A Crash Course of Apartment Hunting in Chelsea

Planning your Vacation

You have decided to make the big move to NYC. Whether you are coming from the suburbs, upstate or moving from across the country, finding an apartment in Chelsea, NYC can be a trying experience. Understanding the prices of apartments is only part of the hunt. Here are some helpful tips on how to find an apartment in Chelsea, NYC.

Start your hunt early

Do not plan a big move to the Big Apple a week or a night before the move. Moving to NYC is a big deal, and you need to prepare for it well in advance. While you may think all apartments in Chelsea are the same, you might be wrong.

There are areas, which may not be desirable, affordable, or simply not easy to access for your daily destinations. Be sure to start your search in neighborhoods that interest you and narrow down the search. A typical property owner in NYC will know of a vacancy about 30 days in advance. Thus, start the search about a month prior.

Have a budget estimate and know your credit score

Typically, you should never spend more than 30 percent of your earnings on rent. In Chelsea, the landlords have strict credit and income requirements. Tenants will often need to earn an annual salary that is about 40 times the monthly rent.

To get around this, you can get a guarantor, who is usually a family member, to co-sign on the lease. The income of guarantor will need to be about 80 times the monthly rent. Besides that, he or she needs to have a good credit score. Besides that, you can pay a year’s rent upfront.

Find a roommate

In NYC Chelsea, it is unlikely that you will find a studio apartment that goes for less than $1,600 a month. Thus, sharing might be a good option, especially if you just graduated from college. In some cases, recent grads will put up a wall in a one bedroom, to split the $2,000 monthly rent.

If you go the roommate way, ensure that everyone is on the same page before signing the deal. You do not want to start searching for an apartment only to have the potential roommate drop out midway. It will mean you have to begin the search all over again.

Use Loftey

Loftey is an online service, which wants to help you save money as you find an apartment. Since the Loftey works on referral fees, if you use them to rent an apartment, you will get a lower effective fee with no broker fees.

To help you save money in your search for Chelsea apartments for rent, Loftey will guarantee a lower effective rent for an apartment. This is possible via relationships that they have built with various brokers and buildings. They are always working to lower the rent for the tenants.

Summary

Moving to NYC will not be easy. However, these tips will definitely help to make things much easier for you. Read them carefully. Most importantly, remember to take your time when finding an apartment.