Finding places to live in the New York City Area
As some of you know, I went to the New York City greater metropolitan area to live for a few months.
Right now, I'm dreadfully unhappy with where I am living - the place is expensive, not clean, and the roommate who has a dog (that was not mentioned to me before he moved in) is messy and not very social. I feel rather uncomfortable in general at home and am overall pretty bummed out. I would move out, but unfortunately the subletters have my deposit for the month of August and will not return it, so it looks like I'm stuck here for another month.
To put things in context, I pay $925 for a 12 x 14 room in the first floor of a 3 bedroom house. Currently, 4 people live in this place: 2 people (boyfriend/girlfriend) in the room next to mine, and the leaseholder in the final bedroom with his dog.
The train into NYC comes approximately every hour on weekends, and it takes approximately 45 minutes to an hour to arrive, depending on the time of day. It takes about 15 minutes to walk to the train, and about 9 to walk to the bus stop. When I go to work, it takes me 30m to get to White Plains, and then I spend another 15 minutes on the shuttle. Coming back, I have to wait a bit for the bus.
There's no laundry in this place (I have to go to the laundromat which is about 5 minutes walking).
I live in a village named Port Chester (look it up on the map). I go to work by going to White Plains and taking a shuttle to Hawthorne. This goes against traffic flow, so the trip isn't that crowded on the roadway.
I took the place for 3 months.
So, my advice to you people out there. If you're ever looking to live in the city for the short term, I advise doing the following.
Try to live in the city. It's so much more fun to be able to see things happen, especially if you're from a small town and don't get the opportunity to go into places like NYC often. It's not that dangerous, and the city is NOT actually as expensive as you might think it is. Almost everyone I know who got a place in the city loves it. I'm one of the few people who complain about where I live - to put it into perspective, there are at least two people who rent dorm-style rooms at the YMCA, and they honestly are in no rush to leave.
Unfortunately, where I am is bad because it's both far from work, and far from NYC proper.
Normally, people consider places difficult to find for short-term renting. THIS IS NOT THE CASE IN MANHATTAN. If you look on Craig's List's Sublet/Rooms section, there are TONS of people who are willing to sublet their fully-furnished apartments for durations as short as one weekend. Many people rent by the day or by the week. Hop on over to http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/sub/ and see what is posted - sometimes you'll get some good deals. Usually, if you want a small room in an apartment, shared with 2-3 other people, you'll pay about $1000 or more, depending on the area of Manhattan you choose to live in, and the quality of the furnishings/building.
This was my biggest mistake - not looking in Manhattan, because the availability there is much more than you'd normally expect. Now, there is the issue of cleanliness and location, of course, which you can't get when you are looking at pictures, but there are a few places in town which are nicer than others. Many people I know in Manhattan live on the Upper West Side or the Upper East Side (beside Central Park) because the places are quite nice. Some live close to Midtown or in the East Village. One place that has been suggested that you avoid is Harlem.
You can also find reasonable rates for living and accomodation all across Manhattan: I was going to look at a place that was an 8x10 room for $1000 in a 3 bedroom place on Broadway and 125th St, which borders Harlem and Morningside Heights. Many people contacted me with options for rooms ranging from $1000-$1500. This should include most utilities, and Internet, since most people subletting have this already. Most apartments contain AC and if you live in the city during the summer AC is definitely worth it. Many places have laundry, but some don't. Depends on if you like going to the laundromat, but either way, it'll be coin-op laundry.
Although you can scan the postings yourself on Craig's List, you should just post a housing wanted request and people will contact you. More will contact you if you have "desirable roommate" characteristics, which tend to be: female, non-smoking, doesn't have any pets but doesn't mind them, professional, mid-20s to 30s, and clean/organized. If you can demonstrate that you have a regular income, that tends to be a bonus in your favour as well. A lot of people on Craig's List get swamped with mail so a good way to get your foot in the door is to reply as soon as they make a posting (or post a request and let people contact you). Anything that's older than about 20 hours is pretty much impossible to access.
Try not to pay a deposit more than your first month's rent. It just screws you later on especially if you hate your place. I paid a first-month rent deposit and a security deposit, and now I feel that I don't like the place and want to move out, but if I do then the leaseholder keeps the security deposit.
Oh, watch out for people who charge finder's fees, as well. There are many people who will find a place for you for some nominal fee that can be quite expensive.
One reason why Manhattan is unique is that you really don't need a long term lease at all, so you can move around fairly often (or stay put), sometimes on odd dates like in the middle of the month. The turnover appears to be rather high and housing gets snapped up quickly. I wish I knew this before I moved here because then I could have rented a place in the city that is probably much more central than where I am now, for not much more than what I am paying.
It's a shame, really, since the city looks fun and a lot happens there every day. It would be nice to be able to go out for a walk in the evening and get nice food or see things that are happening. Where I am now it's so bare and I don't feel all that comfortable (though not necessarily threatened). I'm so far from the people I know and so far from random things to do. In addition, my house smells (it did since I moved in) and one of the guys here makes a mess that covers for the other three of us combined. This is mostly a rant-complaining post in the end, I guess. I guess I'm just upset I really didn't know what I was doing when I looked for places to live.
Right now, I'm dreadfully unhappy with where I am living - the place is expensive, not clean, and the roommate who has a dog (that was not mentioned to me before he moved in) is messy and not very social. I feel rather uncomfortable in general at home and am overall pretty bummed out. I would move out, but unfortunately the subletters have my deposit for the month of August and will not return it, so it looks like I'm stuck here for another month.
To put things in context, I pay $925 for a 12 x 14 room in the first floor of a 3 bedroom house. Currently, 4 people live in this place: 2 people (boyfriend/girlfriend) in the room next to mine, and the leaseholder in the final bedroom with his dog.
The train into NYC comes approximately every hour on weekends, and it takes approximately 45 minutes to an hour to arrive, depending on the time of day. It takes about 15 minutes to walk to the train, and about 9 to walk to the bus stop. When I go to work, it takes me 30m to get to White Plains, and then I spend another 15 minutes on the shuttle. Coming back, I have to wait a bit for the bus.
There's no laundry in this place (I have to go to the laundromat which is about 5 minutes walking).
I live in a village named Port Chester (look it up on the map). I go to work by going to White Plains and taking a shuttle to Hawthorne. This goes against traffic flow, so the trip isn't that crowded on the roadway.
I took the place for 3 months.
So, my advice to you people out there. If you're ever looking to live in the city for the short term, I advise doing the following.
Try to live in the city. It's so much more fun to be able to see things happen, especially if you're from a small town and don't get the opportunity to go into places like NYC often. It's not that dangerous, and the city is NOT actually as expensive as you might think it is. Almost everyone I know who got a place in the city loves it. I'm one of the few people who complain about where I live - to put it into perspective, there are at least two people who rent dorm-style rooms at the YMCA, and they honestly are in no rush to leave.
Unfortunately, where I am is bad because it's both far from work, and far from NYC proper.
Normally, people consider places difficult to find for short-term renting. THIS IS NOT THE CASE IN MANHATTAN. If you look on Craig's List's Sublet/Rooms section, there are TONS of people who are willing to sublet their fully-furnished apartments for durations as short as one weekend. Many people rent by the day or by the week. Hop on over to http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/sub/ and see what is posted - sometimes you'll get some good deals. Usually, if you want a small room in an apartment, shared with 2-3 other people, you'll pay about $1000 or more, depending on the area of Manhattan you choose to live in, and the quality of the furnishings/building.
This was my biggest mistake - not looking in Manhattan, because the availability there is much more than you'd normally expect. Now, there is the issue of cleanliness and location, of course, which you can't get when you are looking at pictures, but there are a few places in town which are nicer than others. Many people I know in Manhattan live on the Upper West Side or the Upper East Side (beside Central Park) because the places are quite nice. Some live close to Midtown or in the East Village. One place that has been suggested that you avoid is Harlem.
You can also find reasonable rates for living and accomodation all across Manhattan: I was going to look at a place that was an 8x10 room for $1000 in a 3 bedroom place on Broadway and 125th St, which borders Harlem and Morningside Heights. Many people contacted me with options for rooms ranging from $1000-$1500. This should include most utilities, and Internet, since most people subletting have this already. Most apartments contain AC and if you live in the city during the summer AC is definitely worth it. Many places have laundry, but some don't. Depends on if you like going to the laundromat, but either way, it'll be coin-op laundry.
Although you can scan the postings yourself on Craig's List, you should just post a housing wanted request and people will contact you. More will contact you if you have "desirable roommate" characteristics, which tend to be: female, non-smoking, doesn't have any pets but doesn't mind them, professional, mid-20s to 30s, and clean/organized. If you can demonstrate that you have a regular income, that tends to be a bonus in your favour as well. A lot of people on Craig's List get swamped with mail so a good way to get your foot in the door is to reply as soon as they make a posting (or post a request and let people contact you). Anything that's older than about 20 hours is pretty much impossible to access.
Try not to pay a deposit more than your first month's rent. It just screws you later on especially if you hate your place. I paid a first-month rent deposit and a security deposit, and now I feel that I don't like the place and want to move out, but if I do then the leaseholder keeps the security deposit.
Oh, watch out for people who charge finder's fees, as well. There are many people who will find a place for you for some nominal fee that can be quite expensive.
One reason why Manhattan is unique is that you really don't need a long term lease at all, so you can move around fairly often (or stay put), sometimes on odd dates like in the middle of the month. The turnover appears to be rather high and housing gets snapped up quickly. I wish I knew this before I moved here because then I could have rented a place in the city that is probably much more central than where I am now, for not much more than what I am paying.
It's a shame, really, since the city looks fun and a lot happens there every day. It would be nice to be able to go out for a walk in the evening and get nice food or see things that are happening. Where I am now it's so bare and I don't feel all that comfortable (though not necessarily threatened). I'm so far from the people I know and so far from random things to do. In addition, my house smells (it did since I moved in) and one of the guys here makes a mess that covers for the other three of us combined. This is mostly a rant-complaining post in the end, I guess. I guess I'm just upset I really didn't know what I was doing when I looked for places to live.