Scared Parents' Apartment Search

Parents Forum
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<p>My daughter is heading off to New York City for college in the fall. We're trying to figure out the best way to go about apartment searching since we're on the West Coast and can't be there to see every apartment. </p>

<p>Did any of you start the apartment search from your hometown outside New York?
What were the biggest problems/frustrations you encountered? I want to be prepared! </p>

<p>I have so many concerns (safety, money, etc) that I'm hoping I can cross a few off the list. What was your biggest fear going into the move and what helped you relieve them - besides wine? </p>

<p>Do you hire someone (a realtor, mover, private apartment consultant, etc) to help and if so, do you think it was it worth the money? I can't believe the number of expenses already. And I'm not even talking about tuition. </p>

<p>Everyone in our town thinks we're crazy to send our daughter to New York but the hardest part of being a parent is letting her see the world... If you have any experience or insights, please share!</p>

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<p>?? Doesn’t her school offer housing?</p>

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<p>Having had to relocate to totally unfamiliar cities many times for my occupation, I have learned that you really need the guidance of someone with both knowledge of the local realestate/rental market AND the lifestyle needs of the client. </p>

<p>We’ve already had one big regret on a home purchased in a new city, w/o the guidance of a relocation counselor. The house & neighbor looked great, but lifestyle-wise it didn’t work. We were miserable there and actually lost money on the sale when we [thankfully] got relocated again.</p>

<p>To echo previous poster, wouldn’t a dorm make more sense for the 1st year, until child learns more about the pros/cons of differnt residential areas?</p>

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<p>Ditto the dorm suggestion. Maybe have her request a single?</p>

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<p>Another option vs. dorm is to search for a room mate who already has an apt. and is knowledgeable about the city.</p>

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<p>Some (many?) NYC schools have no dorms.</p>

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<p>Is there a facebook group for accepted students where she can talk to others who might know more about the housing situation there? Also, have her look at the admitted students group from the previous year. Those kids will have been at the school for a while and have more insight on housing. She could try to contact some of them and see what they recommend. </p>

<p>Does the school have info about off campus housing information on their web page? </p>

<p>I think those two ideas would be a good start. From there you will probably be able to figure out how to proceed. </p>

<p>If the school does provide housing I agree that would be a good idea for the first year. If they offer it, it will possibly be less expensive and safer than what she could find on her own. Also, it might be good to be with other new students if she is new to the area.</p>

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<p>It may help if you let us know which school. I personally think it is crazy to send an 18 year old to a school in NYC without a dorm. Apartments in NYC are expensive. Your D is going to have to take care of her apartment, cook for herself while going to classes. It would be a huge transition for her. </p>

<p>If your daughter really wants to do this, then I would enlist the school to help you out, pairing up with another student to look for an apartment, find few good realtors to work with, and come out to NYC yourself to check out those apartments. This is not something you could do over the internet. Most realtors or management agents do not want to deal with you unless you are willing to rent immediately - 1 to 2 month prior - and you have a cashier’s check ready. </p>

<p>How mature is your daughter? If she is not ready to find an apartment by herself then she is not ready to live by herself, especially if you are so far away. There is letting go, and then there is letting go. Good luck.</p>

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<p>Your daughter may not be able to get an apartment in New York City. NYC landlords usually require students and young professionals who are just starting out to have guarantors for their leases, and many will not accept guarantors who are outside the tri-state (New York, New Jersey, Connecticut) area. Even if you find one that will accept a guarantor from outside the area, the amount of money that a person is required to earn to qualify as a guarantor is startlingly high, and you may not make that much.</p>

<p>Fortunately, there is another alternative: dorm-like housing run by private companies and organizations. Here are two of them. I know nothing about the quality of these housing options – I only know that they exist, and I’m hoping someone else who reads this thread will comment on them.</p>

<p>[92YResidence</a> -Student, Intern Housing - 92nd Street Y - New York, NY](<a href=“http://www.92y.org/Uptown/92YResidence-Student-Intern-Housing.aspx]92YResidence”>http://www.92y.org/Uptown/92YResidence-Student-Intern-Housing.aspx)</p>

<p>[Educational</a> Housing Services](<a href=“http://www.studenthousing.org/]Educational”>http://www.studenthousing.org/)</p>

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<p>Does her college have a housing office? Some schools have suggestions of where to look for places or even listings of who to call.</p>

<p>NYC is actually a big enough place that knowing the specific college would be helpful. I would give VERY different suggestions for a student attending NYU than a student attending Columbia…(both have dorms). Even Juilliard has dorms for its freshman students.</p>

<p>Every student I know who has lived in NYC has shared a VERY small apartment with AT LEAST one other person. Many have attended school in Manhattan but lived in the Bronx, Brooklyn etc due to the costs.</p>

<p>I know a grad student who lived at a place called International House…you might want to find out about that. Don’t know if they have rooms for undergrads.</p>

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<p>D1 looked at Educational Housing when she was doing summer internship in NY, but she ended up going with the New School housing. They required all residents to be an intern or a student. We felt better D1 was staying at a place like that. Looking at the rates, 2 semester would cost 14K if OP should select a triple.</p>

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<p>we sent our oldest off to nyc at 18 to a school with no dorms… used craigslist… we did have a friend that lived within an hour of nyc and he drove in to have a look at it, was in the village. the following year he moved out to greenpoint, ALOT cheaper and much, much nicer for same price.</p>

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<p>My D (who was not going to school but working) found a good roommate situation through Craigslist on her first go round. You may want to look there just to get an idea.
You definitely need to have a trusted person check out places–my poor D (on her second move) really ran into some very seedy places (and landlords). Fortunately she landed in a good spot (but it took some time).
If you can do anything through the school, I’d do it.</p>

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<p>Recently helped a friend whose 17 year old granddaughter was moving from CA to Boston to a school with no housing. My son has been a Boston resident for many years. He emailed detailed information about potential neighborhoods. The student found a roommate through the schools housing online bulletin board. The girls then found a place through the school. I would start with that option before craigslist. If you do go the craigslist route proceed with caution. there have been cases of people “renting” places they didn’t even own and taking off with security deposits. I am sure someone here like Marian did will provide some helpful links. There are several other posters in NYC who I am sure will be helpful.</p>

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<p>I cannot help. But your thread title made me think you were scared because your apartment was searched by the police or bad guys.</p>

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<p>ebeeee…looking for college housing in Boston is VERY different than in NYC. Boston is a huge college town with very large pockets of housing areas where there are students from the vast number of colleges in greater Boston. NYC has much more “expensive” real estate and it is NOT an overgrown college town like Boston is. </p>

<p>Agreed that finding a place from across the country with NO ONE on site in NYC to check it out is not probably the best idea. And as Oldford pointed out, landlords in NYC expect a bankcheck on the spot…there are usually many others in line to look at especially the nicer options that are affordable.</p>

<p>I would very much reiterate the need to contact the college directly. Especially if they don’t have housing, they likely can point the students in the right direction. If they HAVE housing and your daughter is electing to live off campus, I would seriously rethink the decision.</p>

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<p>D1 moved to Brooklyn this fall for Americorps. She’s living with 3 other Americorps members in a 2 bdrm, 1 bath apt. If dorms aren’t available, I would definitely recommend that she somehow find other students that want to room together.</p>

<p>She and one of the other roommates went out for a few days in the summer to apt. shop, you have to got out a couple of months before you want to move. They had the assistance of a realtor friend of the family, but they were more experienced with commercial than residential properties. </p>

<p>After a day and a half, they turned in all of the paperwork for an apt. they liked and were told it was theirs. After staying another day in NYC and then flying home, she got a text in the morning that the guy that showed the apt. didn’t know that it was actually already taken. He was too embarrassed to tell them face to face so he waited until they left! Luckily they’d seen another they liked and were able to get it long distance.</p>

<p>Definitely plan on providing lots of financial information to be a guarantor for your D. They will want to know your complete employment, credit, etc. status.</p>

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<p>I live in NYC. I’ve lived in my building for a lot of years, so I’m not up to date on apartment hunting. </p>

<p>I’d suggest a couple of things. First, most colleges in NYC have off campus housing offices. These are often a good place to find out about housing, especially shared housing with other students. So, contact that office.</p>

<p>Second, figure out where the college is. Then use the mta site or <a href=“http://www.hopstop.com%5B/url%5D”>www.hopstop.com</a>. to figure out which neighborhoods are accessible via subway (preferable) or bus to campus. It’s all about how long it’s going to take to commute. Sometimes, places which are further away physically are easier to get to. </p>

<p>I can’t vouch for these sites, but they will at least give you some idea of prices by neighborhood; some are agencies: [NYC</a> Apartment Rentals, No Fee and Fee New York Listings - RentHop.com](<a href=“http://www.renthop.com/]NYC”>http://www.renthop.com/) <a href=“http://www.bestaptsnyc.com/[/url]”>http://www.bestaptsnyc.com/&lt;/a&gt; ; [New</a> York Apartments for Rent | Apartments.com](<a href=“http://newyork.apartments.com/]New”>http://newyork.apartments.com/)</p>

<p>We do have some college kids sharing apartments in my neighborhood, but most are either rented by the college itself for use as a dorm or occupied by kids who grew up in NYC and so know our neighborhood. </p>

<p>I think some of the Ys offer rent by the month. There are a few women’s residences. Again, I can’t vouch for these and I’m sure there are others, but see [The</a> Brandon Residence for Women – Affordable Temporary Housing in New York City](<a href=“http://www.thebrandon.org/]The”>http://www.thebrandon.org/) and <a href=“http://www.studenthousing.org/residences/st-george-studio[/url]”>http://www.studenthousing.org/residences/st-george-studio&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>The 97th Street YMHA rents rooms but I’m not sure how long one can live there. I do know a student who lived there for the duration of a semester’s long intenship.</p>

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<p>My niece used an apartment broker, but she is 22 years old, a college graduate with hot business degree, already had a well-paying fulltime job in NYC before she even phoned a broker. That’s a different profile than someone arriving new to the city as a college undergraduate freshman, by far!</p>

<p>NYC is a great destination, so please tell your friends not to worry you so much :slight_smile: I just think your D might be ahead of herself, by a few years, to think she can parachute in solo like this to her own apartment, if that’s what she imagines.</p>

<p>You’re getting good advice above. Prioritize: first, revisit all the student housing and off-campus guidance available from the school itself. Please don’t turn up one’s nose about anything - small floor space, the need to share, the decor, for example. All she needs to begin college is a safe, clean bedroom. If it’s the dorm food that turns her off, I’ll add: a friend of mine whose D cared a lot about having traditional foods sent her freshman D with a rice cooker that she uses alongside a microwave for vegetables, all in a dorm-area shared kitchenette. D says that is working well for her. </p>

<p>If the college has no dorms, then contact their off-campus housing office. Perhaps there’s a website with nearby places listed, but if not, phone them to ask what most incoming students do, and follow suit. If they have a way of connecting her to a group that is forming, with one person on-scene to scout for the rest, that might work. Sometimes, however, it’s slippery and one student is looking for a place for 4, finds a place for 3, and <em>someone</em> gets disappointed. She’ll do much better after a year of school when she knows a group of people to look together for the following year. Or, she’ll make herself the newest roommate of a shared apartment already in place. THAT’s when Craigslist can work well, but those apartment-lookers are in the city, ready to go to Open Houses, be interviewed by current roommates, then “jump” to put down a deposit right then for a good listing, sometimes same-day. She’ll be able to do that, just not this year from far away. If she uses Craigslist, you must exercise all the protective oversight you can to find out who are the other people who offer her a space to live with them, and as a Mom, even a progressive one, I wouldn’t let my D do that at age 18 based on online contacts. </p>

<p>If there’s no reliable group for her, as recommended by off-campus housing, then certainly investigate the several Room Rentals above - the specific YMCA, YMHA, and the student hotels under EHS (all in posts above). As I recall they required plenty of advance booking, so could begin now or soon. I know the YMHA fills up and people stay put, so there is little success last-minute. For that, you are right to look now.</p>

<p>The last thing I think of is if you have any kind of church or ethnic association, to reach out to their leadership in NYC. Ask if there is a member family in NYC with spare bedroom to rent. That would be like living iwth another family, and it could go very well or be very dificult, depending entirely on the family and your daughter. It’s a way to get a toe-hold in the city, until she knows other students, at which point she might move on. I’ve never heard of anyone actually doing this, but if anyone has ever done it and succeeded, I’d love to hear about it on CC.</p>