What You Need to Know About Rent Guarantors

September 14, 2010 | By Alissa AuthorMy First Apartment

Guarantors. Who needs ’em! Well, you might if you want to get a NYC apartment and don’t make 40 times your monthly rent in annual salary. What do I mean? Well, say you’re looking to rent an apartment with friends for $2,000 (for the entire place). $2,000 x 40. . . that’s a slick $80k. Yowza!…

How Much of Your Paycheck Should Go Towards Rent?

November 30, 2009 | By Alissa AuthorMy First Apartment

My sister is moving into her first apartment next month in Chicago and was planning her budget over the long Thanksgiving weekend while I sat next to her reading the paper. “So, Ms. First Apartment Expert,” she smirked at me, “how much should I be spending on rent?” “A quarter,” I said without looking up…

Moving to Manhattan!

May 18, 2009 | By Alissa AuthorMy First Apartment

I can’t believe I’m typing this but . . . it looks like that Manhattan dream ain’t so far out of reach after all. Plenty of people prefer Brooklyn(myself included), but many of my neighbors are only here because the real estate across the river is too hot to handle. Not anymore! The trouble with…

Tis the season. . .to negotiate with your landlord!

December 3, 2008 | By Alissa AuthorMy First Apartment

Welcome back, Gentle Blog readers! I hope you had a festive Thanksgiving and enough turkey to last a lifetime. Well, at least until next year. As December marks the beginning of “End-of-Year” reflection, let us reflect back on a topic from September: How to best negotiate your lease. Ah, what memories – the stock market…

When the Subletter Renegs on the Rent

July 11, 2008 | By Alissa AuthorMy First Apartment

Hello Gentle Blog Readers, I was going to write about urgent last-minute apartment fixes–but a friend is having an urgent problem, so I’m hoping some of you may have advice. Also, apartment living ethics fascinate me. The problem? The subletter( who is an acquaintance of a current housemate) doesn’t think she should pay rent for…