Rent poll - please help! (NY)

amother

Sun, Nov 21 2010, 5:25 pm

I'm looking to rent in the NYC area and having a hard time figuring out what price range to expect. Please help me get some info, either by sharing what you pay for what kind of apartment in what location, or if you happen to know the going rates because you've also researched this!

We're looking ideally for 2 bedrooms, but a large 1BR could theoretically work if the price difference is dramatic enough. We have one little baby but would hope to make this move last as long as possible - so count in a growing kid IY"H and hopefully growing family too!

Location: Commutable to lower Manhattan. We currently live in Brooklyn which works OK, have looked into Lower East Side community but there doesn't seem to be much available there. Have not considered NJ yet but might. Stats on any of these locations would be helpful (please include commuting time/costs from NJ if you know)

Money is very tight at this point, so we're looking on the low end of whatever's available. What's the minimum range we can expect to pay for what we want where we want it?

amother

Purple

Sun, Nov 21 2010, 5:33 pm

Passaiic is very commutable from NYC.

You can take the NJ Transit. (walkable from pasaiic)

Here is a timetable and fares enter the date of Tuesday from pasaiic to New York penn station

The more trips you buy, the less it costs. A ten-trip is $62.50

http://www.njtransit.com/sf/sf.....nerTo

There is a nice frum community.

Last edited by amother on Thu, Dec 31 2015, 8:17 pm; edited 1 time in total

amother

Sun, Nov 21 2010, 5:36 pm

OPINIONATED wrote:

Rent range for decent 2BR apartments?

amother

Sun, Nov 21 2010, 8:13 pm

I estimate that the areas are like this (rent per month):

Upper west side (80's/low 90's & West End)- around $2,000+ for a med. sized 1 BR

Washington Heights- $1200-$1500 for a 1-2 BR on Bennett, Fort Wash Aves (across from YU side)

Riverdale- $1400 for a "Junior 4" (large 1 BR plus smaller exra BR)

Forest Hills, Queens- $1500 for a 2 BR

Hope this helps. These are just my estimates from living in NY for a bunch of years, and asking around.

amother

Purple

Sun, Nov 21 2010, 8:29 pm

amother wrote:

Forest Hills, Queens- $1500 for a 2 BR

I have been told by friends of mine that the trains from forest hills to manhattan are totally unpredictable. During Rush hour, the E and the F trains get backed up - especially the E. If you consider fores hills an option, make sure your husband has a job in midtown, because the commute to manhattan can actually be longer than from pasaic, depending on luck.

The commute on the F train to downtown manhattan is about an hour, maybe longer if things get backed up.

It's faster to take the LIRR and NJ transit than the subway for long distances. You can take the LIRR from forest hills to penn station. You can also take the LIRR from kew gardens, and if you want to consider far rockaway, queens, which is further out, the apartments are also in the $1500 range for 2 bedroom, but it's a nicer area, and your husband can take the LIRR to Penn station.

Aesthetics wise, forest hills is very congested, like manhattan. It is very hard to find parking, just like in manhattan. pasaic and far rockaway is less congested.

Last edited by amother on Thu, Dec 31 2015, 8:18 pm; edited 1 time in total

be good

Mon, Nov 22 2010, 12:35 am

accidentally offered more personal info than intended-meant to be amother...

opinionated, can you change your response? for my privacy? you can pm me for more info.

thanks!

Last edited by be good on Mon, Nov 22 2010, 12:53 am; edited 1 time in total

TwinsMommy

Mon, Nov 22 2010, 12:44 am

I live in Ohio and I really shouldn't have opened this thread. HOLY moly. If you were talking about 5-6 bedroom single family homes, I'd understand... but we're talking about 1 bedroom apartments! Are these prices really seriously acceptable enough to make people stay?

amother

Purple

Mon, Nov 22 2010, 2:13 pm

How much time do you want to spend looking for a parking space?

If you don't have a car, it's not an issue.

If you have a car, different parts of brooklyn may be a nightmare, where every conceivable parking space is taken.

Likewise, Forest hills is a nightmare for car owners, just like manhattan.

Far rockaway is not so bad. Neither is passaic.

It depends on the quality of life you are looking for.

Last edited by amother on Thu, Dec 31 2015, 8:18 pm; edited 1 time in total

amother

Mon, Nov 22 2010, 2:29 pm

When I lived in Passaic I had a very nice 2-bedroom apartment for $1300 a month. I know you can find lots of apartments that are comparable to that. Most of them are in 2-family homes, so you end up having a nice amount of space. Commute to the city can be as little as 20-25 minutes (but that's to midtown). But I think you can get to lower Manhattan in about 45 minutes taking the train or ferry or something.

amother

Mon, Nov 22 2010, 2:45 pm

I am in the bayswater area of far Rockaway. an easy commute into the sity with either the A train or the LIRR.

We are in a 3 bedroom basement and paying 800/month

SIL is in a 3 bed first floor and is paying 1450/month

good friends are in a 2 bedroom 2nd floor paying 1350/month

other friends in a 2 bedroom basement paying 850/month

One reason we live here (as opposed to far rockaway one neighborhood over is because rent is sooo much cheaper (there a 2 bedroom 2nd floor was going for 14-1600) bayswater is seen as a pretty cheap option for people who can handle a mixed crown both yiddishkeit wise and with jews and non jews Wink

Bliss

Mon, Nov 22 2010, 3:46 pm

Mama Bear wrote:

All I can say is... THE RENT IS TOO DAM-N HIGH!!!! Smile

[/ jimmy mcmillan]

(OMG. this site actually doenst allow you to write dam-n. it becomes darn.)

We all agree with that one. Would you agree with anything else he said?? lol

amother

Mon, Nov 22 2010, 4:17 pm

I live in kgh(next town over from forest hills) and pay $1,150/mo rent for a Jr4, which is a two bedroom that the second bedroom is small and doesnt have a built in closet.

I commute to lower Manhattan by subway. it takes about an hour and 15 minutes at rush hour and about 20 minutes less wehn I travel, which is half an hour before rush hour, and pretty reliably so. the delays are maybe 5 minutes usually. once in a blue moon theres a big delay on the subway.

I think its really do-able.

amother

Purple

Mon, Nov 22 2010, 4:33 pm

amother wrote:

I am in the bayswater area of far Rockaway. an easy commute into the sity with either the A train or the LIRR.

If you take the A train from Far Rockaway/Bayswater into the city, your traveling time will be totally unpredictable. Your best bet would be to take the LIRR.

Last edited by amother on Thu, Dec 31 2015, 8:19 pm; edited 1 time in total

MommyZ

Mon, Nov 22 2010, 4:51 pm

We live in Washington Heights- not the Bennett side and not the YU side in a building with a lot of frum families although when we moved in there were just a few frum families and we pay 2000 a month for a 2 br 1 ba.

amother

Sun, Nov 28 2010, 6:48 pm

OP here. Thanks for the answers, for some reason I didn't get any email notifications so I didn't know there were any!

So anyway, I REALLY don't think Queens/Five Towns is an option because the commute is ridiculous. I can't believe people are calling over an hour each way normal... when do you LIVE in between commuting and work hours?! I've taken trains to/from Queens before and it feels like forever.

I don't think Staten Island would work either. Besides for also being a hefty commute, it's an expensive one too AFAIK. If someone assured me that the commute could be managed, then I guess it's a fine idea.

I did a little bit of homework about Passaic, and at first glance it looks like the commuting expenses would pile up enough to make the rent difference not worth it (NJ transit doesn't go straight to where we need it, so we'd have to be paying into both that AND MTA, plus add up the time for both... naaah)

We don't own our own car, though we do like to borrow my parents' quite a lot. So parking isn't a major issue, it would just teach us to be less dependent on the car.

Sigh. Maybe we just need something that doesn't exist Sad

I wish I could just skip town but at this point in my life I just don't have the guts to uproot myself from current job, being near family, etc.