Looks like I'm moving (Yonkers, NY/Westchester area). Never had to do this before. Help?

AlyceInWonderland

Like the title says, I'm moving. My SO got a great job in Yonkers, NY, and I already work in NYC (We live upstate), so we'd like to move to the Westchester area (Ossining, Dobbs Ferry, Tarrytown, etc.) In the most ideal situation we'd like it near the MTA so that I can commute to the city easily. I'm not terribly familiar with Westchester, so if someone who IS familiar could chime in with other areas we should scope out, that'd be awesome!

So, now on to the real question. I've never moved before. Not on my own, at least. I've lived in NYC for a while during college, but due to loans, I had to move back home for a while. I've never had to find my own apartment, and I have no idea what to do. I'm getting a little overwhelmed thinking about it, and about all the necessities we'll be needing. I'm basically asking for tips on how to search for an apartment. I've heard that you should always take pictures of the apartment you visit for documentation, but other than that I'm clueless. I just want to make this process as smooth as possible.

I appreciate any advice/help in advance! Thanks!

ThunderSaid

Caveat: I've never looked for an apartment in the New York Area before, so take this with a grian of salt.

My experience with finding an apartment is that success is predicated on finding plenty of options to choose from. Every area I've found an apartment in has had a book called the "Apartment Finder" (or something similar) that lists basically every apartment complex in the area. You can find the books just about anywhere once you start looking for them (look near those little machines that sell newspapers.) Check out what's available in your price range and go look at plenty of them before you decide.

Now, my understanding is that the New York area has a lot of rental spaces that are either owned or sublet by individuals. You could probably find those by using craigslist and keeping an eye out for signs posted on bulletin boards (and other places people post crappy handmade signs). The same principle applies, though. Find plenty that seem like they might work, and go look at them.

After you've seen a decent number, you can make a decision about which one works best for you. Then it's a matter of working with the landlord to get everything set up.

One last thing, though - I've never once rented an apartment without a security deposit. For me, it's usually been along the lines of one month's rent. So, be aware of that, and start getting the money together if you haven't already.

tapeslinger

Security deposit in the nyc metro will be a minimum of one month, sometimes 1 1/2 or 2.

@syndalis might have some useful feedback on this as he's gone apartment hunting more recently than I have.

There are lots of commuter conveniences in the northern parts of nyc and the MetroNorth-serviced parts of Westchester et al, though.

tapeslinger

Also @Casual Eddy, he might have some suggestions as well

AlyceInWonderland

The security deposit won't be an issue. Fortunately, living at home meant I could squirrel away a lot of my paycheck!

syndalis

I went a little crazy when I went apartment hunting.

I wanted to be in Manhattan, but I didn't want to pay Manhattan prices, so I ended up in Inwood (which is, by the way, very close to where you are looking).

I used craigslist to do my initial hunting, but I also took any listing I saw with a MASSIVE grain of salt, and made sure to visit the apartments I was interested in multiple times.

I also day tripped into the neighborhood I was looking to move into a few times, and walked around in the morning, afternoon, and night. It gave me a sense of the scene, the neighbors, and what services I could expect to have access to at night.

When I finally settled on an apartment, I brought tape measure with me, and measured the whole place out. I then rebuilt it in a 3D program to the inch, and used google 3d warehouse to furniture shop. Almost everything you could want to buy has been made a 3d object by a nerd somewhere, so I was able to really plan out everything I wanted, and then build my ikea shopping list.

That said, you will NOT be fully prepared when you move in. Expect a couple months to pass where you are picking up a handful of things you forgot all about every week, as you need them. But so long as you have

1) A place to sleep
2) A place to get on your computer
3) A place to eat
4) Things to cook with
5) Things to clean with
6) essential toiletries

you will be fine. Moving is loads of fun.

AlyceInWonderland

syndalis wrote: »

I went a little crazy when I went apartment hunting.

I wanted to be in Manhattan, but I didn't want to pay Manhattan prices, so I ended up in Inwood (which is, by the way, very close to where you are looking).

I used craigslist to do my initial hunting, but I also took any listing I saw with a MASSIVE grain of salt, and made sure to visit the apartments I was interested in multiple times.

I also day tripped into the neighborhood I was looking to move into a few times, and walked around in the morning, afternoon, and night. It gave me a sense of the scene, the neighbors, and what services I could expect to have access to at night.

When I finally settled on an apartment, I brought tape measure with me, and measured the whole place out. I then rebuilt it in a 3D program to the inch, and used google 3d warehouse to furniture shop. Almost everything you could want to buy has been made a 3d object by a nerd somewhere, so I was able to really plan out everything I wanted, and then build my ikea shopping list.

That said, you will NOT be fully prepared when you move in. Expect a couple months to pass where you are picking up a handful of things you forgot all about every week, as you need them. But so long as you have

1) A place to sleep
2) A place to get on your computer
3) A place to eat
4) Things to cook with
5) Things to clean with
6) essential toiletries

you will be fine. Moving is loads of fun.

This was really helpful! Thanks. Probably won't go the whole measuring route, but that's a really cool/interesting idea.
I also forgot to mention that our rent max would be around 1300.
I'll check out Inwood. It seems to be a nice middle area between our jobs (I work in midtown)

Edit: As far as craigslist goes, should I be looking for apartments by owner only? SHould I get a broker and potentially pay an arm and a leg? Not sure how this works.

Usagi

You might want to look at Padmapper also, Alyce, it's a listing aggregator for rental properties and it was a lot of help finding places during my current move

schuss

padmapper got somewhat gutted by Craigslist reducing the data they provided API-wise, so it's not as good as it was. Craigslist now has mapping though.

Deebaser

AlyceInWonderland wrote: »

Edit: As far as craigslist goes, should I be looking for apartments by owner only? SHould I get a broker and potentially pay an arm and a leg? Not sure how this works.

The keyword you want to look for is "No Fee" rentals. These are apartments where the owner is paying the broker's fee. It's super common.

mts

i would also be prepared to move on something immediately if you like it.

also @syndalis is a dirty liar. moving is never fun

syndalis

AlyceInWonderland wrote: »

syndalis wrote: »

I went a little crazy when I went apartment hunting.

I wanted to be in Manhattan, but I didn't want to pay Manhattan prices, so I ended up in Inwood (which is, by the way, very close to where you are looking).

I used craigslist to do my initial hunting, but I also took any listing I saw with a MASSIVE grain of salt, and made sure to visit the apartments I was interested in multiple times.

I also day tripped into the neighborhood I was looking to move into a few times, and walked around in the morning, afternoon, and night. It gave me a sense of the scene, the neighbors, and what services I could expect to have access to at night.

When I finally settled on an apartment, I brought tape measure with me, and measured the whole place out. I then rebuilt it in a 3D program to the inch, and used google 3d warehouse to furniture shop. Almost everything you could want to buy has been made a 3d object by a nerd somewhere, so I was able to really plan out everything I wanted, and then build my ikea shopping list.

That said, you will NOT be fully prepared when you move in. Expect a couple months to pass where you are picking up a handful of things you forgot all about every week, as you need them. But so long as you have

1) A place to sleep
2) A place to get on your computer
3) A place to eat
4) Things to cook with
5) Things to clean with
6) essential toiletries

you will be fine. Moving is loads of fun.

This was really helpful! Thanks. Probably won't go the whole measuring route, but that's a really cool/interesting idea.
I also forgot to mention that our rent max would be around 1300.
I'll check out Inwood. It seems to be a nice middle area between our jobs (I work in midtown)

Edit: As far as craigslist goes, should I be looking for apartments by owner only? SHould I get a broker and potentially pay an arm and a leg? Not sure how this works.

1300 will land you a really nice spacious 1 bedroom in an elevator building in "Nice Inwood" or a 2 bedroom in "somewhat less nice inwood"

My rent is below 1300 a month and I have 650 square feet on the 5th floor of a 6 story elevator building, with tons of light and a bedroom capable of housing a king size bed, furniture, AND workout equipment if I wanted to.

The nicest part about where I live is is that even though I am in a really quiet part of town, I am a 3-4 minute walk from the A train or the 1 train, and can be in Midtown in 30ish minutes. So close enough to party / work, far enough away to not have pub crawlers puking on my stoop.

AlyceInWonderland

@syndalis That sounds perfect! Now I really have to check that area out. My boyfriend's job is right across the street from the MTA Yonkers stop. I'll have to figure out how my boyfriend would commute to work.

supabeast

A few tips:
• Find out about crime and noise before you sign a lease. Call the local police station and ask if they have problems with the block/building/whatever you are considering. And drive by at night and on Saturday afternoon to make sure it doesn’t turn into a thumping loud party zone when the local guys aren’t working. Even what seems like a great block might have house full of wannabe gangsters who get drunk and blast their car stereos every night after ten.
• It’s totally OK to knock on a few doors and ask the people in an apartment building what they think. People are usually happy to tell you that the management company never fixes anything, that the water is unsafe to drink, or that the guy down the hall is a gangster who throws a wild party every Saturday.
• Make sure the sinks and toilets work. If they don’t, just walk away. You don’t want a landlord who won’t bother to fix that before showing a place.
• Don’t move into a place where the ceilings show a lot of water damage.
• Old microwaves and washing machines can be a problem but old gas ranges are usually pretty solid.
• When you have to furnish the place buy good stuff on sale in sets. This will save you a lot of money over buying in pieces. This applies to furniture, flatware, cookware, dishes, etc. Department store sales are a great way to get pots and pans; sometimes they sell entire sets of cookware for less than one pan from the set costs individually at kitchen stores. If money is really tight Ikea’s kitchen stuff is great for the money, but don’t expect it to last. If you can afford stainless steel you will still have it when you die.

The Ender

supabeast wrote: »

A few tips:
• Find out about crime and noise before you sign a lease. Call the local police station and ask if they have problems with the block/building/whatever you are considering. And drive by at night and on Saturday afternoon to make sure it doesn’t turn into a thumping loud party zone when the local guys aren’t working. Even what seems like a great block might have house full of wannabe gangsters who get drunk and blast their car stereos every night after ten.
• It’s totally OK to knock on a few doors and ask the people in an apartment building what they think. People are usually happy to tell you that the management company never fixes anything, that the water is unsafe to drink, or that the guy down the hall is a gangster who throws a wild party every Saturday.
• Make sure the sinks and toilets work. If they don’t, just walk away. You don’t want a landlord who won’t bother to fix that before showing a place.
• Don’t move into a place where the ceilings show a lot of water damage.
• Old microwaves and washing machines can be a problem but old gas ranges are usually pretty solid.
• When you have to furnish the place buy good stuff on sale in sets. This will save you a lot of money over buying in pieces. This applies to furniture, flatware, cookware, dishes, etc. Department store sales are a great way to get pots and pans; sometimes they sell entire sets of cookware for less than one pan from the set costs individually at kitchen stores. If money is really tight Ikea’s kitchen stuff is great for the money, but don’t expect it to last. If you can afford stainless steel you will still have it when you die.

I must second all of this advice, and especially the first 2 points. I was suckered into a building one time with a 'great view'; too bad it was (despite being right next to the police headquarters) crime fucking central at the time. A cursory viewing on a weekend evening would've saved me a lot of hassle (building lobby was constantly trashed on weekends - thugs smashing the windows, drunks vandalizing the elevator consoles, etc). And If I'd asked residents, I'd have been made aware that one of the building's selling points - a pool / recreation area - was so poorly maintained and so badly trashed most of the time that it would probably be out of service any time we'd want to use it.

Ask building tenants how it is to live there, and take anything the management says with a big grain of salt.

AlyceInWonderland

Thanks guys, for the excellent advice! We're going to see a couple of apartments on Sunday (1 BR, for ~1300!) so we're hoping they're not awful. However, if they ARE shit, we're thinking about getting a broker. My boyfriend and I work over 40 hours a week with crappy commutes, so we have absolutely NO time during the week to check out apartments, which means looking at places on short notice is pretty much impossible during the week. On a scale of 1 to don't do it, how much of a scam/how useful are brokers? Would it be financially worth it to shell out over 3K on rent, down payment and broker fees? We still need to get a fuckin' bed! All the no-fee brokers have turned out to be bullshit, so we're seriously thinking about biting the bullet and going with a broker.

syndalis

AlyceInWonderland wrote: »

Thanks guys, for the excellent advice! We're going to see a couple of apartments on Sunday (1 BR, for ~1300!) so we're hoping they're not awful. However, if they ARE shit, we're thinking about getting a broker. My boyfriend and I work over 40 hours a week with crappy commutes, so we have absolutely NO time during the week to check out apartments, which means looking at places on short notice is pretty much impossible during the week. On a scale of 1 to don't do it, how much of a scam/how useful are brokers? Would it be financially worth it to shell out over 3K on rent, down payment and broker fees? We still need to get a fuckin' bed! All the no-fee brokers have turned out to be bullshit, so we're seriously thinking about biting the bullet and going with a broker.

Imma gonna send you a PM.