New York City apartment rentals,Requirements for renting in Manhattan, NYC

The rental apartment search can be a frustrating experience. Collected on this page are articles that cover NY properties, the search, types of available leases as well as documents you should prepare before you set out to find a new home.

Essential numbers

There are about 825,000 apartments in Manhattan. Approximately 70% of that number are rental units, the other 30% are owner- occupied. In the market that has a 1% vacancy, that means that there are around 5,800 units available for rent in all of Manhattan.

Here is a breakdown by number of bedrooms:

Studio 150,000    19%
1br - 327,000      41%
2br - 223,000      28%
3br - 74,000         9%
4br - 16,000         2%
5br+ - 6,000         1%

Search Process Simplified Documents and Requirements

Looking for a new apartment in New York can be a frustrating experience. To avoid wasting the time and money, stay organized and break down your search into individual steps:

1. decide on how much rent can you afford.

To rent an apartment in New York, you will have to meet certain financial requirements. Manhattan landlords are more demanding than the ones in New York's other boroughs. They expect applicants to have good credit history, have a steady job and earn 40 or more times the rent in their annual income. To use this formula as a guideline, divide your annual gross income (before bonus) by 40 and you will have the maximum amount of rent you can qualify for. If you want to spend more on monthly rent, be prepared to put down advanced rent payments, a bigger security deposit or have a guarantor co-sign a lease. (For more information, see our 'Requirements, Documents and Funds' article.)

2. prepare documents and funds.

New York landlords work mostly on a first-come-first-serve basis. When you find the apartment you are looking for, your new landlord will ask you to submit the application and necessary paperwork and, upon approval, sign the lease and turn in the first month's rent and the security deposit. The amount of security may vary but will equal at least equal one month's rent. Have those funds available in your checking account to avoid losing the place you worked hard to find. For more information on necessary paperwork, please see our Documents and Requirements article on the right.

When renting an apartment in New York, you should expect to pay at minimum, one month's rent and the same amount in security deposit. Landlords place security deposits into separate bank accounts and tenants collect interest on them. Security deposit is usually kept until tenant vacates the apartment and it usually can not be used as a payment of rent.

Manhattan landlords are more demanding and look for a tenant that makes at least 40 times the monthly rent in annual income ($60,000 for a $1,500 per month apartment). Tenant should also be at same job for more than a year and have a credit that shows no or few late payments and no outstanding issues (charge offs or collections).

To prove the income, most landlords require a Letter of Employment. It should bear company's logo, show employees position, starting date and guarantied annual compensation. In addition, unless it is a new job, application package should include 2 most recent pay stubs. Self employed applicants typically prove their income by presenting last two federal tax returns.

If the income, length of employment or credit do not meet the requirements, most Manhattan landlords will require larger security deposit, sometimes as much as 6 monthly rents. In case of no credit history at all, a year's rent up front can be required.

Most landlords accept guarantors to co-sign the lease. Guarantor's income should to be about or over 80 times the monthly rent for the apartment you are applying for. Usually, guarantor will need to fill out an application and present front and signature pages of one or last two federal tax returns. Guarantor would ideally be from a Tri-State area (New York, Connecticut, New Jersey) but there are still some landlords still work with guarantors from anywhere in the U.S.

We know the areas, the buildings, the landlords, the streets, and the schools. Short Term rentals in Manhattan only. Hundreds of Manhattan apartments for sale or for rent, and in Bayside Queens, Great Neck, Douglaston, New York City apartment rentals and nyc co-ops and nyc condos in the West Village, East Village, Soho, Upper East Side and Gramercy Park. Our MLS inventory of Manhattan, new york city condos and new york city o-ops, and homes for sale throughout Manhattan, Queens, Great Neck and Port Washington list more than anyone on the web. Call for availability and showing. THIS WEB SITE IS DEDICATED TO "QUEENS" AND "Manhattan, NYC" co-ops, conods, rentals, and homes. WE NOW HAVE THE LARGEST INVENTORY OF QUEENS COOPS, CONDOS, AND HOMES AND RENTALS THAN ANYONE ON THE WEB. WHEN YOU'RE LOOKING FOR AN APARTMENT IN MANHATTAN, NEW YORK CITY, OR IN BAYSIDE QUEENS, GREAT NECK, DOUGLASTON, LOOK NO FURTHER! GeoffreyStevens has your NYC, Queens and Great Neck apartments, nyc condos, nyc co-ops and homes when you need them. We have the perfect solution for your move. We are the premier New York City Apartment Rentals and sales specialists throughout Manhattan, Queens and Great Neck. Some apartment rentals are no fee rentals, and some are low fee rentals. Apartments for rent in New York City have never been better for our tenants. Our apartment rentals in New York City and Queens NY specializes in residential rentals and real estate sales in brownstones, co-ops, condos and elevatored doorman buildings on the upper westside, upper eastside, lower westside, downtown and midtown. There are thousands of apartments for rent in Manhattan and we do our best to find the perfect NY apartment for you. We also offer a full line of short-term furnished apartments for rent. When it's time for your rental apartment corporate sublets, building sales and relocation information for personal or business, we're the company you can count on for your NYC apartment for rent. Some of our apartments for rent in NYC are low and no fee rentals. Our New York real estate brokers are experienced, ready to assist you to make your apartment rental transaction a pleasureable experience.