How to rent a house in the US?
'29.09.2017'
Source: Usa-info
Since the way most residents of the CIS, who arrived or emigrated to the USA, begins in New York, then we will begin our story on how to rent a house in the USA from this city. We note that the problem of renting housing is one of the two most important challenges facing anyone who wants to settle in America. (The second is, of course, a job search.) You may have heard that everything is very cheap in the US - food, clothing, essential things. And indeed it is. It is often given as an example that by earning, say, 500 dollars a week, you can eat 20-30 dollars a day, and save the remaining money.
Less often in conversations are prices for rental housing. And in vain, because this item of expenditure can "eat" quite a significant part of your salary.
Let's start with the cheapest option - hostels or hostels in New York. The convenience of hostels is an affordable price - if you really try, you can find options from 100 dollars per week in New York (but it’s better to focus on $ 130-150). An additional plus is that you pay only one week in advance, and not one month (it is also possible to pay daily, which is less profitable). Sometimes you can arrange to live without a deposit. On this advantage, in fact, end. There are enough cons. You will have to share a room with at least three neighbors who, moreover, are constantly changing. In addition, hostels rarely have a decent luggage room - most often it’s just a common wardrobe, so you’ll have to constantly worry about the safety of your belongings. Also, there is no intelligible daily schedule in the hostels - some of your neighbors may like to regularly come at two in the morning. If you get a job that involves an early rise, and if you are quite sleepy, this will be a serious problem for you. Also, there is often a situation when in hostels there is no possibility of self-catering - at best, there will be only a microwave. This means that your expenses on food will increase significantly.
In general, hostels can be considered as some kind of intermediate option when you just arrived in the USA and did not have time to find a decent home yet. With the search, however, do not detain. New York is a city that eats money. And if you do not take care of quickly finding a normal accommodation, you can “get stuck” for a long time in one of these hostels.
When you first arrived and you still have a decent amount of money left - 2-3 thousands (great if more) dollars, hurry to find a good room. There are two options - a room in an ordinary American one- or two-story house, or a room in an apartment (or an entire apartment) in a high-rise building.
The first option most often operates according to the principle: Americans for Americans. The owners of houses, and this is quite natural, in New York are most often indigenous people. And they are quite suspicious of foreigners, in particular (we regret to admit this) to people from the CIS. In addition, meticulous Americans will surely require a lot of documents from you, including those confirming your emigration status and income level. If you, for example, arrived on a tourist visa and do not even have the right to work, then you will look like an unreliable tenant, which means you will most likely be denied. Pricing: from 800 dollars per month.
The second option is apartments in an apartment building, which very often come from people from the CIS and prefer their compatriots as residents.
Quite a lot of houses in the area of Brighton Beach, but also throughout Brooklyn and Queens. It is quite possible to find a person who will take you to himself without looking at your documents at all. But keep in mind that, unlike hostels, here you can not do without bail (security deposit). If you find a room in Brooklyn, say, for 1200 dollars per month, then you will likely have to pay a deposit immediately, equal to the monthly stay. Thus, you will need to pay 2400 dollars in a lump sum - the amount is quite impressive.
Where and how to look for housing in the US?
For New York (and for most other major US cities), thematic groups in social networks will be a good solution, where almost always special topics are created dedicated to renting housing. In New York, at any of the metro stations you can buy Russian newspapers, in which you definitely have offers for renting housing (you can also find work there).
Which areas to look for in New York? Despite the apparent diversity, more or less suitable area for the ratio of crime and housing prices - the southern part of Brooklyn up to Brighton Beach. The central districts of Brooklyn are mostly black ghettos. The same is true for most of Queens. The Staten Island area is good enough both in terms of price and crime, but extremely remote from the main part of New York, and therefore not very convenient for living. Manhattan is a fairly expensive district, but if you have a lot of money and everything is in order with the documents, then you can look after yourself with decent housing. In other cities, find out in advance exactly which areas belong to the ghetto (it is usually enough to ask any local resident) and, of course, bypass these areas.
Pay special attention to the fact that in many metropolitan areas of the United States (especially in New York) the situation with bedbugs and cockroaches is acute. If you are going to be settled in a particular room or apartment, try to find out why previous tenants moved out. If insects are to blame, then do not even think about entering, because you yourself will not last long in the new housing.
Also consider how far your home is from the nearest metro station - you may have to add a bus fare to the expense item.
The overall price situation in all major cities is quite simple. Closer to the center of the price will be higher, as the distance to the periphery - will fall. In the most criminal areas you will find the lowest prices for rental housing.
In the resort towns on the ocean coast, the cost of housing will be higher depending on availability to the ocean: the closer to the ocean, the more expensive. But the general price level in small towns is much lower than in large cities. So, in the resort towns of the state of New Jersey it is quite possible to find a good room in a house for 400-500 dollars per month. Therefore, if you are in search of the cheapest accommodation, pay attention to the province, and not to the major metropolitan areas of the United States.
