Apartment Hunting in New York City
For those moving to New York City for the very first time, often as a naïve university freshman or a slightly more aware but equally ambitious young professional, there are a lot of things to consider. At the top of the list is your estimated living budget. Chances are the undergrad arranged housing with their university, but for those in need of a place to live, the housing options in NYC are so varied that it can very quickly overwhelm anyone.
A quick search of apartment listings on Craigslist will yield results ranging from a 3-bedroom apartment in the Financial District for over $5,000 a month to a studio in Inwood that’s smaller than your parents’ master bathroom and costs just under a grand. So how do you decided?
Budget
Well, as mentioned earlier, the first thing to consider is your budget. Anyone who’s lived in New York long enough will agree that it’s a city optimized for two main economic statuses: 
the wealthy and the poor -- regarding the latter, more specifically the young and “poor” who are just starting off and thus have no prerequisites and minimal social, financial or familial obligations. If you’re looking for a comfortable middle class lifestyle, some naysayers would suggest that you’d sooner find more accommodating options elsewhere, but don’t be dismayed because middle class options exist as well.
As with anywhere, the cost is directly linked to both the size of the apartment and the neighborhood. In New York, there are many trendy, upscale neighborhoods to choose from such as Soho, Tribeca, or the Upper East Side. But there are also more affordable neighborhoods like China Town and the Lower East Side. The famed Harlem for a long time has also fallen into the latter category, but with the gentrification the neighborhood is currently experiencing, prices have naturally gone up in the past few years.
In terms of size, common sense applies in that the larger you go, the more expensive it gets. Studios are the most affordable, but often the tiny square footage renders the place undesirable. So for comfortable, affordable living, roommates are your best friends -- figuratively and maybe even literally. For those who prefer to live alone, there certainly are quality 1-bedroom apartments and even decent studios available in NYC, but you have to put in the legwork to find them.
And for those who aren’t fazed by the allure of New York, New York, your options are increased when you include the outer boroughs like Brooklyn and Queens.
NYC apartment types
When it comes to fine-tuning your search, unnecessarily or not, apartments in New York City fall under quite a lot of categories. Some of the main ones have already been mentioned. They include studios, condos, lofts, brownstones and the standard listings that provide the number of bedrooms available in the title.
Studios are your most basic type of NYC apartment. They usually have just one room in addition to a kitchen and a bathroom. That means your living room is also your bedroom. Regarding the kitchen, though technically it’s not a separate room, they’re often uniquely placed so as to occupy a tiny fraction of the room and give the illusion of an independent space. Additional types of studio apartments are alcove studios and convertible studios. Both still offer only one room, but they are different in that they are slightly larger, thus allowing space partitioning.
When it comes to listings that provide the amount of rooms available, for the most part it’s self-explanatory. When you see the word convertible inserted, however, note that one or more of the bedrooms were previously a living room, dining room or any other large unused space. More bedrooms means higher rent, but it also means more roommates.
Lofts are large, open apartments with high ceilings and over-sized windows. Originally, most lofts were warehouses or related commercial buildings and have been converted into residential spaces. Due to its popularity, though, apartments are increasing being built with this design from the start. A term to look for is sleep loft. This refers to sleeping quarters that are elevated and usually accessible via a ladder, but don’t necessarily denote a loft apartment. Something else to consider is the fact that because of their size, lofts are usually expensive.
Condominiums are living spaces that include all the basics such as a living room, one or more bedrooms and bathrooms, a kitchen, dining room, and possibly more. They exist as separate units within a particular complex or building. Unit owners, however, share a few common spaces with each other like a gym or outdoor spaces. Condos are relatively expensive to own, sometimes costing more than a house, and thus are usually expensive to rent as well.
Co-ops come in many different sizes and with a wide variety of features. They are distinct in that the unit owners are also shareholders in whatever company or business owns the property. The rent is determined by the collective cost of maintaining the property, which includes things like mortgage, taxes and building maintenance, and is split between the unit owners. Members of a co-op usually elect a board of directors whose duties are to oversee the management of the building. A drawback of entering a co-op is the lengthy, demanding application process.
Additional terms you might come across are brownstone and rent-stabilized. The former just refers to the building architecture, a beautiful design that dates back to the 19th Century, but the living space itself varies. So don’t look to the word brownstone as a signifier of any particular features. As for the latter, they're highly coveted NYC apartments that are hard to obtain. The term refers to the rent, which has been kept low relative to the inflated asking price for comparable spaces. If you find one, usually you’ll be subletting. But here’s hoping!
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