Finding a new apartment to rent in New York City can be daunting, especially during the summer. In our recent study, we’ve discovered that the worst or most expensive months of the year to rent spreads across the summer season till early fall. Besides that, summer is also usually the most popular season when renters are getting their new leases. If you have just recently landed a job or an internship, starting your college this fall, or simply moving out of your previous apartment for a new one, chances are that you will be hunting for an apartment among many other renters this season. To guide you in finding your perfect apartment, here are a few tips and pointers which you should take into consideration while looking out for an apartment and before getting a new lease.
1. More Apartment Rental Choices During Summer
The apartment rental market in New York City is generally busier in summer. This is also the season where we see a high number of rental inventory as renters get ready to move out of their apartments or renew their leases. Landlords would list their apartments for rent to potential renters. While there may be more apartment rental choices during summer, you might also want to note that there are also many potential renters in the city competing with you for affordable apartments. It is imperative that you keep track of the apartments you’re already interested in and reach out to the landlord or broker to schedule a viewing. These inventories move fast, and some of the most popular apartments can get seized by other renters within a day!
2. Majority of the Leases are Year-Long Leases
Most of the listings advertised online by landlords and agents are for strictly a 12 months lease if the listings do not specify that those listings are sublets or for short-term rentals. If you cannot commit to a year-long lease and are only looking for a short-term rental, you might want to consider subletting the apartment later on (with the landlord’s consent) or simply look for sublet apartments from other renters. Most of the time, you should be able to find apartments or rooms at affordable prices for several months or weeks. Here at RentHop, we offer a great selection of sublet apartments and rooms available for you to choose from. While sublets are a good alternative, do also be cautious about the terms of the sublease, such as whether you are required to pay for utilities and electricity. Most importantly, ensure that the landlord is aware of the sublet and has already agreed to it.
3. Get Ready to Pay for Security Deposit & Relevant Documents
To fully secure your apartment from other renters, you should be prepared to pay a security deposit to your landlord or broker. This security deposit is usually used to cover the first and last months’ rents of the lease. However, the exact amount may vary according to your landlord or broker. Sometimes it might help to negotiate with your landlord or broker if the amount of the security deposit may be too high. Besides that, some landlords and brokers may also require you to produce relevant documents such as your identification proof, bank statements, recent copies of your pay stubs, and sometimes it may also include contact references. This is usually the standard requirements that you have to meet in order for the landlords or brokers to approve of your rental.Make sure you have everything in order so you can secure the perfect apartment once it comes your way!
4. Review Your Credit Score
Speaking of the rental approving process, some landlords and brokers may indicate that they are looking for renters with a certain minimum credit score as an assurance that you are able to make monthly rental payments on time. If your credit score isn’t good enough, don’t worry. You may request to have a guarantor who’s your parent or relative.
5. Don’t Pay Before You Have Personally Seen the Apartment
While you may feel the need to urgently find and secure an apartment during this busy summer season, it is not a good idea to put down a security deposit payment before you have personally seen the apartment. This is to avoid paying for an apartment which appears very different from how the photos online looked, or even finding out that the apartment doesn’t exist. Besides, you should also check that everything works fine, such as the water faucets aren’t broken, and the lights installed are working.
6. Check the Posting Date of the Listing
Since inventories move fast, some apartment listings online may have already expired by the time you viewed them and you may end up inquiring about an apartment which has already been rented out. One of the obvious signs that the listing may have already expired can be detected from the posting date of the listing. If the listing was posted several weeks it is highly likely that the apartment has already been rented out and the landlord or agent has forgotten to remove it. RentHop not only takes into consideration of the “listing freshness” in our HopScore, we also review our listings regularly and remove expired listings to prevent renters from inquiring about apartments which have already been rented.
7. Get a Broker
We know that finding your new apartment on your own during this summer isn’t going to be easy, and sometimes a little help from a broker never hurts. While most of the time a broker’s fee would require you to pay out of your pocket, there is also an abundance of no-fee listings available which doesn’t require you to pay the broker’s fee! If you ever find yourself spending too much time searching for an apartment, the odds are that you may need to enlist the help of a broker to narrow down your search to a few apartments that he has on hand. This will potentially save you a lot of time. Tip: Check out RentHop’s no-fee listings.
