How to find the best affordable housing in New York City

If you think "affordable housing in New York City" is an oxymoron, unfortunately, you're right. We get it: you're a student or maybe an intern, but either way your income makes finding a place to live in an expensive rental market even more difficult. No doubt finding student housing in NYC is a challenge. The first step is to alter your thinking, lower your expectations a little bit. Maybe you don't have views of Central Park (or windows to the outside world). You might end up having to walk up eight flights of stairs or figure out how to squeeze all your belongings into a room smaller than your closet. Chances are you'll end up living in a different neighborhood than you might like. In this town, if it's clean and affordable you're doing great.

Think about it this way: your adventure starts here. Open your mind (and your checkbook) and get ready to experience something completely different than you might have expected. With the right attitude, a little planning, and a lot of determination, finding affordable student housing in New York City isn't as bad as you might think. You just have to know a few tricks and soon you'll have a forwarding address in the Big Apple. Start your housing search in New York City here http://www.studenthousing.org/what-we-offer/students

Share the Burden: It's much easier to find an apartment to share than to rent. In NYC there are normal leases (rented from the owner of the property) and subleases (rented from the holder of the lease) like everywhere else. But there's also the short-term share, where two or more individuals rent space for varying lengths of time. A share can be either long-term or short-term. For example, a student is studying abroad but doesn't want to pay rent for the six months they're away and they definitely don't want to give up their coveted apartment, they might be willing to work something out on a reasonable rate for a short-term share. It's a great way to go if you're doing an internship in New York and looking for something short term. But it's also a good way to get your foot in the door, any door, until you can find something more permanent.

Word of Mouth: Unfortunately, the best places, the ones that are affordable and decent, often aren't advertised. A substantial number of New Yorkers find their units through friends, relatives, and co-workers. If you're looking for an apartment, make sure everyone and anyone you know knows that you're looking (easier thanks to social networking sites like Facebook). It's never too early to start networking, especially when you're looking for student housing in NYC. You can also find many more resources for student housing in New York City at http://www.studenthousing.org

Classified Ads: Looking in the paper might be an obvious choice for any other city, but what makes finding affordable student housing in NYC unique is there are a lot more people looking to get a bite out of The Big Apple. That means more newspapers and more resources for listings. Craigslist (http://newyork.craigslist.org/) really is one of the most effective sites for a lot of reasons: It's the most current and offers a comprehensive housing search section with a wide variety of search options, from rooms for rent to housing swap listings. Housing swap is an excellent option if you are planning to spend a finite amount of time in NYC and are moving from another city where rentals are hard to come by (San Fran, LA, Boston). The Village Voice, The New York Times and The New York Press (www.nypress.com) are all good resources, but you have to be ready to jump as listings move fast. Also try The Loot, a classified ad bargain newspaper with one of the most comprehensive listings of affordable housing in New York City.

Broke or Broker: If you're a student looking for affordable housing in NYC, chances are you won't be able to afford a real estate broker. A cheaper online option is New York Habitat. For a fee 50% of one month's rent (of whatever apartment you wind up renting, with a minimum of $300), New York Habitat will connect people needing to share apartments with people needing apartments. The additional cost is well worth the time and effort it takes to pour over pages and pages of classified ads. It also provides a mediator who can deal with the riff-raff so you don't have to.