moving to Long Island, looking for inexpensive 2 bedroom apt.

Hi,

My wife and two year old are moving from Pittsburgh to Long Island because she got a job here. We have been living in a two bedroom apartment in Pittsburgh and were looking for something similar in Long Island too.

It looks like Long Island is at least twice as expensive as Pittsburgh and we are a little worried . I would greatly appreciate if anyone can help us find an apartment that is not too expensive.

Looking forward to joining the Long Island community.

Re: moving to Long Island, looking for inexpensive 2 bedroom apt.

What do you consider inexpensive? Do you have a budget in mind? Does it include utilities or not?

What area of Long Island do you need to be? Suffolk or Nassau? North or south shore? Where is the job?

There are generally not enough rentals to meet the demand on LI, and the inventory shortage has been exacerbated by the recent hurricane. Are you open to apartments in private homes, or do you only want an apartment in a building?

Also, do you have any pets? Pets can make it harder to find a rental, and if a landlord will accept a pet, they often ask for additional security deposit or a pet fee.

moving to Long Island, looking for inexpensive 2 bedroom apt.

We are looking for a place around the middle of Long Island, like Hauppage, Commack, or perhaps even Hicksville and Coram.

We are open to either buildings or homes. We have no pets.. our toddler is a handful right now. But we do not mind others having pets. But we prefer non smoking environments.

Cost-wise, let me just say that I cannot afford a brokers' fee .

Message edited 3/25/2013 3:02:42 PM.

Re: moving to Long Island, looking for inexpensive 2 bedroom apt.

A home will be cheaper than a building, most of the time. And Hicksville is in Nassau and the other towns you mention in Suffolk. The further east you go, the more affordable the housing. So you may want to focus on Suffolk (again, depends on where the job is).

Even without a broker's fee, you will still need 2-3 months rent upfront (depending on how much the broker's fee is).

Your best bet, if you want to avoid a broker's fee, is to look on Craig's list, but make sure you limit it to "by owner" listings. Many real estate agents advertise rental listings on Craig's list, too.

You can also call property management companies and inquire about rentals. Eagle Rock has several rental buildings on Long Island.

Re: moving to Long Island, looking for inexpensive 2 bedroom apt.

All of the apartments I've ever rented were from Craigslist. Try there first.

Each new rental we had to give first month's rent and one month's security - never two months security.

moving to Long Island, looking for inexpensive 2 bedroom apt.

Thank you Christine and Pomegranate for your responses.

We are looking at Craigslist as you suggested, but I have to admit that it has not been effective, primarily because most of the posts are by brokers.

longisland.craigslist.com does not provide the option to filter out brokers' postings. I know that other cities have that option.

I expect a refundable security deposit and the first month rent upfront.

I have also checked out zillo.com. If you have other suggestions, please share.

Re: moving to Long Island, looking for inexpensive 2 bedroom apt.

Where is your wife's job located?

You listed drastically different locations.

I do have a lot of connections to places (and private owners as well) because I'm a social worker and part of my job is finding housing for clients.

We try to avoid using brokers too because they have limited funding for that.

There are also many pros IMO to renting in a private home vs. living in a building/complex.

moving to Long Island, looking for inexpensive 2 bedroom apt.

Thank you for your response, Morning..

Well, I do not know the exact address yet , but I believe it is in the Commack area. I also tried to name the two furthest areas (Hicksville and Coram) from which she is willing to drive to work.

If you have anything for us, that'd be great.

Re: moving to Long Island, looking for inexpensive 2 bedroom apt.

Give me a day or so to get you some #s.

I also know that Home Properties is okay to work with as a management company. (You can google them---they have a website).

Not sure off the top of my head how many of them are over-55 though.

Eagle Rock is okay too but I personally would not recommend the complex in Carle Place (JMO) moreso because of the layout and lack of privacy.

I used to have a client and knew some people personally who lived in Southpoint in Massapequa, and thought it was nice.

Lastly, I would advise my worst enemy to stay far away from any Fairfield Property.

They are awful to deal with.

moving to Long Island, looking for inexpensive 2 bedroom apt.

Hi again Morning.. What a relief to be in touch with you... Thank you for your tips. I shall check out the managements online and try to get in touch during office hours.

Please do send me additional contacts when you can.

moving to Long Island, looking for inexpensive 2 bedroom apt.

I believe there used to be a wait list, but NPS Properties has a few small buildings, one in Lindenhurst, one in BayShore/Brightwaters, West Babylon, North Babylon... the rents were reasonable and tehy were pretty easy to deal with. We lived there for almost 5 years and they allowed us to break our lease without penalties when we had to relocate.

631-741-3977 or 631-991-7148 not sure which is right, I have both in myu phone

moving to Long Island, looking for inexpensive 2 bedroom apt.

thank you Tara. I shall follow up on it.

Re: moving to Long Island, looking for inexpensive 2 bedroom apt.

strange, you should be able to look up craigs list by owner only for apartments, I know i have searched that in the past. good luck!

moving to Long Island, looking for inexpensive 2 bedroom apt.

exactly JDubs.. I clearly remember doing that for Pittsburgh. I tried newyork and I can search by owner.. but I don't know how to do it for longisland.. strange indeed.

Re: moving to Long Island, looking for inexpensive 2 bedroom apt.

I found Pad Mapper very helpful while searching for an apt. It pulls all new listings from CraigsList and other apartment rental sites. You can also set it to email you new apts everyday too.
Good luck in your search!

Message edited 3/26/2013 11:15:13 AM.

moving to Long Island, looking for inexpensive 2 bedroom apt.

Thank you Cindy, it is a very interesting application.

Re: moving to Long Island, looking for inexpensive 2 bedroom apt.

Make sure you find out if utilities are included, and if not ask for a history of bills. Utilities are really expensive here as well.

Good luck

Re: moving to Long Island, looking for inexpensive 2 bedroom apt.

Try the pennysaver. I think they have online listings now

moving to Long Island, looking for inexpensive 2 bedroom apt.

tara, I call the #s you shared. The second one (631-991-7148) answered. They do not have anything available and suggested that I call back mid April.

It does not work for me, but thanks again for sharing.

moving to Long Island, looking for inexpensive 2 bedroom apt.

Morning... I have called several of the managers at Home Properties. They were very cordial and understanding when I told them most of the prices were above my financial situation right now. But I think I might be able to work with a few 1 bedrooms and will be calling back to schedule a visit some time this week.

I'm still looking for a 2 bedroom though. I have a feeling home apartments will give me a lower price for the same space.

moving to Long Island, looking for inexpensive 2 bedroom apt.

Good tips. Thanks MegZee and DRMom

Re: moving to Long Island, looking for inexpensive 2 bedroom apt.

Just an FYI....in the areas that you're looking, a 2br will most likely be anywhere from $1400 - $2000/month.

You may want to also look into Fairfield and Heatherwood Communities. They are a little more then a private home rental but are very nice developments and include a lot of extra amenities.

Re: moving to Long Island, looking for inexpensive 2 bedroom apt.

Message edited 3/26/2013 12:19:37 PM.

Re: moving to Long Island, looking for inexpensive 2 bedroom apt.

Cindy, thats the trend for building apartments I have noticed. If that included heating and electricity and Internet, I could manage it.

Anyway..

moving to Long Island, looking for inexpensive 2 bedroom apt.

Thanks tourist, thats wonderful. And I'll check out the West Babylon ad too.