" comment was meaning how far in advance should I call the landlord to meet with him/her to view the apartment. For example if I wanted to meet a landlord to view an apartment today should I have called him Wednesday or closer to last Friday? I wasn't trying to be condescending with the "example" I just wasn't sure if I was making myself clear. =)
I am looking at Astoria, LIC, Jackson Heights and Forest Hills.
I don't know about Rent Direct results, but I've had good luck with the by-owner section on Craig's List. A lot of owners show their apartments on the weekend, so I would expect to find listings on Thursday and Friday and just blow through a bunch of apartments via open houses and appts. A co-worker was recently looking for a new place and hit 11 apts in one weekend.
If you rent from someone and get a basement apartment you can get an awesome deal and you don't have to worry about any of the credit checks and extra hassle. 58k is decent money..hopefully they up it in NYC for you....but the only place in Manhattan that you can live off of that salary is Harlem...and that's still $1200 a month for a so so area. Queens is decent I would say. There are pretty cool areas in Brooklyn..I love Bensonhurst bc it's on the beach..it just depends what you are looking for
If you rent from someone and get a basement apartment you can get an awesome deal and you don't have to worry about any of the credit checks and extra hassle. 58k is decent money..hopefully they up it in NYC for you....but the only place in Manhattan that you can live off of that salary is Harlem...and that's still $1200 a month for a so so area. Queens is decent I would say. There are pretty cool areas in Brooklyn..I love Bensonhurst bc it's on the beach..it just depends what you are looking for
58K is my NYC salary....
Yeah, I have basically given up on Manhattan unless I get lucky like I said.
Hey you can live decent on 58k in NYC. But not in Manhattan. Hey..all of us out-of-towners think we will live in Manhattan. I did. I had no idea there were nicer and more affordable areas in Queens and Brooklyn..even SI.
I'm renting a basement apt. in Queens. That's the best deal around. Plus you will find you are hardly home so you don't want to put a huge chunk on rent..just the basics.
Yeah, I have basically given up on Manhattan unless I get lucky like I said.
#1 - You can definately afford to live in Queens with that salary.
#2 - You should go to Craigs List in order to look for apartments in Queens. You can sought out agents from owners.
#3 - A letter most likely will be acceptable, but you may want to find an apartment that is in a house instead of an apartment building because homeowners are much more flexible with these kind of things.
#4 - You will have to pay 1 months rent and security, but in your situation you may be required to pay an extra months security.
#5 - When looking for an apartment you MUST be here in NY and You will have to be here with your rent and security on hand because most of the time it is first come first serve and money talks. Apartments go fast.
#6 - Queens is a great place to live and it is very diverse. I hope you like it.
Good places for you to live in Queens are:
Bayside, Jamaica Hills, Whitestone, Oakland Gardens, Long Island City, Forest Hills, Maspeth, and some parts of Flushing.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
