Replace the shower head with high-pressure ones. Costs like $25 but big quality of life difference
Tip your super when asking for help in ($5-10). When things break, this gives you better service, plus the super will be the ones checking the apt if/when you move out
If you live in a non-doorman building and have problems with packages or hate carrying around keys or have a lot of roommates, get Pucky and Friday Smart Lock. You can remove both if/when you move out
If your internet is Spectrum (RIP) and your internet is going in and out, you should file a federal complaint with the FEC. It takes 5 minutes and instantly puts you into the executive customer support group which means they will actually send people out to fix your connection
Be friends with your local bodega people, especially if you're a woman. When you have a creep following you around, your local bodega can be your ducking place. They understand.
Apartment Websites
Streeteasy has the exclusive listings.
Renthop is good because it gives the normal renter ability to see the open market listings, as brokers can list for free on that site. Although, just be wary.
allows filter on no-fee buildings that had active or previously rented listings in my budget.
You can look at the buildings, sometimes go there yourself and talk to the doorman and they will tell you who to call to find out more, or let you know that someone already rented it, etc...
Alot of listings there.
bohemia, kian
Gypsy Housing Facebook Group
tended to be too expensive, facebook groups tended to be confusing, I never understood how to search and filter apartments on those.
Things I did to evaluate apartments and landlords.
Looked them up on hpdbuilding
lookup and dob to look at complaints and find landlord information.
Then searched on google for specific landlords.
What documents are needed?
employment letter
last __ months of rental payment history
last _ months of bank statements
last _ years of federal returns
some ask for w2s
last _ months of paychecks
some want to see utility bill
black out all sensitive information such as last 4 digits of bank account information and SSN. just black out any information you don't feel comfortable giving them
Start the search multiple (2) months before you need to move. This allows you to build up context for your search and hone what you really want.
You can use it to make sure the person you're working with is actually licensed.
Some platforms have gotten better about making gross/net pricing more clear in advertisements. That being said, it's always best to ask the agent up front to confirm the terms. If you want to pay the advertised net price every month, some landlords are allowing that. However, it shouldn't be assumed, so ask for clarification before getting too far in the process. Surprises suck, especially after you've already applied to a space.
If you don’t see a window in the streeteasy photos it’s cause there isn’t one. That’s not a bedroom and they shouldn’t be listing it as one.
Try to push for bank certified checks or money orders
Application fees are capped at $20 per person for rental applications (I believe condos and co-ops are exempt from this, provided that the fees are charged by the board and not the owners of the unit. Maybe others can confirm). Important distinction: If someone tells you that a $500 deposit is required to apply to the space, and that the application fee is $20, that's completely fine. The deposit that you pay is applied towards your total move-in costs if you're approved. Bottom line: you cannot be charged more than $20 to have a credit/background check done for a rental.
Start creating your own database in airtable or excel
Example Columns included: Address, Rent, Region, Commute (subway lines), Commute time (min), studio or 1BR, Broker fee (yes/no), upfront costs, Broker, Move in Date, Dishwasher, Laundry in building, Link, video posted, view from GoogleMaps, Landlord, ACRIS, HPD Building profile, DOB Building profile, DOF Property tax bills, Landlord Watchlist, Localize, Property Manager reviews, Bedbug Registry, Rat Registry.
Phase 3: vet landlord/property. Fill in Excel columns from Landlord-->Rat Registry from sources detailed below.
Landlord column: look up the landlord or LLC that owns building on https://whoownswhat.justfix.nyc/en/. FANTASTIC website. They have links to ACRIS, HPD, DOB, DOF public records for buildings.
ACRIS column: from button on whoownswhat website, look up deeds and mortgages on building to double check landlord / LLC. Can also get landlord's business address this way to contact them directly
HPD Building profile: from button on whoownswhat website, look up complaints in building, open violations, past litigation, bedbug reports (landlord reported though). They get their complaints from 311, so if you have a problem in your building and it's not being handled, please report it to 311!
DOB Building profile: from button on whoownswhat website, look up violations in building, often related to elevators, boilers, construction, illegal apartment conversions.
DOF Property tax bills: from button on whoownswhat website, look up if landlord has paid all taxes on building. Can also see what they paid for the building itself. If landlord has lots of back taxes, seems sketchy (not sure when a tax lien would come into play?)
Landlord Watchlist:Â https://landlordwatchlist.com/Â . Website a little hard to navigate, but shows the worst landlords in the boroughs.
Localize:Â https://www.localize.city. Lookup upcoming construction. Less comprehensive information on complaints.
Property Manager reviews: google the landlord, the LLC. Sometimes businesses have Yelp pages.
Bedbug Registry: https://bedbugregistry.com/search for user reported bedbugs
Rat Registry:Â http://maps.nyc.gov/doitt/nycitymap/template?applicationName=DOH_RIPÂ for rodent inspections
Based on this deeper dive, reordered apartments in order of desirability. Also eliminated apartments with a lot of tenant complaints / pest problems. Of note, pests probably under reported.
What are my apartment wants?
In building laundry
Dishwasher
Counter space or room for a counter height table
Close to subway
Commute to work is reasonable (<40min)
Apartment building is clean and looks well taken care of
Apartment looks renovated
FIOS is possible
Near a park
Place sparks joy in some way, has a certain je ne sais quoi
create my own updating apartment map using airtable as the backend because I dont' want to pay $50
create a webscraping script for each individual apartment site
easy to run it as a command line program prompting you fi the info collected is correct