When should I start panicking? (Apartment search)

galenblade

So, I gave notice to my landlord 2 weeks ago that I was leaving my apartment. It wasn't a great place - too expensive, filled with bugs, and with heat/hot water that worked three days out of the week on a good week. So I decided to strike out.

But forward 2 weeks later. My current apartment has been leased out starting 9/1, and I have not found a single apartment that I would want to live in (too expensive, landlord doesn't want to sign a lease, etc.). And what's getting worse is that I've been unable to find a place to even look at in nearly a week. All that remains are places that are out of my budget, or in neighborhoods that I really don't want to live in.

So my question is this, to those who've been on the hunt. Given the fact that I have pretty much exactly 2 weeks to find somewhere, at what point should I start looking at contingency plans? Like, getting something that I can't afford? Should I continue to stick it out, or should I start actively pursuing sub-optimal places?

Or if anyone has any ideas on how to find a place on relatively short notice, that'd be welcome too.

Dachshund

If you can't find an optimal place, put your things in storage (if you have too many things to keep in your car/at a friend's/mom's/etc) and rent a room on craigslist. Usually cheap, no lease, month to month. Shares a kitchen, etc. This gives you time to search and is cheaper than a hotel

anonymity

That's odd. Real estate is pretty down, so you'd think they'd be begging you to live there.

Dachshund

I rented a room this summer for 3 months in order to find a good permanent place. Rent in the area is 600-1000 for a 1bed. I payed 300 and had a mansion to myself.

galenblade

anonymity wrote: »

That's odd. Real estate is pretty down, so you'd think they'd be begging you to live there.

That's what I thought. I actually saw a place my friend had lived in on the market, and the price had gone up 15% since he had rented it. It's rather insane.

galenblade

Dachshund wrote: »

If you can't find an optimal place, put your things in storage (if you have too many things to keep in your car/at a friend's/mom's/etc) and rent a room on craigslist. Usually cheap, no lease, month to month. Shares a kitchen, etc. This gives you time to search and is cheaper than a hotel

Storage I can do, and will probably have to as a backup plan. But even the month-to-month stuff is pretty steep here in NYC.

anonymity

galenblade wrote: »

anonymity wrote: »

That's odd. Real estate is pretty down, so you'd think they'd be begging you to live there.

That's what I thought. I actually saw a place my friend had lived in on the market, and the price had gone up 15% since he had rented it. It's rather insane.

Maybe it's all the people who lost home ownership scrambling for shelter.

Edit: oh, NYC. Yeah, the market only slowed down price growth. That's the great thing about the north east: property values were always based on fundamentals, so there was no room for much of a bubble.

Cauld

How are you looking for places? In NYC I've found the best way is to go to neighborhoods you want to live in and walk around calling numbers on buildings. Worked for me. Craiglist was a complete waste of time.

galenblade

Cauld wrote: »

How are you looking for places? In NYC I've found the best way is to go to neighborhoods you want to live in and walk around calling numbers on buildings. Worked for me. Craiglist was a complete waste of time.

Been doing both. Craigslist is a wasteland, though I found one apartment on there that I really shouldn't have walked away from. Great location, decent price, it was just a 5th floor walk-up and a hike from the subway.

I've been walking around neighborhoods and trying to find brokers and such, in fact just got back from one walk. I've even walked into real estate offices and asked. Nothing. Saw one apartment from a broker I trusted, and the place was fine, although the landlord was surprisingly vehement about not having me sign a lease.

riz

Yeah I don't think the market is down here anymore... the last articles I read were like "landlords aren't giving perks like paying the ridiculous realtor fees or free months of rent anymore!" Woo.

NotYou

Ask for an extension before you move out. Unless your landlord has already found someone (which I doubt), then he'll be happy to have a tenant a little bit longer.

illig

you gave your landlord notice that you're leaving for September 1st? in NYC?

yeah, there's your mistakes 1 and 2. The city gets inundated with both college students coming into the countless universities after a summer off, and with new graduates starting jobs in August/September. It's pretty much THE WORST TIME TO LOOK FOR AN APARTMENT here. Recession, terrorist attacks, and forces of nature all working together wouldn't affect it.

at this point, i'd get a broker and eat the cost of the fee... finding a well priced, clean apartment on your own will be pure blind luck. OR - delay using the storage/room sublet method and rent closer to winter when the market gets to within a thousand miles of "reasonable"

sorry

matt has a problem

galenblade wrote: »

anonymity wrote: »

That's odd. Real estate is pretty down, so you'd think they'd be begging you to live there.

That's what I thought. I actually saw a place my friend had lived in on the market, and the price had gone up 15% since he had rented it. It's rather insane.

Real estate is down, rentals aren't though. With all the home foreclosing going on, people are desperate for places to live, and the rental market is taking advantage of that.

galenblade

illig wrote: »

you gave your landlord notice that you're leaving for September 1st? in NYC?

yeah, there's your mistakes 1 and 2. The city gets inundated with both college students coming into the countless universities after a summer off, and with new graduates starting jobs in August/September. It's pretty much THE WORST TIME TO LOOK FOR AN APARTMENT here. Recession, terrorist attacks, and forces of nature all working together wouldn't affect it.

Yeah, thanks. I realize this. I'm just trying to make it work right now before I'm out on my ass.

at this point, i'd get a broker and eat the cost of the fee... finding a well priced, clean apartment on your own will be pure blind luck. OR - delay using the storage/room sublet method and rent closer to winter when the market gets to within a thousand miles of "reasonable"

sorry

Been to brokers, none of them have something even close to my range.

Deebaser

First off, what are your criteria? If you're looking for a 800 sqft one bedroom in an elevator building on the upper east side for $900, that aint happening. At this point you need to manage your expectations and prevent homelessness.

What neighborhoods are acceptable/unacceptable and at what cost?

Protip: Don't even look at craigslist. You'll waste more time wading through scams and broker ads than it's worth. Prudential Doug Elli has a new website with rental postings that are pretty good. SO does the NYtimes. If you're desperate not to be put on your ass hit up sublet.com.

NotYou

Another option (whether on craigslist or elsewhere) is to look for someone who needs to temporarily sublet his place, or someone looking for roommate. Somewhere you can live for 3-4 months without signing a lease, even if it's bit more expensive then you'd want.

Erios

I generally can find pretty great apartments. What's your range and where do you commute to? Also, what other amenities do you desire?

galenblade

Well, two parts to this.

First, I actually found a place just today, so I think that I should be OK. It's not ideal, but it's pretty good, all things considered. Got the application in, and I think I'm gonna get it.

Second, for people who have been asking about what I was looking for, I was looking for a studio/1BR that was at most 1400 in either the Williamsburg, Park Slope, or Prospect Heights areas. Considering I'm currently paying 1300 for a place in Brooklyn Heights, I thought that it would be a reasonable goal to set. But no, there was literally nothing for like 2 weeks. And I had contacted multiple brokers, including some I had worked with before.

So, resolved for now, at least.

Shazkar Shadowstorm

Yeah I right now am renting a room month to month on park slope/prospect heights until I find a better place to live later on

That is not a terrible option

Though finding a room to rent took me a hell of a hassle to find one that worked and that I liked and where the people would take me.
But I guess since you are looking for a studio then your situation is different.

Aphostile

One great website I found while apartment hunting is:

http://www.padmapper.com

Maps out Craigslist/a few other websites postings and allows you to filter on a whole bunch of things.

http://www.myapartmentmap.com/ is also ok, but I don't like their interface nearly as much.