An LIM College MBA Student Guide to Finding a Place in the City
NYBits (Our favorite as you can search listings as well as find buildings, property management companies, property developers and a ton of other information to help you find that dream apartment on your own)
Have a co-signer in mind! Let's say that you and your roomie have found the perfect apartment and it’s time to fill out the application PAUSE; you don’t make enough money for the apartment to approve you and you need a co-signer. This is one of the many annoying parts about apartment hunting in New York as soon as you find an apartment and contact them they expect you to have all the documents and applications done in the next 1-3 days (not business days!) or they will put the apartment back on the market. So it’s really important that you have all your information ready so that you don’t miss the perfect apartment when you finally find it. Here’s a list of documents that you and your co-signer/guarantor will typically need:
Recent pay stub
Identification
Letter of employment/enrollment letter
Copy of two or three recent bank states
Fill out an application (SSN# for background check and credit check)
*Listen up International Students! What if you don’t have a cosigner or your co-signer is out of country? Most apartments in New York will not take out of country co-signers (still ask) but don’t worry you do have other options.
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If any of the previous steps haven’t worked for you should think about subleasing a room for a while until you can find a more permanent location. Craigslist is a great resource for subleasing rooms. Just make sure that you meet anyone from Craigslist in a public area!
Say all hope is lost and you just can’t find a place or don’t want the hassle, then there is always on-campus housing. It’s on a first come first serve basis. Also keep in mind it will be the typical college dorm room.