<p>My son and three of his friends are hoping to share an apartment close to NYU. It seems like July is the time to look. Anyone out there have advice for these young men?</p>
<p>We went through this last summer and you are correct. June and July are great months to find an apartment in Manhattan, in part because the landlords realize that a significant portion of their potential renter base has left for the summer, so any units they have not pre-leased by mid-may might stay off the rent rolls for awhile. That fact should give you some leverage to negotiate down from the list prices they will initially offer.
It used to be that you had to have a broker and pay a broker’s fee in order to find an apartment in NYC, but since the financial meltdown in the fall of 2008 that is no longer the case. There are a lot more vacancies now, most landlords advertise on Craigslist and/or in the newspapers, and a lot of the larger buildings have on-site leasing agents. So if you are willing to do the legwork, it’s easy enough to just do it yourself.
We found that the locations closest to NYU— Greenwich Village, West Village, Soho, Tribeca, Chelsea, the Union Square area, and Gramercy Park— are all relatively expensive, though you might find a good deal if you’re in the right place at the right time. In general though, to find a better deal you have to go a bit further from campus. We found that the rental rates were generally lower in the East Village, LES, Financial District, Upper East Side and Midtown West, as well as in Brooklyn and other bridge and Tunnel locations. Remember though, that the subway system makes it a lot easier to travel north/south on the island than east/west. So the further toward the rivers they go, the more walking they will do.
My daughter ended up getting a great deal in the Financial District, which has been particularly hard hit by the financial meltdown. They had a lot of condo conversion projects come onto the market at just the wrong time and many of those units have had to go rental. And FiDi has awesome subway access. Because all the north/south lines terminate there you can generally get anywhere on the island in under 20 minutes.
Good luck, and happy hunting.</p>
<p>What year are they? Price range? Willing to commute? Are they sharing rooms or is everyone expecting a single?</p>
<p>The payment of a broker’s fee depends on the apartment owner. No fees apartment involve the payment of the brokers fee by the landlord and a fee apartment means you will be paying the fee. Generally no fee apartments are better but you will occasionally find a nice fee apartment.</p>
<p>CASmom is right in saying that the cheapest areas are midtown west, upper east side, east village, lower east side, and financial district. If you are looking for an apartment close to nyu in terms of walking distance then it narrows it down to east village and lower east side. However east village is quickly becoming more expensive and your options are approaching closer towards the east river near 1st ave and alphabet city which you may or may not feel comfortable with.</p>
<p>In my experience there has been very little room for negotiating of the prices. Real estate is still in high demand and anywhere close to NYU will be hot. Manhattan real estate has barely lost a step since the mortgage crisis aside from that year itself. The financial district became cheaper not only because of that event but also because many of the banks and corporations have relocated to midtown.</p>
<p>Our daughter and two friends found a large 2 BR 1 BA apartment in the East Village through craigslist, $3320, two blocks from where they were in Third North. I’d call it medium quality, not fancy, not grungy. The LR is huge so one end is blocked off as the third BR. They just started their second year in it and are quite happy. They found it in April, leased for a year starting in May, but are now month-to-month. They didn’t pay a broker fee. It’s on a very nice street, clean with lots of trees.</p>
<p>How involved did you get in the search? Do you think it should be up to the student’s to search?</p>
<p>We were totally uninvolved, except for signing the check! 
The only rule was that the total costs couldn’t be more than at the dorm.</p>
<p>I was heavily involved in the search for several reasons but mostly because my daughter was both taking classes and working full time last summer and simply did not have time. Because we live in a distant state, I did a lot of the “legwork” using Craigslist, the NYT, Curbed NYC, Google earth street view, a big map of Manhattan, and various other internet source. I spammed her with “leads” to investigate, but she only had time to check out a few of them. So as the deadline for moving out of the dorm grew closer with little progress “on the ground”, I booked a flight and we did a whirlwind blitz of the Manhattan rental market, which was at various points fun, discouraging, depressing, exhausting, and ultimately exhilarating when we found the right place.<br>
So I guess it depends on your situation. With four guys on the ground in NYC I’m thinking they can get the field of possibilities narrowed down on their own. But you might want to retain final inspection and over-all veto rights, especially if you are paying for it.</p>
<p>We did say that we have ultimate veto rights. Safety and cost is our big concern.</p>
<p>Our D and friends wanted to remain near NYU; the area is quite safe, therefore cost was the main concern. NYU dorms are very expensive, so the cost was about the same.</p>
<p>I know everyone in this thread are parents, so this is probably not an issue; but PLEASE make you take all precautions when it comes to dealing with brokers and landlords! There was a girl in the WW office last summer crying her eyes out because she had rented an apartment online, shown up in NY with her family/her stuff and found out the guy had scammed her and ran off with the money. We were able to find her housing in the NYU system, but it was ridiculously stressful. Just be careful, there are some people who would love nothing more but to scam college students!</p>
<p>Excellent point. Perhaps we can list good sources.</p>
<p>Ours was DSA Realty Services; they manage many properties. Straightforward, easy to deal with.</p>
<p>For those of you have done this or are planning to… What do you do about summers? Do you or do you plan to sublet? Is the total cost for 12 months equivalent to or less than 9 months of dorming?</p>
<p>Last summer she sublet; there seem to be willing payers available. This summer she is staying, taking a full load, graduating early (and saving some $).</p>
<p>It is possible to sublet. I found some friends who were staying for the summer. Of course whether or not the total 12 months is cheaper than the 8 months of dorming depends upon the price of each. I paid roughly 1600 a month for dorming, but it depends on where you are dorming and whether it’s a single or not. I found an apartment that is roughly 1300 a month, but including internet + utilities it’s probably around 1400.</p>
<p>@MAP: Thanks for pointing that out. I have heard some horror stories as well, which is one of the reasons I was heavily involved in the process. We had an appointment with a broker the day I arrived but were so turned off by her approach and tactics that we bailed and decided to go it alone.</p>
<p>@londonb: Most leases are for at least a year and some landlords will offer you a better deal if you sign on for a longer lease period. Some people do sign a one year lease and then sublet their apartment for the summer, but you generally have to offer a discounted rate to find a summer renter. Subletting has not been an issue for us because my daughter has a job there and takes classes in the summer. </p>
<p>@chinablue: Safety and cost were our main concerns as well and her Dad immediately focused the list by insisting on a building with a 24-hour doorman, a feature which, of course, also drove up the cost. In general, Manhattan is very safe, but some areas are better than others for a variety of reasons. There are NYU students living all over NYC and I don’t want to denigrate anyone’s choices, so if you are interested in my thoughts on that topic feel free to PM me. I see that you are looking for a place for four guys and I have a piece of advice based on our experience: Before you get too far into the search I would insist on speaking personally to the parents of each of the boys to make certain that they are 100% on-board financially and that everyone is on the same page as to what criteria said apartment will have to fulfill to be acceptable to all parties. Our apartment search evolved from an apartment for 3 girls, to an apartment for 2 girls, to a studio for my daughter, and it was very stressful to keep having to start over.</p>
<p>The last few lines of CASmom’s post above is especially important. The same thing happened to me, and it was a headache for weeks. There is a slim chance that everyone will be completely in love with any single place and people will have to compromise. If their parents are going to be guarantors which they most likely will, make sure that everyone has their papers ready depending on the requirements of the landlords.</p>
<p>Everyone has been sooo helpful. I have a couple more questions that maybe you can help with:</p>
<p>How much money do you think a student will need for food and expenses a month in NYC minimum? </p>
<p>How much are utilities, in general?</p>
<p>Utilities depends on what you have to pay for, most places require you to pay for electricity and heating, although few may have you pay for all utilities including water but its doubtful. My utilities bill was 75 dollars between 2 people. </p>
<p>I dormed last year and cooked maybe 2 nights a week the rest of the time I ate out, it ended up being about 600-700 dollars a month. That is including food and little shopping and shows etc.</p>
<p>Did you say that you spent 600-700 dollars a month for food/shopping and you lived in the dorm? I was thinking my son could live on maybe $400 a month if his rent/utilities were covered.</p>
<p>@chinablue: Food varies a lot from person to person. I spent about $400/month on food when I lived off-campus. I’m female so I don’t eat as much as a guy, and I didn’t eat out much, usually just 5 times a week (at cheap places around campus). For breakfast I only have cereal or a granola, lunch I usually eat out, and then I preferred to have dinner at home with my suitemates. Cooking meals together would cut costs too. </p>
<p>If your son eats most of his meals at home, $400/month is reasonable; otherwise expect to spend more. Eating at home is often inconvenient for a college student because we don’t spend much time in our dorms or apartments. Also lots of college students spend $30/week on Starbucks alone. Getting a coffee maker (and getting him to use it!) could save a lot of money.</p>