When I started apartment-hunting this fall, I thought I would end up in Brooklyn. It seemed like a good value proposition, and I wanted to live in a laid-back neighborhood with creative young people and a feeling of community. It turns out the cheap Brooklyn I remember from my early 20s no longer exists. The more surprising discovery, however, is that the Upper East Side is actually more affordable than Greenpoint. That’s how I ended up in my lovely one-bedroom apartment on 89th Street between 1st and 2nd.

I’m not the first aspiring Brooklynite to make this choice. There’s a bastion of young, fun people on the Upper East Side who have also discovered that (1) the economics make sense and (2) the UES is not at all the stuffy, boring neighborhood people think it is. Sure, there’s probably a higher concentration of sterile buildings, overdressed dogs, and overmedicated (and underdressed) housewives here than in other parts of the city, not to mention wealth, but that’s part of what makes the neighborhood interesting. It is also legitimately a really fantastic place to live.

Here’s what my day looks like on the Upper East Side.

My first activity is to double-fist a coffee and Kombucha. In an ideal world, I do this while walking to the gym. Starbucks is omnipresent and perfectly delightful, but I like to go to The Brown Cup (2nd Ave between 88th St & 89th St) for a damn good iced latte. One of my more exciting discoveries is that Kombucha is like water on the UES. I can even get it at the C-Town on my block.

On an ideal day, I do get 30 minutes of cardio in, though I’m not sure the elliptical really counts as cardio. There are two New York Sports Clubs conveniently located within blocks of my apartment. When I really feel like torturing myself, I go to Bikram Yoga or SoulCycle, both on 83nd and 2nd Ave.

Food is important. In particular, I can’t live without bagels (it is literally listed as an interest on my resume, which is admittedly kind of lame). No East Side bagel shop has been able to hold a candle to Absolut Bagels, but Tal Bagels (86th St between 1st Ave & 2nd Ave) passes muster, and Sable’s (2nd Ave between 77th St & 78th St) apparently has the best smoked salmon in NYC.

While the Upper East Side doesn’t have the best restaurants in the city, it does have some great ones. For dinner, I like Café D’Alsace (French, 2nd Ave between 88th St & 89th St), Beyoglu (Mediterranean, 3rd Ave between 80th St and 81st St), JG Melon (burgers, 3rd Ave between 74th & 75th), Pinocchio (Italian, 1st Ave between 90th St & 91st St), Cascabel (Tex-Mex, 2nd Ave between 80th St & 81st St), and Shake Shack (86th St between 2nd Ave & 3rd Ave).

Liquor stores, bars, and pharmacies per capita are disturbingly high on the UES, as are psychologists. There are a plethora of sports bars, most of them undistinguishable from one another at this point. I’ve been told that I need to find one that does buybacks like Swigs, which I have yet to visit. There are a few good bars/places to drink like Trinity (84th St between 2nd Ave and 3rd Ave). It’s more of a restaurant than a bar, but Liberatador (89th St & 2nd Ave) has a cucumber Caparinha dubbed 89 Street that is delicious. The beer selection on the UES is generally piss-poor, which surprises me greatly. There are very few craft beers to be found. A new beer store/bar called City Swiggers (86th St between 1st Ave & 2nd Ave) remedies that problem.

For dessert, Two Little Red Hens has the best cupcakes in NYC hands-down, possibly the world.

When I’m not drinking or eating, which is rare, I appreciate the proximity to Central Park, the East River, and the best museums in the world.

Lastly, I think the new Fairway on 86th between 2nd and 3rd Ave should be reason enough to relocate to or stay on the UES.

After two months, I have grown to love the Upper East Side. It is a real neighborhood (I actually know my neighbors!), and the lifestyle is comfortable and convenient. We’re all New Yorkers leading incredibly busy lives. In Brooklyn, I would have to walk half a mile to do most of the things I would want or need to do. On the UES, everything is within a three-block radius of my apartment. I’m also pretty sure it’s possible to get a manicure at any time of day. These little things make life a whole lot easier.

Walk-Up vs Doorman / Elevator

1) Doorman - How necessary is the doorman? Well, let’s see what a doorman provides:

Pros

• Taking packages – Probably the main value of the doorman. Few of us have the luxury of physically taking packages while at home. And most of us don’t like having our packages sent to work or needing to pick them up at the local post office. Have no fear, the doorman is here. Not only does he take packages, but he also deals with deliveries from Fresh Direct or Poland Springs. Definitely valuable.
• Lost Keys +Lockouts - Ever been locked out and need to ring your neighbors or hire a locksmith? Definitely not fun. Maybe you have an extra set around the office, but having a doorman to let you in is a huge positive, especially for those of us with bad memories.
• Easy Guest Access – You never want to leave your keys under the doormats. I mean, this is NYC after all. A doorman takes care of this. You can leave your guest’s information, and the doorman will let them in – hassle free.
• Helping With Bags – If you’re not a heavy traveler, you might use this service three or four times a year. Not too significant.
• Security - Probably the least important reason to have a doorman. In most apartment units with a locked outer door, there is a very slim chance something bad happens. And to be honest, if some guy shows up with a pistol, there’s not too much a doorman can do.

Cons

• Higher Rent – For a full-time doorman building, you’re looking at an extra $100 – $200 dollars. That’s ~ $1,200 to $2,400 a year. Is that worth it to you?
• Year-End Tips - Aside from the higher rents, you’ll have to deal with the year-end tip. OK, if you’re a complete cheap-skate, you might decide not to tip. There’s nothing the doormen can really do (except give you dirty glares behind your back). However, if you’re a normal New Yorker, depending on the # of doormen and the size of your building, you’ll probably put up $50-100 bucks/doorman or porter.
• Awkwardness - Do you really want someone keeping tabs on your life? Your doorman will know a lot about you, including who comes in and out, your work schedule (and party schedule). Probably not too bad, unless you decided not to leave a tip at all.

How much should you value a doorman? On average, a doorman building will be between $100 – 200 dollars more expensive. This doesn’t include the customary tip on the holidays. Look forward to spending an extra $2,200 for a doorman building.

2) Elevator - Are elevators all they’re cut out to be? So first off, except for the higher costs, there is very little downside to having an elevator. Obviously, an elevator is necessary for most buildings > 5 floors (since only the ultimately athletic will ever want to live on the 6th or 7th floor of a walk-up). For buildings < 5 floors, you might benefit slightly during the move-in or move-out process. If you have a lot of “stuff,” or you’re moving to a large apartment, this might be an issue. Remember, though, that you can always hire movers if you need to. Aside from that, needing to walk 2-3 floors isn’t really as much of an issue as most people think. On the other hand, if you have a baby and need to carry around a carriage, this might be annoying. An elevator might add $50 dollars to your rent – so decide if that’s worth it to you.

Other Things To Worry About

1) Cable/Internet Problems – Newer buildings have better cable/internet infrastructure and wiring. For some walk-ups, you might have haphazardly laid out cables that go onto the roof or into the basement. Routine building maintenance might knock out your cable/internet (which is painful in this day and age).

2) AC - A decent majority of older buildings don’t have built-in ACs. In fact, even some doorman/elevator buildings don’t. This has more to do with the building age than anything else. Not having AC in New York is a killer, especially into the humid summer months. If your building doesn’t have AC, make sure your windows can support one (or if not, you’ll have to get a portable AC unit).

3) Hot Water Issues – Depending on how many people live in the building, your building may have a smaller than normal water boiler/heater. As a result, you might run out of hot water late into the night. Rare this would happen, but beware!

Where is it?

Chelsea is located south of Hell’s Kitchen and the Garment District and north of the Meatpacking District. More accurately, the neighborhood has been defined as the area between 14th and 34th street + west of the river. You can always check out the available apartments in Chelsea here. In addition, if you access our map-based apartment search, you can see a great overlay of the region.

History

British Major Thomas Clarke named his Manhattan house Chelsea, after the manor of Chelsea, London. The original “Chelsea” home resided on 23^rd Street, between 9^th and 10^th where it eventually grew from a large garden into a full-fledged residential neighborhood. During the mid 1800s, the newly built Hudson River Railroad industrialized the area. Towards the 1900s, the neighborhood was dominated by the Irish, and housed longshoremen who worked at the warehouses on the nearby piers. The neighborhood drastically changed moving into the 21^st century, and has now become an alternative shopping destination to SoHo. In addition,  there has been an influx from the arts community – and the area houses the Rubin Museum of Art, the Chelsea Art Museum, the Graffiti Research Lab, and the Dance Theatre Workshop.

Chelsea Hotel

What the Neighborhood has to Offer

Location, location, location. Chelsea is sandwiched between Hell’s Kitchen to the north and the Meatpacking district to the south. For those who enjoy nightlife – the Meatpacking district is where it’s at. The area is packed with restaurants and nightclubs catering to young professionals and hipsters. It also contains a number of high-end boutiques such as Diane von Furstenberg, Christian Louboutin, and Alexander McQueen. For those who enjoy good eats and affordable food, Hell’s Kitchen has that. The area is flooded with affordable restaurants of all types, including a block full of 99-pizza establishments.

AMC Loews - Chelsea

Aside from the surrounding areas, Chelsea itself is not to be scoffed at. It is home to a number of landmark buildings and areas such as Chelsea Piers, Chelsea Market, and Hotel Chelsea. You can shoot rounds of golf at Chelsea Piers (home to a large sports / entertainment complex) or visit Chelsea Market for a number of food vendors such as bakeries, groceries, fish vendors, fruit merchants, and wine sellers. Chelsea has a wide variety of food options, ranging from the cheap/affordable chains (Chipotle) to the high-end Morimoto. Finally, while a little old, there is a great AMC Loews Theatre in the center of Chelsea.

Transportation

Like most areas of Manhattan, you’re always close to a source of public transit. The ACE and 123 lines run through the center of Chelsea, both having stops on 23^rd street (on different avenues). Both lines give you flexibility to reach most of the city, though you might need to switch if you’re headed up to the Upper West Side. Finally, like most parts of Manhattan, taxi’s are around every corner.

Where to Live

While Chelsea generally has a higher percentage of owner units over rental units, you won’t have trouble finding an apartment. There are a number of Luxury high-rises in the area, including the Olivia by Stonehenge, and the Ohm NYC. We also have a number of other landlords like B&L and Jakobson. Definitely check out our apartment selection on RentHop.

Luxury High-Rise in Chelsea

A walk down Chelsea

How do I get a piece of the action?

The brilliant part about being a Manhattan rental broker is, you don’t need to have any real estate experience or even any knowledge of Manhattan to begin adding value immediately.  There is a big difference between adding value and closing deals (earning commission checks), but let’s ignore that for a moment and explore why anyone can convert their spare time into monetizable assets.

What value do brokers add?

Every day there are thousands of available apartments and thousands of potential renters who want to see them.  Among that vast field of mediocrity is the elusive subset all brokers seek: the great apartments and the qualified, motivated renters.  You can filter away bad renters over the phone.  Sadly, judging an apartment based on the landlord’s descriptions won’t work.  There really is no substitute to personally visiting the apartment and assessing its worth yourself.  Less than half the available apartments are even remotely rentable.  The bad ones linger until the landlord gets a clue and finishes the renovations or drops the price.

Thanks to the sytem of open listings in New York City, any licensed agent can freely visit apartments and build a sizable inventory of great apartments.  The official lingo is called “previewing.”  As long as you preview several times a week, you will continually improve your offerings and the draw that follows from your Craigslist and RentHop postings.  If you find yourself with free time at the office despite your ad campaign, then you haven’t built up a large enough stash of assets.  Go look at more apartments!  When you are only advertising the cream of the crop, you’ll be shocked how quickly you’ll fill your entire calendar with renter appointments (and how much more bang for buck you get per advertisement).

How about closing the deal?

Sadly, far too many agents focus on the deal-closing skill instead of finding decent apartments.  Then we all wonder why brokers get such a horrible reputation!  Here is a better plan.  Focus less on batting average and instead get more at-bats.  Some renters will waste your time.  Some will be extremely obnoxious.  Many simply won’t be interested and you’ll need to move on.  However, if every apartment you show is a diamond in the rough, and you take basic steps in screening your clients, then you will close far more deals than than a typical broker, without the sleazy aftertaste.   It’s much easier to show good apartments and pray they sell themselves than to trick a client into renting an awful apartment. Focus first on finding good apartments before reading books on selling ice to Eskimos.

That’s all there is to it, on a very high-level.  Sadly, apartment brokering is not easy work.  You’ll need lots of organization and determination.  Dealing with clients can be frustrating and managing your listings will seem exhausting at times.  Even previewing is a bit of an art, which we’ll discuss in the future.  At the end of the day, though, it’s not rocket science.  We can boil it down to a rinse and repeat job where the ones who works harder will consistently win.  Forget about the sales tactics and go add value instead.  The rest will come  naturally anyway.

Hell’s Kitchen

Close to the Time Square, but still quiet.

Hell’s Kitchen ranges from roughly 34th Street to 57th Street, between 8th Avenue and the Hudson River. It can be considered a part of the larger Midtown West / Midtown area. While it used to be a center of underworld activities (especially the Irish American Mob), it has now been completely gentrified into a neighborhood with great food, activities, and amazing access to transportation.

Most people think the proximity to Time Square would make the area loud and touristy, but that’s not the case. In fact, the two or three avenue shift is enormous. Once you get past 8th avenue, the area transforms. No more loud billboards or crowded streets. As it turns out, the taller buildings in the area block sight of Time Square from the ground level (though if you lived in one of the high-rises, you can still get a decent glimpse). If you live on one of the side-street off of 9th, you can’t even tell that you’re near Time Square.

First the food

It’s not called Hell’s Kitchen for nothing. The NY Times talks about 99 cent fresh pizza, and 2 Bros Pizza, but 42nd Street & 9th Avenue is actually host to a number of extremely budget (but good) places. These include: 2 Bros Pizza (which actually has everything from fried chicken to broccoli), $0.99 Fresh Pizza (the original 99-cent pizza on the block), Villa Cafe (a newcomer with the best sitting area – inside during the winter), and finally, Papaya Dog (with a slew of budget hot dog/sandwich options).

$0.99 Fresh Pizza

2 Bros Pizza

Villa Cafe

Papaya Dog

Moving up 9th Ave, you end up with a slew of sit-down restaurants (all with great prices). A quick search on menupages gives a glimpse of what else the neighborhood has to offer. In fact, just on 9th Ave, I can name 10 Thai places, a few great burger places, and a 24-hour diner (in case you get a late-night craving). Of course, you also have the infamous Restaurant Row on 46th Street.

In between the sit-down restaurants and the 99-cent establishments, the area is also filled with a casual dining options – such as Chipotle and Lenny’s (in fact, on the same block). If you like deserts, there is a Tasty Delite (actually, of my friends, I might be the only one who likes this place), Pinkberry, and Red Mango.

Second, what can I do in the area?

So what’s there to do? Well, in most cases, you’re not partying where you’re sleeping. Chances are, you can always travel to where you really want to go (most people I know aren’t going out 7 nights a week – so there’s no reason to have the action right outside your doorstep). However, you’re still close to a number of select bars in the area.

Apart from that, however, Hell’s Kitchen is right up against the Hudson River. If you like biking, there is a bike trail right along the Westside Highway. Also, believe it or not, Port Authority also has a bowling lane inside. If you lived along the upper border of Hell’s Kitchen (in the 50′s), you’d be within a brisk walk form Columbus Circle / Central Park. Also, the two Time Square movie theaters are right down the street on 42nd (along with a Dave and Busters).

Third, easy transportation

What can I say? You’re at the hub of it all. With Port Authority right around the corner, you’re only a hop away from the 123 (Green), ACE (Blue), NRW (Yellow), 7, and of course – the Shuttle to Grand Central. If you take the bus, the M16 takes you straight to Penn Station. The only pesky area to get to is the Upper East Side (since you have to do a subway transfer), but most places in the city are only 20-30 minutes away from Hell’s Kitchen.

Finally, where do I live?

Luxury High-Rises in Hell's Kitchen

Anywhere – whether you want the quaint walk-up or the luxury high-rise. Both Brodsky and Stonehenge Management have buildings luxury high-rises in the area (on 9th). Most of the high-rises in Hell’s Kitchen offer fantastic views of Manhattan. Because there are only a few tall building dotting the area, high-up apartments on the west side will get an amazing view of the river. For a luxury high-rise, large studios might run you from ~$2,000 and up. One bedrooms might be in the upper $2 to $3 thousand ranges (this may differ depending on square-footage and concessions – such as 1 month free).

However, you don’t have to live in a Luxury High Rise. There are always vacancies with landlords who own affordable walk-ups. You can get studios from around $1,400 and one (or very small 2-bedrooms) from $2,200. Check out the selection of no-fee apartments on RentHop to get a better sense of pricing.

What Now?

You’ve scoured the city for the perfect apartment, and now you’ve found that gem. Now what? Is the listing price the last word?

We wrote a short piece last April (How to Negotiate a Lower Apartment Rent) about rent negotiations. In general, haggling down the listing price will depend on the landlord or leasing officer. Provided that you are a qualified tenant (40x rent, good credit score, and no history of delinquencies), you usually have some amount of flexibility in negotiations. But how much can you go?

We’ve found that landlords have about a month of flexibility (they’re willing to give up to one month additional free off the rent – though you might not get anything). Of course, this depends a lot on the landlord. Smaller landlords are generally more flexible than large corporations or luxury high-rises. A building’s vacancy rate and the apartment’s time-on-market is also important. The management office is much more likely to negotiate on an apartment that’s been sitting on the market for a few weeks than one that just hit the market. Finally, if the price of the apartment just dropped, there might be less flexibility in getting a lower price. RentHop tracks the price changes and posting date for apartments, so use that as a guide.

Seasonality and timing is also important in getting a lower price. We’ve talked about off-peak apartment hunting a few months back. In general, managers are more flexible during winter time than during the peak summer months. Some of that flexibility is already reflected in “deals” being offered during off-peak times. However, if you’re willing to move in sooner, you definitely have some leeway.

At the end of the day, while getting the perfect price is important, we wouldn’t get stuck on that. If the unit was simply a great bargain, you’re probably not the only one who is interested. Even now, quality rentals move fast (2-3 weeks), so depending on when you see it, it might not be around for too long. As a rule of thumb, ask for $100 off or an additional month free and see how far you get.

The next few months will be truly telling. Will landlords seize on the uptick to reduce concessions, or will the off-peak season scare more managers into marketing incentives. So far, the August data supports both theories. Macklowe Properties and Archstone have abruptly scaled back incentives in Midtown West, as Longacre House on 51st and 8th and Archstone Midtown West both ended the 1 Month OP + 1 Month Free deals. Others such as Rockrose has actually increased their incentives, offering a 1.5 month OP and 2 month free at 2 Gold Street (show up without a broker and you might just get a net effective with 3 or 3.5 months off the gross). Some landlords are carefully managing incentives on a case-by-case basis. Stonehenge recently ended the 1 month OP + 1 month free at Ritz Plaza, but in exchange began offering the deal at Olivia, Stonehenge 56, and 20 Park, among others (not surprisingly, all of the Stonehenge 56 units rented quickly afterwards, with the pace at Olivia brisk as well).

Bottom Line, Shoot for the Win-Win

While this may seem obvious, it’s shocking how many people fail to understand a basic negotiating principle.  The key to most successful negotiation is to find points of mutually acceptable concessions.  This point is advocated and belabored in the famous book Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In by Fisher et al.  While critics claim many real-life negotiations are indeed a fixed pie where any gains for one party is a direct loss to the other, real estate transactions are so mutli-parametered that they often contain room for win-win negotiations.

Qualify for the Apartment

As a renter, understand what a landlord ultimately wants from a lease agreement: a tenant that reliably pays rent on time without causing any problems and has little risk of defaulting on the lease.  While a landlord certainly seeks to maximize the expected amount of rent collected, if your financial status appears to be very risky then you won’t be a desirable tenant even if you pay the asking price!  The landlord would usually prefer a renter who demands a lower rent and has no chance of defaulting than a renter paying full price but only a 50% chance of paying by the 2nd month!

For those who are superior credit risks, you definitely have some negotiation leverage.  In our experience the following techniques roughly ordered by effectiveness can be implement to bargain for a win-win deal:

1.)  Sign it now

Landlords know most leases terminate on the end of the month, and want to begin leases on the 1st of a month.  If the apartment is vacant now and you begin your lease on the first of the next month, they know they will lose the rest of the month in rent (they get nothing while the apartment sits empty).  If a renter is willing to begin the lease on the 15th of the current month, then you save the landlord half a month of vacancy, which is approximately 4% of a year of rent.

A quick back-of-the-envelope calculation will reveal why this tactic works so well.  If you are a landlord offering a 1BR in West Village for $3,000, then on April 9th, you get two applications.  One is from a renter willing to pay full price and begin a one-year lease on May 1st ending on April 30th the next year.  Another renter is willing to begin the lease on April 15th but only wants to pay $2,900 a month, also ending on April 30th the next year.  By taking the “full-price” renter, you would end up with $36,000 by April of the next year.  For the lower price but early renter, you would get about $36,250.

One last reason this technique works in the renter’s favor is the tendency for landlords to be risk averse.  In the previous example, the landlord may be even more inclined to lower the price for someone immediately moving into the apartment simply because the landlord does not want to risk the vacancy dragging out for another month or more.  A paying tenant in the apartment is worth far more than uncommitted leads.

2.)  Oversized security deposit

3.)  Two year lease

Most landlords are freaking out about falling rents.  If you offer to sign a 2 year lease, then many landlords, especially the smaller ones, will jump at the chance .  A few management companies even explicitly offer to give an extra month of free rent for leases that are longer than the standard 12 months.  As an added bonus, by signing say, a 16 or 18 month lease, it is possible to put yourself into an off-peak apartment hunting cycle.

(For assistance negotiating leases or other New York City rental issues, feel free to email nofee@RentHop.com or visit our new york apartment website, RentHop.com)

Harlem Offerings

More importantly, AIMCO NYC is one of our first major landlord and property managers with a large collection of Harlem listings!  One good example is the walk-up at 759 Saint Nicholas Ave, which, at the time of this writing, offers a well-priced studio at $1,195 a month walking distance from the A, B, C, and D subway lines.

For the last few months, we’ve been concentrating our efforts on building a large list of Downtown and Midtown apartments, but we now understand that to benefit the largest number of New Yorkers, we’ll need to expand into Harlem and the outer boroughs as well.  Check back frequently as we complete our process of adding more Queens, Harlem, and Brooklyn landlords over the next few weeks.