How to Find an Apartment in This Economy (With Some Actionable Guidance)

A couple months ago I outlined the harrowing and generally unpleasant task of finding a new apartment to live in in New York City right now. I make a decent salary by New York standards, had my shit together and started looking early, and I still worried I wouldn’t be able to find a place. So when my cousin, who is graduating from college this spring, texted me and asked if I could help her boyfriend with advice for finding an apartment in New York City, I figured I should do whatever I could to actually write down some steps for locating an apartment instead of just complaining about the lowest of lows I experienced during my search. Here, I present my resource list for people looking for an apartment in New York City, specifically written for a 21 year old. Maybe it will help you or someone you know!

Websites to check (these can be sorted by neighborhood, price point, number of bedrooms, desired amenities, brokers fees, etc):

• Streeteasy (I’m pretty brokers have to pay per day to have units listed here, so you may not be looking at the newest listings)
• Craigslist apartments (I know it sounds sketchy but it’s how I found my apartment. Look early and look often!)
• Compass
• Douglas Elliman
• Corcoran
• Apartments.com
• Zillow