I would have agreed if we were talking 10-15+ years ago. Not now unless you search long and hard and know people who have lived in the area for a while due to heavy gentrification.
One HS alum friend who bought a condo there not too long after HS graduation for a song back when it was actually cheap thanks to dotcom earnings as a computer security consultant made a financial massive killing when he sold it just 8 years later because Astoria had by then become a hot market for increasingly well-off undergrad/grad students and young professionals desiring an easy commute. That was back in the mid-'00s. The market has only gotten more expensive since.
I’ve had no issues hanging out with good friends living in Washington Heights till 2-4 am in the morning. Then again, while it’s more affordable than many other parts of Manhattan or even parts of Brooklyn*, gentrification…especially from Columbia med/grad/undergrad students and young professionals looking for more affordable housing has meant housing prices has increased sharply in the last 15+ years.
Only reason why my friend and his older roommate could afford living there is because the older roommate has been living there as a rent-controlled tenant since the early '60s. Market rate rent is ~2.5-3 times what they were paying.
One pair of friends moved to Washington Heights from Cobble Hill Brooklyn because the latter became far too expensive for them to continue living there after 10+ years due to rapid gentrification.
My S’s gf moved out here a year ago, and she found a room in an apartment (Upper East Side) through a Facebook group for her church denomination, where she’s an active member. She didn’t have to pay a broker and her rent is affordable for her. She also happens to get along great with her roommates, who she didn’t know previously.
My S is in law school in Brooklyn. He was in student housing his first year, but for his second he is moving into an apartment - again, no broker. One of the people living there is another law student, the other two are guys with jobs.
So it’s often who you know, or who you know who knows someone. So network, network, network!
My kid has lived in Washington Heights for 2 years. She has felt very very safe (and she comes from a rural area). I know she’s come home very late at night, too. In visiting her, I’ve felt very safe. The rents are considerably cheaper in Washington Heights – you can easily find a room in an apartment for less than $1000/month. I would look more on the west side of Broadway, though. Inwood, which is north and the very tip of Manhattan, is also good and has lower costs.
Columbia University has a campus at 168th St., and many of the apartments in the area are rented to students (doctors, nurses, masters in public health – so these are all students in their mid-20s). Columbia does have a housing list, so she should see if she can access that. My kid used that, and Craigslist, and Facebook, to find a room in an apartment. The area is heavily Dominican. In her first apartment, little kids played on her block and grandmas spent the days looking out their windows.
Given your daughter’s salary, she will not be able to rent an apartment on her own – you would have to guarantee it. It is possible to find something without a broker, it’s just really hard or you need to know someone (my daughter rented an apartment without a broker, but only because she had a friend in the building who connected her to the landlord). But brokers usually only deal with renting the entire apartment. She needs to focus on finding a room in an existing apartment. There are tons of those – and the turnover is constant.
Hi, I am an infrequent poster, and I don’t want to hijack shellz’ post, but my daughter is looking in the Washinton Heights area as well and I’m hoping my question helps shellz as well.
From the limited research we were able to do, and some of it seemed old, it seems like the neighborhoods in Washington Heights can be very different, even within just a few blocks? Is this true? My daughter is looking at an apartment right near the corner of 180th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue. It is within a block away from the 181st Street Subway.
I know very little about New York, but this appears to be right around the border of the area that is west of Broadway and north of 181st Street? Would you consider this area safe as well? Her realtor told her ‘busy is good’ as far as safety goes. I saw it briefly with her, and we loved the diverse, vibrant, community feel. We have heard it can be noisy, which she would be fine with. I just want my non-city-girl daughter to be safe in the neighborhood and using the subway.
shellz I am hoping any replies are helpful to you as well, thanks to all!
St Nicholas Ave is a bit further east of Broadway and while it’s ok, your D will need to exercise a bit more watchfulness at night as parts of that area tend to not be as well lit the last times I was there. However, if one’s aware of their surroundings, it should be fine.
A younger college alum friend lived in that part of WH for a few years in the late '00s without any issues while she was attending Columbia’s J school. She had a nice space for a price much lower than what she’d have paid if she had rented an equivalent or even smaller sized space in buildings west of Broadway.
@525600minutes that area is fine. I go there all the time because the library is on 179th and St Nick, and it has a great street with cheap fresh produce. There’s always lots of people out and about. When I have to take the 1 train instead of the A, I sometimes get off at that stop very late at night and I never feel unsafe (but I am watchful of my surroundings). As long as your daughter can fall asleep with loud music coming from outside, she’ll be fine. You’re also right near Yeshiva University so there’s a big student population.
@525600minutes Would your daughter like to connect with mine? Maybe they would be a good roommate match, or st least a good resource for one another. My DD wants to be in the area near Yeshiva, but totally willing to commute a bit.
My daughter spent her first year living in Brooklyn, in a dining room that was turned into a bedroom. She had just a bookcase and a curtain separating her from the living room. Not ideal but it was cheap. I think $650 or so. After a year she found a place in Harlem, a three bedroom that she shares with two roommates, elevator building with a laundry in the basement. She is very happy and feels safe there. She gets home from work pretty late some nights and has never had any problems. She works near Times Square.
She could continue to live in SI and commute. If she could live in St George, Manhatten is only a ferry away. Other parts of SI are cheaper until she starts making a salary that allows her to live in Anhatten.
The commute from St. George in Staten Island would be over 1.5 hours (and could be as much as 2 hours) each way - since Washington Heights is a relatively affordable area, I think it makes more sense to look in the area.
My S decided to move to Brooklyn for law school instead of living at home for that reason.
Indeed. Not recommended unless the individual is ok with that commute.
To this day, am still amazed at how HS classmates from SI coped with their long sometimes convoluted daily commutes each way. For most, 1.5 hours each way would be the very best case assuming no delays/technical difficulties.
My D did the housing search last summer and found a share in a Brooklyn apartment. Now that arrangement has fallen apart. The two other roommates are moving away, and her choice was to take on the whole lease and then have the hassle of finding nice, reliable people to fill two rooms with the looming threat of having to pay the entire rent if she didn’t find them quickly, or just find another place for herself. She chose the latter, and is going through the whole search process while attending grad school and working part-time. Not fun! So fwiw, here’s what I can offer to OP and anyone else in this situation:
There are many variables to consider–the safety, amenities and commutability of the neighborhood (a laundromat 5 blocks away is a lot worse than one 2 blocks away; the “L” train is disappearing for 15 months in 2019); the personalities of the roommates, as well as their living habits (both kinds of smoking, late night vs.early birds, morning traffic jams for the bathroom); the location of the apartment within the building–yes, there are 6 floor walkups in New York; the size of the room (some rooms barely have space for a bed, seriously; I’d be wary of places where the living room has been converted to a bedroom–it’s hard to always be stuck in the bedroom with no communal space). Your kid needs to figure out what’s a deal breaker and what isn’t and what her/his priorities are in order to approach the search in an efficient way.
Craigslist is both a treasure trove and a mess to deal with–tons of duplicates, listings that omit critical info, etc. I’ve been doing a first cut for D to save her time, and have learned that any post with exclamation points or with words like “prime” or a stream of adjectives is a broker ad, with attendant issues. Many ads are by “roommate matchers” who are trying to fill rooms in any empty unit (you can tell by the photos, which somehow make every room look gigantic), but in those cases you’re stuck with people you can’t vet yourself. There are other sources, as mentioned above. D is using SpareRoom, which charges a small fee to get priority listings. But in any case, you may respond to 20 ads and get 2 replies, and by the time you set up an appointment, they’ve rented to someone else. It’s a rotten slog. D’s most outstanding waste of time this month was the filthy apartment with the totally stoned roommate in dirty clothes.
To be put on a lease, most landlords will require a credit check and a salary 40x the monthly rent–or take a creditworthy guarantor. I don’t know, but suspect an out-of-state guarantor won’t be favored, since the landlord won’t have any way to go after the guarantor if the tenant bails. A sublet situation can avoid stringent financial requirements.
So, the 40x the monthly rent…40x her portion of the rent, or 40x the entire rent amount. As in, do all renters need to qualify for the whole rent amount? My DD can qualify for 40x her portion in most of the places she is viewing. Not so much if it’s 40x the entire rent.
I appreciate all of the responses also! They are so helpful and I will pass along to my daughter also. Thank you to everyone!
shellz, I’m sure my daughter would love to connect with your daughter… She will be new to the city and I’m sure she would appreciate that. She does already have roommates, though. She has 4 roommates through her Americorps program. I’m not sure how to private message yet here, but maybe we should do that?
@525600minutes I am not sure how to PM…I’ve been off this site for awhile…it used to be intuitive, or maybe I am just forgetful! Lol
My DD is skyping with a couple potential roommates today and tomorrow, and once her contract is signed (hopefully Monday!) we will hop on a plane and try to see places in person.
It’s been a long time since I’ve rented an apartment…is it customary to pay first and last when striking the agreement? I am guessing she will move in the first week of August, so it makes me nervous for her to hand over a chunk of change before she actually takes possession of keys. I know some $$$ needs to change hands, but I am guessing unless it’s a sublet, it will go through the apartment management?
Thanks, hive mind! This process has been an education for this suburban mom.
I believe DD had to pay first month, last month, security deposit and brokers fees upfront in NYC, though there may be some variation if no broker, sublet, etc.
If your daughter requires a guarantor in NYC, have lots of documentation ready. When DD was in grad school, she had a roommate, but as guarantors, 80x the monthly rent was the required income (in 2012). Being from out of state did not seem to be a problem. Paperwork abounded and we had to have tax docs, letter confirming employment, current bank statements showing deposit of paychecks, savings account info, etc. We were able to copy docs, blanking out our social security numbers and some account numbers. I would have rather put the annual rent amount in an account and somehow bypassed the need to share so much info. Google searches are helpful to determine what docs she or you may want to have prepared. Apts are usually advertised only 1-2 months ahead and being ready will expedite the process. It is doable, just helps to do this research and know what to expect.
I completely agree. My D was in no livingroom apt for a year. Her room was spacious but she felt cooped up. She moved as soon as the lease was up. She now has a smaller bedroom, but a spacious living room and a balcony. Quite happy.
Whether one can do or do without a living room is very YMMV. Have a few friends who shared apartments without a living room without any issues.
One friend has been sharing the same 1 bedroom split without living room for 20 years and is as happy as a clam with his apartment in a great central location in Boston.
And his room is very tiny as it was originally intended as the study(a.k.a. the split) whereas the larger bedroom he agreed to allocate to his roommate so he could pay a much lower share of the rent. Still no issues with feeling cooped up or any reluctance to invite guests over to hang out.
Haha, shellz, I have no idea how to pm either. ;)) I’m sure they’ll be fine, though, and I feel so much better after your thread and all of the good info here. Fingers crossed for your daughter with her roommate and apartment search!
Wow, cobrat, 20 years happily sharing a 1 bedroom apartment! Sounds like a unique and impressive individual!
A one bedroom split which is a bit more than a one bedroom as the smaller room originally intended to be used as a study could be turned into a bedroom. In short, it’s really 1.5 bedrooms and the apartment doesn’t have a living room.