7 important tips to find the best apartment in New York City

Who doesn’t want to live in New York City? It is an amazing place to live, many people know that. That’s why it is not always easy to find an apartment there. Below you can find 7 things that are important if you are looking for an apartment in New York City!

1.Allocate a budget

New York can be expensive, so before you start looking set a general budget.

-    Make sure you are aware of the additional fees that some landlords have

-    What are the average utility costs? (sometimes they are already included within the monthly price)

-    Try to calculate an average of daily expenses in the city (which is probably more than you are used to)

2. Make sure your budget equals your expectations

Are you looking for a room in a shared apartment (most of the time the cheapest option), a room in a residence hall, a whole apartment or a studio. Check out the prices and set your mind on something you can effort.

Also important to keep in mind; a place in Brooklyn is most of the time cheaper than a place in Manhattan. Brooklyn is a very up and coming neighborhood near Manhattan, perfect if you have a lower budget but still want the Manhattan experience. There is a very efficient Subway system you can use to get to Manhattan when you want to.

3. Find a roommate

If you really want to have your own place, but it is kind of expensive, you can also choose to share the apartment with a roommate! But where can you find a roommate? There are lots of useful websites and facebook pages where you can find roommates for different cities, for example; “AbroadTalk”.

4. Use a company to help you find an apartment

When you want to go abroad, it can be extra hard to find an apartment. Most of the time you can’t visit the apartment before you move in, besides that; you can’t meet the landlord. If you want to be a 100% sure you are not getting ripped off, it is smart to get some help from a company that is specializes in it. They probably placed people in many apartments before and have contact with the landlords. For example; Study Abroad Apartments.

5. Be open minded

I am sure we all know some great places out of movies or maybe you already set your mind on an apartment in a specific location, but there are so many more great places to live within New York City. Try to go in with an open mind and look for different options. Maybe your perfect apartment is something or somewhere you didn’t think of in the first place!

6. Do your research

It is very helpful to do good research after the neighborhoods you can live in. Some apartments may seem really great and nicely priced, but there is a chance that they are located in a not so safe neighborhood. Make sure you did your research before you agree to live in a particular neighborhood.

Also; check out transportation options before you agree to take an apartment. New York City has a great underground system and it is so helpful if you are nearby a subway station from where you can go straight to work or school.

7. Google the terms.

While looking for housing, you will bump in several terms you never heard of. If you are not sure what they mean, google them.

For example, do you know the difference between a rental and a sublet?

Rental: this is an apartment where you sign a lease for a fixed period of time, you’ll also have a landlord (mostly long term).

Sublet: someone (the owner) already signed a lease for that apartment but the current tenant wants to rent out the apartment for the time they are not home (mostly short term).

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This post was contributed by the Studyabroadapartments.com team. [Study Abroad Apartments is the global marketplace for student accommodation. SAA helps customers find and book rooms, studios and apartments for their studies abroad across Europe and the USA. Study Abroad Apartments' US headquarters are in New York City and the Europe HQ is in Barcelona, Spain.]