Looking for an apartment — Tips? Recommendations?

After having multiple set backs in the past 2 years or so, me and my fiance are finallllllly getting a place together. This will be my (our) first apartment, we will unfortunately be renting. As I have lived in the same house for 20 some odd years and am a noob when it comes to looking for a place/moving, I was wondering if anyone had any tips? anything I should be careful of when looking for a place? Best places or ways of looking?

Also if anyone knows of any good realtors in the queens area (particularly rego park, forest hills, kew gardens, briarwood, sunnyside, long island city, and astoria.. pretty much anything within the vicinity of the subway)?

We have been looking on street easy, craigslist, and a few other sites but we are not seeing anything decent. Some apartments just look like garbage, others are wayyyyyy over priced, and the majority of them are both garbage and over priced. Not looking for anything fancy, just dont want a place that is extremely dated and/or dirty. While it sucks to pay a realtor, we are getting the impression that unless we get extremely lucky we will not find anything.

Any all info would be greatly appreciated.

Definitely get a realtor. They get the best listings.

any you would recommend?

i am assuming they are all kind of designated or limited to an area?

any you would recommend?

 

i am assuming they are all kind of designated or limited to an area?

Yea, get one who is familiar with the area. I don't know any out your way. Sorry.

I used one the first time which was alright, they didn't really do much. When I moved recently we moved to a building that handles their own leasing so there wasn't a fee which was really nice

Ahh.. is it a management company that has multiple buildings?

If their was one area I would move to, it would be LIC. Gonna be headed to John Browns Smokehouse tomorrow. :)

Yea I am not really crazy about any neighborhood to be honest with you. LIC and Astoria seem decent but still a little more crowded than I would like. My main stipulation for a place is that it is near the train and hopefully near Manhattan. My fiance works in Jamaica now and im in flat iron so LIC and astoria would be good compromises. Rents are crazy in both areas though.

Yea I am not really crazy about any neighborhood to be honest with you. LIC and Astoria seem decent but still a little more crowded than I would like. My main stipulation for a place is that it is near the train and hopefully near Manhattan. My fiance works in Jamaica now and im in flat iron so LIC and astoria would be good compromises. Rents are crazy in both areas though.

I live in Kew Gardens Hills near Queens College, take the train out of Forest Hills, grew up in Rego Park. I come to realize wherever you go its gonna be expensive, its absurd how much rent has jumped in the Forest Hills, Rego Park area, and I think Rego Park is a shithole. Forest Hills/Rego Park is probably more crowded than LIC.

I live in Kew Gardens Hills near Queens College, take the train out of Forest Hills, grew up in Rego Park. I come to realize wherever you go its gonna be expensive, its absurd how much rent has jumped in the Forest Hills, Rego Park area, and I think Rego Park is a shithole. Forest Hills/Rego Park is probably more crowded than LIC.

you are probably right. in terms of price/what you get rego parks seems to be offering some good deals.

I dont know kew garden hills at all.. how far is it from the e/f/r/m line? I dont remember queens college being anywhere near a train.

Yea I am not really crazy about any neighborhood to be honest with you. LIC and Astoria seem decent but still a little more crowded than I would like. My main stipulation for a place is that it is near the train and hopefully near Manhattan. My fiance works in Jamaica now and im in flat iron so LIC and astoria would be good compromises. Rents are crazy in both areas though.

LIC is closer to Manhattan than a lot of places in Manhattan. You're in the heart of midtown in 3 min on the 7 train. But yea, the rent is crazy, studios in the buildings around me start at $2,200

LIC is closer to Manhattan than a lot of places in Manhattan. You're in the heart of midtown in 3 min on the 7 train. But yea, the rent is crazy, studios in the buildings around me start at $2,200

:banghead:

you are probably right. in terms of price/what you get rego parks seems to be offering some good deals.

 

I dont know kew garden hills at all.. how far is it from the e/f/r/m line? I dont remember queens college being anywhere near a train.

Its a pain in the ass for me to get to the subway, if i dont drive to my parents to drop off my car then i have to take the bus to the train, which takes about 20 - 30 minutes (walk to the bus, wait for the bus, get to 71st/Continental Ave).

A year or 2 ago a new building with I think some nice amenities opened in Rego Park, across the street from the Nursing School, maybe check that building out, its a minute walk to the 63rd Drive station. Other than that all I could think of is walk into some buildings in that area and talk to the super. Some of the buildings have signs on the side for the rental office, mostly on Saunders Street, Wetherole St which is a block or 2 off of Queens Blvd on the South Side

Apparently this is the company that owns a bunch of buildings in rego park, forest hills, astoria, etc....no fees.

http://kingsqueensapts.com/

LIC is closer to Manhattan than a lot of places in Manhattan. You're in the heart of midtown in 3 min on the 7 train. But yea, the rent is crazy, studios in the buildings around me start at $2,200

Same in Greenpoint. Even worse, in fact, depending on how close you are to the Parks, or Bedford Ave.

Studios on the north side of Bedford Ave are going for $3,500 to $4,500 monthly. No joke. Even north Greenpoint, going toward the Pulaski bridge, you can expect to pay around $2,100 a month for a decent one, maybe two-bedroom. Most two-bedrooms I've seen start at $2,400.

That's absolutely insane for a rental. That's more than I pay for my mortgage in a 3 bedroom house with 3.5 baths, basement, garage and backyard. I can walk to my train and be in NYC in 45 minutes on a commuter train.

Seems like a no brainer.

That's absolutely insane for a rental. That's more than I pay for my mortgage in a 3 bedroom house with 3.5 baths, basement, garage and backyard. I can walk to my train and be in NYC in 45 minutes on a commuter train.

 

Seems like a no brainer.

True but other factors like higher taxes, spend more on the NJ Transit to get to/from city, and the biggest factor on renting over buying a house, being able to plunk down 10-20-30% down.

True but other factors like higher taxes, spend more on the NJ Transit to get to/from city, and the biggest factor on renting over buying a house, being able to plunk down 10-20-30% down.

I'm talking taxes included, dude. And it took me the same ~40 minutes to get to NYC from BK that it does now.

Most people would love to buy, but most people don't have 20% for a down payment

And they never will as long as they are over-paying for rent.

And they never will as long as they are over-paying for rent.

It's a vortex in this city. Renters often can't afford to not rent, specifically because their monthly cost is so high that they're never able to save enough for an adequate down payment, which is what offers you an affordable mortgage in the first place.

I'm talking taxes included, dude. And it took me the same ~40 minutes to get to NYC from BK that it does now.

im talking about spending more $$$ on travelling via commuter rail vs. subway.