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introducing myself....
Hi ladies - thought I would pop over and introduce myself.
My name is Anna and my regular board is the Hawaii Nesties, since I was raised in HI and married there in August '08. But we are soon to be moving to NYC, since I will be starting a new job there next week, and DH will begin teaching there in late January.
DH (who was born and raised in the city) and I have spent the last 5 1/2 years in Cambridge, MA and most recently 6 months living in Athens, Greece. We are looking for an apartment to move into ASAP, since we are currently living with the ILs right outside the city CT and are very anxious to move back to our own space!!
Any apartment-hunting recs you might have would be very welcome (personal broker recs, etc)! We're looking for a 1-bd in either Manhattan or Brooklyn. DH will be taking Amtrak to Boston every week so something close to the A/C from which he can easily get to Penn Station is ideal.
Anywho, looking forward to nesting with everyone here!
Re: introducing myself....
Our New Home! Renovation Underway! The Law Nest
TTC Journey
7/2008 - begin TTC
7/2009 - began charting
9/2009 - Dx Endometriosis
10/2009 - HSG/SA (Normal)
12/2009 -6/2010 - Lupron #1 & 2
Sep-Nov 2010- Clomid Cycles #1&2 = BFN
Dec 2010 - Clomid Cycle #3 = BFP (1/11/11);no h/b (2/10/11); D&C (2/23/11)
5/11-6/11 - herbal tea regime = BFN
7/24/2011- herbal tea regime = surprise BFP
welcome! as for apartment-hunting, I know a few brokers in brooklyn, but not ones in neighborhoods close to the A/C. check out hell's kitchen. Its gotten pricier since we moved a year plus ago, but we loved that neighborhood. And it would be pretty close to Penn Station.
good luck!!
Hi and welcome to the board! Unfortunately I am no help with recommendations, but like Mrs.Kocal said, I'm sure someone here can help you out. Best wishes...
Bonnie
Hello and welcome!! I just moved to NYC in August (also from Boston!) and agree with the Hell's Kitchen rec - we looked at a ton of apartments there. And the Upper West Side wouldn't be bad for getting to Penn either - straight shot on the subway.
I *loved* our broker - she was seriously SO awesome. We actually kind of enjoyed apartment hunting - she was so sassy and fun to go around the city with. Kim West at Cooper and Cooper - http://www.coopercooper.com/
Last Race: California International Marathon - December 4, 2011 - 3:29:18, 7:59 pace
Next Race: ARun for Young 5K - January 7, 2012
My Craft Blog
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Finally! A Married Bio!!
Thanks for the rec Shelby, they sound great. Can I ask what (if any) kind of broker fee you ended up paying? From what I hear about the current market it sounds like it is not extremely hard to find a decent apartment without paying a broker's fee right now. If necessary we would, but I think we'd rather avoid it. We are definitely looking at Hell's Kitchen/MIdtown West due to proximity to PS. Murray Hill/Gramercy/EV area has appeal too though since both my MIL and SIL work at NYU and if necessary would be able to easily pop over to take our little dachshund for a walk if I was working late and DH was out of town.
A safe neighborhood is definitely a concern too since DH is out of town 3 days/2 nights a week and I will be walking the dog alone. I worry a little bit about HK and being really far over on the west side... but I'm not super familiar with the area, so I don't know how concerned about safety I need to be.
We are really excited to be moving to the city though!!
Definitely check out Craigslist (you never know)
But more predictably useful: www.rent-direct.com
It's a no-broker listing site with a membership fee (around $200 -MUCH less than a broker fee!) You can browse all of the listings by neighborhood before you pay the fee. Once you pay the fee, you get total access to street addresses and landlord contact info. It costs nothing to check out listings and see if it looks like it will generate good apts for you! You can also get email alerts for new listings. I've used it and friends have used it with great success!
ooo...that rent-direct site looks great. It's only $79 for a 60-day subscription, so if you do recommend it I might try it.
I have been looking at craigslist almost obsessively for the past couple months, in anticipation of a move, but I find that it's so hard to tell what is a scam and what is not, and so many postings just seem to look like they are from sleazy brokers. It's tough to sort the wheat from the chaff!
Craigslist is sort of tough. There is a ton of bait and switch on there....ie these are photos of a "similar unit." Yuck.
Yes, I think it's definitely possible to get an apartment without a broker here. Especially at the larger doorman buildings. Just show up and ask if there's a leasing agent to show you their units. Sometimes they might make you call for an appointment or wait a little bit to meet with someone, but we did this at many buildings and could have gotten an apartment there with no broker fee for sure.
I would recommend at least contacting a couple of brokers and having them show you a few units. It doesn't cost you anything! We were very upfront with Kim about our expectations: that we were happy to pay a broker fee if she could get us an apartment that we truly would not have been able to find on our own. We wanted her to show us all of the cute little funky walk-up buildings where there's no craigslist, no leasing agent, and no way you'd know there's an available apartment inside without having access to whatever listings that brokers have. We asked her not to show us the big doorman buildings that we could find on our own - and she didn't. In the end, we ended up in a great unit that she found for us in a random building in the village that we never would have found ourselves! So we gladly paid her fee (which was one month's rent). In the end, the unit she found us had lower rent anyway, so if you amortize the fee over the lease, we are still paying less than most of the places we found on our own.
Wow, that was long and rambly.
Sorry!
I have no specific insight in to how HK is at night. I'd think that as long as you stayed close to 9th Ave and well into the upper 40s/50s (i.e. away from Port Authority) it would be fine, but I can see your concern!
Last Race: California International Marathon - December 4, 2011 - 3:29:18, 7:59 pace
Next Race: ARun for Young 5K - January 7, 2012
I would say Hell's Kitchen is very safe. We lived there from '05 - '08 and I never really felt uncomfortable out late at night (either walking the dog or stumbling home unusually drunk from the bar). Its been very gentrified lately, but it still has 'rough' patches as does the whole city. We lived on 49th between 10th & 11th. Yes, we avoided Port Authority unless we were going there or somewhere specific. I think there is some kind of public housing or assistance org that a lot of people end up loitering around. Anything around 9th ave (and now starting on 10th ave) between 43rd & 53rd (and up) is going to be safe, even late at night.
Also if you do move there, you are super close to the Pier at 47th & West Side Highway. It has a great dog run, is beautiful to hang out at and the walk/jog path along the Highway is really great! I would totally recommend living there - its really a matter of wherever you move to in the city to maintain some common sense.
Let me know if you have any other questions about HK!
Welcome! I also recommend checking out http://www.streeteasy.com/. They have pretty accurate listings. The girls gave you great advice above. I'd also say if you are looking for a deal, you can get a great amount of space for a lot less money down in the financial district. It might be worth checking out some of the no-fee doorman buildings down there. I saw a 650sf renovated 1-br a few weeks ago for just under $2000 and they have all of the amenities you could ask for. I thought that was a pretty good deal.
Hi there...welcome to the board/NYC.
Looks like I'm getting in a little late on the discussion, but just in case you are still looking for info on apartments...
First and foremost....PLEASE DO NOT PAY A REALTOR FEE!!!!!!!!
DH and I are moving this weekend. We looked EVERYWHERE on the Upper West Side as that is where we are now and wanted to stay. (We are upgrading for baby.) My best advice is to go with a "rental building." From our experience, their leases are fair for the tenant and they are the most willing to negotiate. The market is flooded with rentals right now so don't be affraid to look for something that is a little more than you wanted to spend because you will most likely be able to get them down. I am speaking from experience as we just got an apartment for $425 less than the asking price in a luxury building with all the amenities.
I think the best "no-fee" website is http://www.nybits.com/ they list all of the rental buildings/companies that are no-fee all over the city. Also, call the building's leasing offices directly. Try your best to not go through a broker as they collect a fee from the building directly and we found that the buildings are not as willing to negotiate when a broker is involved.
We also liked these companies who have a ton of buildings in the city and are no fee - call them directly - they have listings on nybits also:
http://www.brodskyorg.com/
https://www.related.com/rentals/
http://www.archstoneapartments.com/
PLEASE DO NOT PAY A FEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!There are too many apartments out there that are no fee so you should not incur this extra and unnecessary expense.
Good Luck!
This is not always true. We paid our fee to our broker directly - and we did manage to negotiate quite a bit with our building. We are paying less, even with the amortized broker's fee, than we would have for the other options which we found on our own.
For the big "rental buildings" and companies (archstone, related, etc) PP mentioned - yes, I absolutely agree, do NOT use a broker. There is no need for one and you will get a better deal on your own. Most of these buildings that we looked at were offering either a month's free rent (or two) OR that they'd pay the broker's fee.
Anyway....I guess my experience was a little different in that we really didn't care about having a doorman or "amenities" and wanted an apartment with lots of character. Our building only has a few units and there is no way we could have gotten in to it without a broker or some other inside connection.
And there are tons of BAD brokers out there, but there are also a handful of good ones, so if you do go this route, don't be afraid to be picky!
Last Race: California International Marathon - December 4, 2011 - 3:29:18, 7:59 pace
Next Race: ARun for Young 5K - January 7, 2012
Wow, you guys have been SO incredibly helpful. This is all great info. I lived in the city (Park Slope) about 6-8 years ago but my roommate handled all of our apt arrangements then and my husband is not great with this kind of logistic stuff, so this is all wonderful. I love the NYBITS site. I think we really had planned to not pay a broker's fee at all costs I just wasn't sure how realistic it was to find a good place without one in Manhattan. I think like you Shelby we are really not doorman/amenities type people. We are looking more for the interesting slightly quirky kind of places. The place we lived in in Cambridge for 5 1/2 years was very quirky--a house painted purple and green, what can I say! I'm going to look around and see what we can find on our own and if nothing decent I may try Cooper & Cooper.
And thanks also for the info on HK! It is very comforting to hear that about the safety of it.
If anyone ever needs travel info on Hawaii or Greece...be SURE to let me know! I will make sure to repay the exchange of information in kind!!!