How to find affordable housing in Manhattan?
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New York is the worldwide famous city for so many things that it is often called the capital of the world! Manhattan is the center of New York. So, what do you think, how affordable it is for life? Quite not, right? True. But do you need to spend a fortune to make a decent life in this NYC borough? Not necessarily. What you need is time, preparedness to put an effort, and patience. If you have all that, we are sure you’ll find a way to live in Manhattan on a budget. What’s the first thing you should do? Well, start with the highest expenses first. Reduce them to a reasonable amount and it would be a lot easier to budget your life in The City. Given that the highest monthly expense is commonly the rent, we’ll try to help you find affordable housing in Manhattan!
Why should you move to Manhattan?
It’s the greatest borough of NYC, which is one of the strongest cities in the USA, which is one of the strongest countries in the world. Fair enough? Sure, people move to New York City for various reasons, not only for the economy. It’s great for the culture, sports, education, healthcare,… Well, probably everything you might imagine. If you want a full comfort of your life, then Manhattan is probably the best city in the world. You’ll need to adjust to a lively pace, to an expensive life, and to the crowd everywhere you move anytime. But once you get used to those things, find a decent job that pays the bills, you’ll more or less enjoy each and every day for the rest of your life. Pretty good reason to move to Manhattan, don’t you think?
Can you afford to live in Manhattan?
As we said, if you put an effort, surely yes. Though, finding a decent job is a must. The costs of living in Manhattan are significantly higher than in the most smaller cities in the USA. So be prepared for a shock, for some prices in Manhattan will be shocking. However, you’ll get used to it quickly, because the salaries in Manhattan are also higher than in the most of the cities for the same kinds of jobs. Our suggestion is to find a job before you move to Manhattan. This will help you avoid some troubles you might get into due to not having enough money for everyday life, and it could easily happen if you had no job after moving to this NYC borough.
Affordable housing in Manhattan – how to find it?
Living on a budget is almost a piece of cake if you don’t pay a fortune for your home. We’re talking about renting a home, of course. Those fortunate people who can afford to buy a home in Manhattan won’t surely have troubles with surviving the month. Now, here’s what you should do when seeking affordable housing in Manhattan:
- Prepare to make compromises – Otherwise, say goodbye to affordable housing in Manhattan
- Contact the owners directly – There’s a bigger chance to find a housing in NYC on your budget if you negotiate the price directly with the owner.
- Choose the perfect timing for negotiating the rent – When the demand is lower, the prices are lower too. Use this opportunity.
Compromises: Moving to Manhattan, you’ll have to make them
The higher the ability to adjust to what you don’t like, the better the chances you’ll have an affordable life in Manhattan. How come? Well, there are much more affordable options to rent an apartment on a budget in The City if you are prepared to live in a noisier building, in a smaller apartment, to share an apartment etc. All this are compromises that not many are prepared to accept, if you are, you will be able to say that life in Manhattan isn’t too costly for you.
The direct contact with the owners is a chance for you to get affordable housing in Manhattan
Although there are not so many options where you could find an owner renting the apartment, you could still find a few. The owners commonly don’t have that much experience with negotiations, so if you learn how to negotiate the lower price, you could be that lucky guy living in a decent apartment in Manhattan and not paying a fortune for it. While there are not so big chances for that, the chances are much bigger if you get to negotiate the rent with the owner instead of an agency.
The timing is such an important factor!
In some periods of the year, it’s practically impossible to find anything but expensive apartments for rent in NYC. On the other hand, there are periods of the year when it’s quite possible. You’ll guess that, if searching for an apartment in spring or summer, you won’t find probably anything that might fit your budget. In winter, it’s quite a thing you could expect. So, why wouldn’t you wait until winter (if you can) and rent an apartment at a significantly lower price? Being smart and patient helps a lot. Make sure you have these qualities implemented in your life before you start searching for homes in Manhattan.
Here’s another important tip for all of you searching for affordable housing in Manhattan. Before you start your search, think about the moving costs first. Reducing them might increase your budget for the first month. Try to find an affordable Manhattan moving and storage company. But make sure you check if they are reliable enough, never hire the cheapest movers or the movers you run into first. You want to save money, but you don’t want to run into a moving scam!
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