Moving to Queens - Apartment Help Appreciated (New York, Boston: hardwood floors, sales)
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Hi, I'm going to try to make this as clear and detailed as possible so that you can help me the best you can.
My boyfriend and I are moving to New York from the Boston/Providence area. He has accepted a job in Long Island City. We are looking for an apartment in Queens. Our specs are as follows:
1) Budget: $1,000-$1,500 (possibly up to $1,700 if it's no-fee)
2) Job Location: Long Island City, most easily accessible by the 7, E, V or G Train
3) Living Circumstances: Just the two of us, early-mid 20s
4) Space Requirements:
Bedrooms: 1+. We're not expecting to get more than 1 bedroom, but we won't take a studio.
Property Type: Preferably rental
Square Feet: As big as we can get for the money. More than 500, preferably.
Building Amenities: Elevator would be great, but we're not getting our hopes up. Laundry on premises would be very convenient. Hardwood floors are a necessity. Pre-war with interesting architecture would be cool, but we can't have everything.
5) Neighborhood Amenities: We're foodies, so we'd like to have a variety of ethnic restaurants around. We're not much for bars, but as long as we're not living on top of or next to one, we kind of appreciate having them around. The ability to get groceries within walking distance would be ideal. As for other entertainment, we're willing to go other places, so it doesn't ALL need to be right there, but it would be nice if some of it was. The main thing is non-chain restaurants close by.
So, those are our requirements. From the research I've done, I think that we have a good chance of finding an apartment we like for the rent we can afford. We've been looking mainly in Jackson Heights, partly in Astoria and kind of in Sunnyside and Woodside. From what I've read, Jackson Heights is the foodie's dream, Astoria is the hipster's paradise and Sunnyside and Woodside are pretty alright.
My questions to you are these: Do those sound like good places to be looking? Are there any gems of neighborhoods that I'm missing? Within the neighborhoods (Jackson Heights is what I really have my heart set on if you want me to narrow it down), are there specific places to avoid? Can we do this without a broker? If not, am I correct in understanding that most broker's charge a full month's rent? What brokers/realtors do you recommend? We've been looking on craigslist, but we take everything we find on there with a huge handful of salt. So, that's it for now, I guess. I just wanted to get opinions on neighborhoods, viability and good realtors. Have I overlooked anything really big?
Could someone please at least direct me as to what I'm doing/saying/asking incorrectly that would cause me to get absolutely no response to my inquiry? I really appreciate any help whatsoever. Thanks in advance. Again.
I normally answer these questions but since I feel I have answered so many similar questions recently (within the last month) over and over, I was going to sit this one out. If you want, do a detailed search for my screen name and "Jackson Heights" and you will see what I have to say about JH.
Also, I know basically nothing about renting in JH since I bought, and renting is probably pretty different.
Another issue that has nothing to do with you is that two other posters were upset with me for (in their opinions)
1. hyping Jackson Heights
2. providing too many resources like links to queenscentral.com, jacksonheightslife.com and astorians.com
So I decided to sit back a little and not do so much posting.
Just ran into someone in a neighboring bldg in JH who got a place I think about a year ago. He pays $1400 for a large pre-war one bedroom (and the pre-war one bedrooms around here tend to be about 800 sq ft from what I've seen). he said the place was completely renovated and that he went through a broker, but I don't remember the name of the broker - it wasn't familiar to me. I am assuming this blgd has laundry but can't confirm that. I believe that's around market rent for something like this in this neighborhood but I suppose you might pay more. The building is about a 5 minute walk to the 82nd St. station (7 train) and 12 minutes walk to the 74th St. station (E/F trains) and is within the historic district.
Just ran into someone in a neighboring bldg in JH who got a place I think about a year ago. He pays $1400 for a large pre-war one bedroom (and the pre-war one bedrooms around here tend to be about 800 sq ft from what I've seen). he said the place was completely renovated and that he went through a broker, but I don't remember the name of the broker - it wasn't familiar to me. I am assuming this blgd has laundry but can't confirm that. I believe that's around market rent for something like this in this neighborhood but I suppose you might pay more. The building is about a 5 minute walk to the 82nd St. station (7 train) and 12 minutes walk to the 74th St. station (E/F trains) and is within the historic district.
Thank you so much for responding. I have noticed you posting a lot and have found the information you've offered to be very helpful, not hype or advertisement at all. So, again, thanks for the information you've offered.
I just did a quick look at craigslist for apts in Jackson heights. One thing I noticed is that the brokers are saying some of the apts are in JH when they actually are in surrounding areas. This is totally common for brokers to do this - and what it means is that JH is considered more desirable or at least better known than the surrounding neighborhoods. If I were you, I would try to get something in the historic district of JH, or just outside (like one street over). You could try finding a map of this district by googling.
One apt. I saw advertised as being in JH was on Junction Blvd, which I didn't even think was in Jackson Heights. I thought this area was Corona, which is an undesirable area (in my opinion). Another one I saw was in Elmhurst, which may be a decent place to live, but I think JH is nicer and more desirable in general.
I just did a quick look at craigslist for apts in Jackson heights. One thing I noticed is that the brokers are saying some of the apts are in JH when they actually are in surrounding areas. This is totally common for brokers to do this - and what it means is that JH is considered more desirable or at least better known than the surrounding neighborhoods. If I were you, I would try to get something in the historic district of JH, or just outside (like one street over). You could try finding a map of this district by googling.
One apt. I saw advertised as being in JH was on Junction Blvd, which I didn't even think was in Jackson Heights. I thought this area was Corona, which is an undesirable area (in my opinion). Another one I saw was in Elmhurst, which may be a decent place to live, but I think JH is nicer and more desirable in general.
Thanks again, Henna. In your opinion, is craigslist to be trusted? I've heard conflicting reports. Do you happen to know of any good brokers/realtors? I know you bought instead of renting, but most realtors do a bit of both, right? Maybe I'm wrong about that. I'm thinking it might be in my best interest to find a respected realtor/broker and try to get the ball rolling that way. Unfortunately, any time I have to walk around in neighborhoods and look for "For Rent" signs (as was suggested by a friend who used to live in Brooklyn) will be extremely limited as I can only visit the city for daytrips.
I don't think craigslist is any worse really than picking a realtor out of the phone book. of course it's better to have a broker recommended to you.
I remember that the guy I ran into said his aparment on 84th St. is in a property managed by Vantage. I still do not remember the broker's name but you could probably contact Vantage directly. Here is their website Vantage Properties - Rentals (http://www.vantageresidential.com/availabilities.php?borough=queens - broken link)
The guy didn't complain AT ALL about his apartment or building and since that's the first thing people here either love to complain about or brag about, that's saying something.
They may force you to go through a broker and you would have to pay a fee (this is common practice in NYC and not illegal and not really even a scam - just the way things sometimes work)
I do have a few names of brokers who mainly all work in sales but if you PM me to ask for them I can send them to you.
So, my partner and I are moving to NYC. We went up there last weekend to check out neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens and see what you can get for the money. We decided on the Forest Hills/Kew Gardens area. We really liked it and it wasn't such a shock coming from Atlanta.
So this week, we started calling people from Craigslist and random brokers because we need to schedule another trip just to go up there and look at places and secure a place. Out of 6 people we have called, 2 or 3 have called up back. A friend of a friend of a friend has a friend who is a super in a building in FH and he said that a lot of apartments don't advertise, they do it just by word of mouth.
Does anyone live in FH and know of any openings in a building? Does anyone have a friend who lives in FH? PM me. We would like to be up there by May 1, but if people don't call us back, that's going to be a problem.
Thanks in advance.
What is it about Forest Hills/Kew Gardens that you like? I've gathered that they have more amenities in terms of shopping strips/malls and Starbucks and the like. That's not what we're interested in at all, so I've all but dismissed the two areas. As someone who has recently visited and has decided that it's the place for them, what's the appeal for you? Am I correct in my assumptions or completely off-base?
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