By Kim Velsey
Of the many new arrivals who pour into New York City each spring with new degrees, new jobs, or simply new life plans, Patrick Laflamme thought that he would be in a fairly good position to find an apartment.
A graduate student in cognitive psychology moving from Vancouver, British Columbia, to take a job with an investment bank, Mr. Laflamme had experience with competitive housing markets — “the Vancouver rental market is pretty aggressive: you go to see a listing and there are 40 people lined up outside” — and he was accustomed to spending a large percentage of his income on rent.
“And I wasn’t too picky. I just didn’t want to be more than a half-hour from the financial district,” said Mr. Laflamme, 24, who set what seemed a reasonable budget of about $2,000 a month for a one-bedroom or large studio in Manhattan. “Rental agents don’t really exist in Vancouver; you just kind of make it work. I figured that’s what I would do in New York, too.”
But several weeks of looking on Craigslist turned up only bait-and-switch scenarios, studios sneakily shot from angles that made them look like one-bedrooms and suspiciously beautiful apartments in Midtown managed by out-of-state companies without a New York address.
“I’d read on some blogs that you should get an agent if you’re not from New York, but I had been a skeptic,” Mr. Laflamme said. “Finally, I got one. Unless you have connections in the city, the barrier to entry is high.”
Even for renters accustomed to complex housing markets, finding an apartment in New York can be daunting. Many first-time renters arrive in the city braced for small, expensive apartments, but few are prepared for just how small and expensive.
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