Moving to NYC
Moving to NYC: apartment hunt checklist
Moving to New York City for the first time is a paperwork sport. The apartment hunt starts weeks before your lease — not the weekend before your flight.
Six weeks out
Gather pay stubs, bank statements, tax returns, employer letter, and references. If income is tight, line up a guarantor early.
Pick target neighborhoods by commute, not just Instagram — test the subway ride at rush hour if you can.
Three weeks out
Run parallel searches: brokered apartments on StreetEasy, rooms and sublets on Facebook, Craigslist for wildcards.
Use one board with shared filters so you are not rebuilding the same search in four apps.
Week of the move
Book tours in clusters by neighborhood. Bring checks or know how you will pay deposit same-day if you get an offer.
Keep Stoophunt alerts on until you sign — last-minute rooms and takeovers still appear.