By Golly, It’s a NEW Apartment Searchin’ Blog!
Hellooo fellow apartment hunters!
Allow me to re-introduce myself. My name’s Alissa and when I first started blogging for this shnazzy site, I was young(ok, 23), naive to apt-living, and generally flying-by-the seat of my pants. And look what I ended up with.
Isn’t it beautiful? Too bad I just got a sweet new job in NYC. See ya later Chi town. So, yes, now I’m old(ok, 25), wise to the need to save for rent out of EVERY paycheck, and about to embark on hard-core apartment hunting. Chicago is certainly apartment hunting-lite compared to the jungle that is New York City. Uh, railroad bedroom-what? Shared bedroom-who? Welcome to crazytown er my new apartment searchin’ blog.
As for my progress thus far? I’ve looked at Craigslist and responded to a few ads(one was my current roommate’s best friend in NY! What are the chances?! But she’d already filled the spot..) as well as posted one of my own in the “want housing” section. Brooklyn? Manhattan? Who can say. I got a few responses out of the latter but I guess so many people respond to these postings that few situations actually work out. Also, my not getting to NYC for another two weeks is likely a big turn-off. I’ve also posted on Facebook and another online community in which I’m a member(Couchsurfing).
If anyone has any brainstorms for other places to post, pretty please with the Empire State Building on Top, lemme know!
Talk soon, gang.
e.j.,
I think your best bet is to find roommates who already live in NYC. If you have friends or friends of friends who live in the city, use those contacts first. Then do what Alissa did and look for a short term sublet, so you’ll be able to actually visit your longer term roommate options before signing up. Start with Craigslist and Roommates.com and once you find something, check out the neighborhood at different times of day and night. And use our roommate agreement checklist as a guide when you negotiate with potential roommates.
http://myfirstapartment.com/article~moving_in~roommate_agreement_checklist
I’ve heard good things about Astoria! I suppose for me, I already have four good friends living in Brooklyn, so that is pretty appealing. But, I’ll definitely keep that in mind!
Also, EJ–I guess i’ve taken it for granted that everyone is okay living with people they don’t know as I’ve done it..4+ times at this point. But, I’ll look to address that question in a further post!
You should look in Long Island City/Astoria. It’s really convenient to Manhattan by subway and more affordable than Brooklyn.