I am seeing a lot more homeless people on the street. Just saying.
I looked on Craigslist for Rooms/Shares in Brooklyn and saw several that seemed appropriate for your daughter (age of others and so on) in her price range.
When D was starting residency she wanted to be in one of the Brooklyn neighborhoods closer to Manhattan with dependable trains and the possibility of her riding a bike to work, something that during particularly demanding rotations is her only form of exercise. She has gone the Craigs List route in the past and while having success with it, this time she wanted to get the job done in two days so she went with a broker. She saw numerous apartments that she would not have seen otherwise and felt it was money well spent. She has been in her place for two years and when her lease comes up next July she may well be priced out. More and more of Brooklyn is becoming too expensive for someone just starting out. As prices go up and much of Brooklyn “matures” I would guess it will be harder and harder for a grad student type to find group housing. Those already in an apartment and looking to fill a room are working types and will trend a little older in their search.
I hope that the OP’s daughter finds a place soon. D did an extended away rotation in San Francisco and housing in NYC seemed a picnic by comparison.
That was not our experience with I-House. S applied, IIRC, in June (possibly late May), and was able to get a room starting in late July. I guess he did have to write an application. Since he was actually living and going to school in France at the time and was fluent in the language, and going to the J school with a possibility of working in Western Europe, he was probably more convincing as a person interested in international living than many.
They have two buildings, one of which is composed of single rooms of varying sizes: S had a tiny one, the cheapest he could get. IIRC he paid around $860 per month. The other building has apartments up to, again IIRC, 2 bedrooms. He had classmates from India who rented those. So for someone who could spend more and wanted something less dorm-like, that would be a possibility.
Another approach is to walk around the desired campus (or any campus area in NYC) and find fliers put up by other students.
@soozievt, I assure you, my D is looking at Craigslist ads and contacting half a dozen or so every day. As I mentioned, at least half of the ads she responds to, many of which seem ideal, don’t get back to her for whatever reason. (This is the common theme of Craigslist, I’m afraid.) She has visited about 15 places, and trust me, they don’t always appear as advertised. You can make some major distortions with photographs.
Among the situations D turned down: no room for a bed; no window and no central heat; illegal sublet; place reeking of weed; advertiser with female-sounding name who turned out to be a 6-foot guy; sketchy neighborhood (she is starting to get a feel for Brooklyn, but it’s a huge and varied place); laundromat multiple blocks from apartment; too many flights of stairs for an asthmatic (she’s gotten smarter about asking as time has progressed); roommates who just seemed incompatible. And then there was the place she decided she wanted (and brought me to for a second visit), but apparently the very quiet, uptight roomies with many house “rules” didn’t care for her personality (or maybe mine!), which is their prerogative.
Perhaps she is being picky, but I think some pickiness is necessary when you are choosing a place that will be your home for the next few years, as well as two or three roomies who you’ll be living in close quarters with for that time.
I know she’ll eventually find the right place, but as others have confirmed, it’s not a matter of jumping onto Craigslist, picking out a place and moving in. It’s a slog, and particularly exhausting for someone who is working full-time and taking classes and for whom any trip into NYC to look at an apartment involves 3 hours of roundtrip travel door to door.
@Consolation, I think your son lucked out (luck is such a huge factor in all this), and may have been successful because he was entering in the summer. There are suites and even some real apartments in I-House, but the true apartments are reserved for families. My D lived there in a suite (very expensive), and while they have a working kitchenette, the adjacent common area is too small for any furniture other than a wee table. (And oddly, the bedrooms are huge, so I have no idea who thought that arrangement made any sense). I-House is also not very well located for anyone not attending school in the Morningside Heights area or further north in Manhattan. But it’s a great choice for many. The cafeteria is excellent. The security is top notch.
FWIW, my niece and her husband who live in NYC and know a lot of people trying to make it as dancers, etc, told be a couple of years ago that those looking for low rents were generally looking in Queens at that point.
My dd found a nice place with a sitting room and bedroom in Queens for $1600. She is in Astoria. It might be worth a look. My dd did use a broker and felt that it made all the difference.
Astoria is a good choice. One of the housing issues in NYC is that landlords are holding apartments off the market to use for Air BNB rentals which is not legal in NYC. It is a huge issue.
Thumper #59. Just what my D did going to Geneva. They think it will all be ok. It was for my D but she admits now, years later, that she was very nervous as her days to leave the hotel came closer and closer and she had nowhere to live.
I’m not so comfortable with everything about the guarantor concept. I don’t mind doing it, we’re paying for the three months he’s there anyways. And I don’t mind doing it through a professional realtor, but right now he’s looking at three month sublets and they’re talking about guarantors? I’m not going to send a bunch of kids my pay and bank statements, and tax returns. That’s very personal information. I don’t care if my son sees it, but not a random group of young people trying to decide if he can pay the rent. What would you need a guarantor for a three month rental for, anyways? They pay rent and a deposit up front, and if they don’t pay, the other roommates kick them out.
Maybe I have misunderstood and they only get professionals to look at this information. But for a three month shared rental, it doesn’t seem reasonable.
H had to be guarantor to D’s 4 person apartment for a one year lease and it drove him nuts. Didn’t help that the landlord was Russian. How nice to give your social security number, bank statements, 3 years of tax returns, etc., to a perfect stranger!
I agree that you shouldn’t need a guarantor for a 3 month sublet. Offer to pay all three months up front with a security deposit too and what can they complain about?
Though I don’t really want to pay all three months of front, I would if we had to. My son did say something about dealing with a realtor, but that was when he was looking at renting an apartment for a year with a friend. Three month sublet seems like a completely different deal.
If your son is subletting then you shouldn’t need to be a guarantor, especially for 3 months. The landlord would still hold the original renter responsible for the rent, unless your son is to be added to the lease.
Okay, good to know. And at that point, I guess we’d be dealing with the landlord, not the tenants. I think he (and I) are just confused.
It’s easy to be confused but makes sense to be sure the landlord is ok with the sublease so he doesn’t kick your S out, saying that he LL never consented to sublease and your S. Our kids never sublet from anyone nor to anyone, so he personal experience.
@busdriver11 - if your son ends up subletting, I would have him pay the landlord, not the tenant. Make sure the landlord approves the sublet. I certainly wouldn’t give 3 months rent to the tenant.
The renter may have your son to take him out on the security. If it is possible I would try not to do it because there could be damages occurred prior to your son moving in. On the other hand, your son may not have a choice if he wants the sublet, but make sure the landlord is aware so your son could get it later.
That would surely be a problem, to get kicked out!
I’m kind of pushing a couple other options. There are some places in Brooklyn that are basically “hacker houses”, with a bunch of techies in them. One is shared bedrooms (yuck), and the other, you get your own bedroom. Safe, reliable options. Not great to have shared bedroom, and the other option is kind of expensive, but there’s no worries about safety or someone ripping you off there.
So what do you guys think about this? It’s 2K for a studio (no roommates), all utilities included, for three months. They are only asking for three months of bank statements (which is fine, I’ll cross out the account number). But it’s pretty far north, in Hamilton Heights, though he says it’s right by a subway in a safe neighborhood. But isn’t that right by Harlem, which as I remember, is not great.