Flat Hunting in New York
I have been in New York for quite some time now and currently living in the basement of my sister’s home in the suburbs. Although it is convenient for me at the meantime, I have been planning to stand on my own and live in the city, also known as Manhattan.
As a single, working young professional, I want to be in the middle of it all. Events, musicals, museums, great restaurants, parks! You name it! Looking for a great location that would check all the items on my checklist could be challenging. Thanks to Zumper, I know I have someone I can trust.
Zumper is a really cool and informative website used by millions of users for information on houses, condominiums, rooms and apartments that are for rent. They cover numerous areas so you can specify which part of the city you want to settle in.
Since I am looking for a flat in Manhattan, I have checked their website. Reading through, the average rent for a 1-bedroom apartment in Manhattan is $2,750. Now that is a lot to some people, but Zumper statistics show that this figure is in fact 2% lower compared to last year.
Looking at their website further, it shows the current number of flats available for renting in the specification I wanted. If I use their website and tweaked my specifications to say – more rooms, I could see the prices and number of flats available for rent. At an average of $2868, I can rent a two bedroom apartment! See how that works? It is great to see my options and of course, the average rent – we do not want to be taken advantage of!
What I am enjoying most about Zumper is that the prices and the listings are updated real time. Meaning, if you religiously check their websites, you get first dibs on the new listings!
Not only that, I also managed to see the median rate per area in Manhattan! If I want to rent in the Upper East Side, I would pay about $2895 per month for a one bedroom apartment. Not bad compared to the bougie Upper West Side which demands an average of $3663 for the same flat.
Since I also have my fur baby, Fitzgerald, with me, I have to make sure that the flat I am to rent would allow pets. Zumper provides these seemingly tiny details but are in fact extremely valuable information, especially for new flat searchers like I am.
Of course, apart from all those considerations I have to make, I am somewhat anxious if I can ever afford a decent flat in New York. I am a dreamer but at the same time I have to make sure that I can keep my feet firmly grounded, and this means, I have to stay with budget.
Using Zumper, I managed to filter out the flats that are way out of my budget. Honestly, the filtering tool in their website is very useful!
I have finally narrowed down my flat search to 4 potential flats in the Upper East side, all of which allows pets, have good amenities, within my budget and of course, at an excellent location. For New Yorkers like I am, accessibility to parks, groceries, work, and of course, the Subway is among our top consideration. I am happy I have fulfilled everything in my check list with the help of Zumper.
For those of you who are still searching, tired of the boring and useless websites that just waste your time, I highly recommend Zumper! Make your flat hunting hassle free, use it now!