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Comment by sak84 | Hacker News Reader

I do live (fort greene) and work (manhattan) in NYC. You should never use broker's though, they're a waste of money. It does take a little work to find a good deal, but you definitely can if you look early enough.

Overall, I would agree. NJ seems to have the most cheap places.

Great point about 45 commute just inside Manhattan.

EDIT: I live in fort greene and I pay 735 a month -- for validation purposes.

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Avoiding broker fees is a bit easier said than done IMO. I suppose it's much easier if you already live in the city. But if you're moving to NYC and only have a limited time to find an apartment, it's hard to avoid.

"I live in fort greene and I pay 735 a month -- for validation purposes."

With roomates or 1BR/Studio?

2BR (straight up, not flex) 1.5 bath. I live with one other person.

Wow, where in Fort Greene? That's pretty incredible.

Brokers seem like a good deal because they would be if they did their job. If a broker could get you a 10% better place, or 10% cheaper rent (which we'll consider equivalent) then a broker would be paid off in a year and a half (New York brokers typically charge 10-17% of a year's rent, for the uninitated). However, they start you off on miserable apartments, often play bait-and-switch games with nice ones that "just happen" to get taken before your application clears, and stop taking your calls after 5 or 6 showings-- God forbid they do some actual work to earn that commission. This makes them essentially worthless.

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