In Search of Affordable Apartment? Any Nice Areas in Bushwick?

Brooklynian » Forum » Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Bushwick »

In Search of Affordable Apartment? Any Nice Areas in Bushwick?

Share this!

banana
what am I, new?
Joined: Jul '12
Posts: 1

Hey Guys,

I'm really struggling right now to find an apartment I'll be happy to live in for the next 1.5-2 years. I would love to live in a brownstone in Clinton Hill or in a hot loft in Williamsburg but unfortunately I really cant afford it.
It's going to be hard enough to find a landlord that will take me in with my poor income and horrible credit score, on top of that I have to make serious compromises on where I'm going to live. Living in aghetto or dumpster/hood type of neighboorhood makes me very depressed..something too residential is also depressing..I need a real neighborhood with bars and shops and clean streets and I would like to be as close as possible to Manhattan.

At first I wasnt considering bed-stuy or bushwick at all in my search. Now I feel like I have no choice..Since this is in the Williamsburg/Fort Greene/Bushwick Category can anyone tell me if there is a specific area in Bushwick that is nicer/hippier/has a williamsburg type of feeling to it?

I know a lot if people say its not so bad over there but Bushwick is just depressing to me, it has nothing to do with safety concerns its just very very depressing(at least by the myrtle ave stop-J train)

Also, if anyone knows of a good place to look for a apartments(apart from craigslist or rent.com) or has some info on good and cheap management companies I would really appreciate it!
Any Advice, leads, suggestions or anything else positive would help.

Thank you!

# Posted 10 mos ago
The Psycho-ologist
big A little a Bouncing B the system may have got you but it won't get me.
Joined: Jan '08
Posts: 439

banana said:
I have to make serious compromises on where I'm going to live. Living in aghetto or dumpster/hood type of neighboorhood makes me very depressed..something too residential is also depressing..

Hi. Banana,

I hate to say this, but this part of your post is far likely to draw ire, rather than help. "ghetto" is a state of mind, not a community or a place. All sorts of people live in all sorts of places, and at one time lived in areas that people like you would consider "ghetto". After all, isn't it ironic, that you who is so anti-ghetto, will wind up living a "ghetto", the same place where people who have your very same mindset will judge YOU and your personal character based on the fact that your ~~broke ass~~.. erm I mean financially unstable but upwardly mobile self, lives in a certain zip code.

Bushwick is not a ghetto. There are ghetto people who live there in Bushwick and ghetto people who live in the Hamptons or Belle Aire. Just ask the neighbors of P-Diddy, or Kim Kardashian.

/end rant

With that said, bad credit means you will need a guarantor. That person could be your parents, a wealthy friend or family member who is willing to sign a rider on the lease that will enable the landlord to solicit them for the money you may end up owing.

If you cannot do that, you need to save, save and save some more until you have at least 4 or 5 months worth of advance rent. Why? so that the landlord will not lose out on anything should, he or she have to start eviction proceedings against you. Its about 3 months before those proceedings can be completed.

Barring the above two suggestions, my final one would be to suck it up, and get 5 million roommates, to all chip in and rent your dream place in Billyburg. You can put an air mattress in the kitchen and bathroom too. Maybe then you CAN move to a nice little Williamsburg street, with coffee shops and I will just say it more blatantly: "Nice white folks like yourself", because isn't that what you really mean when you say " not-ghetto"?

Lastly,

Landlords like stability. Saying that you only want to be there for the short term, implies instability, and perhaps a possible abandoned apartment with back rent owed.

Actually LASTLY:
You post is really working my last nerve?
Just what the F**k is "nicer" or "hipper" supposed to mean? I like culture too. I think my Latino and Chinese neighborhood is hip, cultural and nice. Why is it that only white transplants from Kalispell Montana are "hip"?

This is NYC. What makes it "hip" is the so called ghetto west indian parties and parade, the pho eateries, the halal Bangladeshi food trucks, and all the other interesting things that eventually become co-opted by "whites from Kalispell" wanting to look edgy and cool.

Lastly one word on Craigslist: chose and move fast. You snooze you lose

a teaspoon of kisses and a drop of glee

# Posted 10 mos ago
landlord
above average
Joined: Mar '08
Posts: 334

As a landlord, I would not rent to someone with poor credit and a low income due to the high risk of non-payment. However, there is another way you can get an apartment in a cool area. If you pay a whole year in advance the landlord will not care about your financials. Additionally, you can also have a close relative Co-sign for you....but their income has to be 80 times the rent.
Good luck

# Posted 10 mos ago
The Psycho-ologist
big A little a Bouncing B the system may have got you but it won't get me.
Joined: Jan '08
Posts: 439

The Psycho-ologist said:
Hi. Banana,

I hate to say this, but this part of your post is far likely to draw ire, rather than help. "ghetto" is a state of mind, not a community or a place. All sorts of people live in all sorts of places, and at one time lived in areas that people like you would consider "ghetto". After all, isn't it ironic, that you who is so anti-ghetto, will wind up living a "ghetto", the same place where people who have your very same mindset will judge YOU and your personal character based on the fact that your ~~broke ass~~.. erm I mean financially unstable but upwardly mobile self, lives in a certain zip code.

Bushwick is not a ghetto. There are ghetto people who live there in Bushwick and ghetto people who live in the Hamptons or Belle Aire. Just ask the neighbors of P-Diddy, or Kim Kardashian.

/end rant

With that said, bad credit means you will need a guarantor. That person could be your parents, a wealthy friend or family member who is willing to sign a rider on the lease that will enable the landlord to solicit them for the money you may end up owing.

If you cannot do that, you need to save, save and save some more until you have at least 4 or 5 months worth of advance rent. Why? so that the landlord will not lose out on anything should, he or she have to start eviction proceedings against you. Its about 3 months before those proceedings can be completed.

Barring the above two suggestions, my final one would be to suck it up, and get 5 million roommates, to all chip in and rent your dream place in Billyburg. You can put an air mattress in the kitchen and bathroom too. Maybe then you CAN move to a nice little Williamsburg street, with coffee shops and I will just say it more blatantly: "Nice white folks like yourself", because isn't that what you really mean when you say " not-ghetto"?

Lastly,

Landlords like stability. Saying that you only want to be there for the short term, implies instability, and perhaps a possible abandoned apartment with back rent owed.

Actually LASTLY:
You post is really working my last nerve?
Just what the F**k is "nicer" or "hipper" supposed to mean? I like culture too. I think my Latino and Chinese neighborhood is hip, cultural and nice. Why is it that only white transplants from Kalispell Montana are "hip"?

This is NYC. What makes it "hip" is the so called ghetto west indian parties and parade, the pho eateries, the halal Bangladeshi food trucks, and all the other interesting things that eventually become co-opted by "whites from Kalispell" wanting to look edgy and cool.

Lastly one word on Craigslist: chose and move fast. You snooze you lose

I forgot to add to my long post,
This may sound sketchy,
but if you can move into an already leased apartment in the neighborhood of your choice, and then add your name to the lease, at least a year in advance, you may be able to "inherit the apartment" when the original lease holder leaves. My friend did this. She also has poor credit. She moved in with her friend who lived very posh off of a guarantor. When the other girl married and moved, my friend took over the entire lease, in a nice FI-DI building.
The problem with that, is you will have to be good for paying, or you are on the hook by yourself, especially if the roommate is smart and sends a 30 notice to the landlord stating that they are moving and you are remaining.

a teaspoon of kisses and a drop of glee

# Posted 10 mos ago
armchair_warrior
retsop cixelsyd
Joined: Dec '05
Posts: 7,946

In the past I gave many people with poor credit history a chance and I got burn many times. Best bet would be find a room to sublease for a while.

Fight white guilt and injustice by smoking tax free guilt free Reservation Smokes or go gamble in a Native Casino.
I like to stick it to The Man, The Man happens to be Liberal in NYC(power Structure).

# Posted 10 mos ago
whynot_31
Former Lurker
Joined: Mar '06
Posts: 16,089

The OP could also rent in a less "cool area".

There, the landlords may be willing to accept someone with bad credit, and willing to rely more on intuition.

The nature of the power difference between landlords and tenants, often changes in correlation to an area's perceived coolness.

For better or worse, the change on Nostrand is going to make the change on Franklin look minor.

# Posted 10 mos ago

RSS feed for this topic

Welcome! Please log in to post, or register a new account!

Brooklynian

Brooklynian » Forum » Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Bushwick »

In Search of Affordable Apartment? Any Nice Areas in Bushwick?

Brooklynian » Neighborhood Message Boards » Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Bushwick

Brooklinks

Members Online