Searching for an apartment is ring of hell left undocumented by Dante. Between actually securing a place you deem worthy of living in, and making it through a realtor's many hoops, to the many fees and the plethora of paperwork required to actually lock the place down, renting is a sort of mental gymnastics few are trained for.
Alicia Schwartz, co-founder of rental ratings start-up Rentenna.com, is experienced in the art of stress-free apartment searches. Her experience as a successful rental broker in New York City led to her to becoming the New York Times rental expert and creating HowToRentinNYC.com. Here, Alicia shares what her rental survival guide, and tells would-be-renters what not to do when searching for their dream apartment in any city.
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Not having a guarantor ready to go.
Landlords have tough criteria everywhere, though it is definitely the worst in New York City. The typical income requirement is 40x the monthly rent. Meaning, if you want to rent an apartment that is $2000, then you'll have to prove an income of $80,000. If you were to have a parent/family member cosign your lease, then they would have to make 80x the rent, or $160,000.
Searching too early or late for an apartment.
Not using a broker effectively.
A week before you hit the pavement, take a day to properly research and set appointments with both no-fee apartments and 1-2 brokers from different brokerages. Take the first day to go through all the no-fee listings, make sure to make a list of all you have seen. On the second day, bring this list to the brokers so they don't take you to something you could and have already seen on your own. Because, once a broker shows you an apartment, even if you could have found the apartment on your own, your bound by the disclosure form you sign to pay them if you rent an apartment they've shown you.