Just out of curiosity, how much rent do you pay? I live in Frankfurt Germany and find rent pretty expensive here, but i can't imagine how expensive midtown Manhattan must be.

Market rate for something like dr_ described (only a few blocks to subways and Central Park) is probably ~$2400 for a studio, ~$2900 for a junior one bedroom, ~$3200 for a one bedroom, assuming not poor shape (at least dishwasher) but not luxury. Probably an elevator (there aren't many walkups that close to the park). More for a doorman.

You can get cheaper if you go significantly towards the rivers (for example west of 10th ave) at the cost of a more industrial feel and longer walk to transit and the park. Those buildings would also be more walkups.

Perhaps you can find a deal as a roommate if you know people as one of the other posters said, but if you're looking for a whole apartment and don't have connections that's the ballpark.

Also, it's very hard to get a sense of how cheap the market goes from looking online because chances are there's a catch or the listing isn't real. NY listings tend to lie outright (1BD is actually a convertible studio, etc).

Source: lived a few blocks from Columbus Circle last year.

> * assuming not poor shape (at least dishwasher) *

Everyone's definition of "poor shape" is different. I do not mind washing dishes at all; I'd rather save a hundred bucks a month in rent than have a dishwasher.

Midtown is not particularly expensive (for Manhattan). It's on par with Upper West Side, and cheaper than many neighborhoods downtown.

http://www.mns.com/manhattan_rental_market_report

Not OP, but you can expect to start at about $1500 a month for a studio apartment (maybe cheaper if you find a damn good deal). If you want a one bedroom, $2000/month is probably closer.

I am extremely dubious of this claim. $1500 in midtown? Maybe way uptown (Harlem, etc.)

I will give you $5K cash if you can get me a decent 1 br in the 20s for $1500.

even if you own just the condo fees will run $1500

I don't know what kind of situation you're in, but people cannot generally go and rent real, not-falling apart 1BRs in the the 20s for anywhere near $1500.

> start at about $1500 a month for a studio

I'm not a New Yorker but I'm having a very hard time believing this. Poking around online I get the strong sense any non-roommate living space at all in Manhattan is going to be very well over $2000.

If your only avenue to finding an apartment is Craigslist, then most likely. But once you've lived in NYC for a while and have a group of friends who've lived there a while, it's not difficult to find good deals (especially if you're patient and don't need to move in a hurry). It's just like searching for a job, sometimes the best job openings are never advertised outside a small subset of people.

I've lived in NYC since 2003, including in the UES, EV, Harlem, Lefferts Gardens, and now Woodside.

I have absolutely no idea how I'd go about finding a $1500 studio anywhere in Manhattan south of 96th street, much less in the 20s. Maybe you can find an illegal apartment in a basement with a hot plate instead of a stove or something, but that's about it.

There are people are grandfathered in to all kinds of sweetheart rent stabilized / mitchell lama / etc. deals but that takes more than having a group of friends and keeping your ears to the ground. That's the equivalent to winning the lotto.

I've been here since 2004 and have lived in a one bedroom in the West Village for $1700, a one bedroom in the East Village for 1750, a one bedroom in Cobble Hill for 1500, a huge 3 bedroom share in Harlem which my share was 900, a one bedroom with a dining room and a backyard as big as the apartment for 1900 in Carroll Gardens, a luxury building in mid-town for 3500 and a two bedroom share in Greenpoint in which my share was 1200.

East Village, Downtown, and Harlem were sublets I was renting while bouncing back and forth between NYC and Oklahoma while my father and mother were going through illnesses and traveling alot for work, the others I left because I wanted more space, to be closer to certain neighborhoods or because the new apt was better than the last.

None were illegal shares, none were rent controlled, one was rent stabilized, and all were very nice.

I don't doubt that you could find an apartment for $1500 in Chelsea in 2006. Back then Chelsea was a significantly different place. The high line hadn't opened yet, google wasn't there, the stroller crowd hadn't moved in yet.

By the same token, I also don't doubt you could find a decent share where your half would be $1500 south of 96th street today, maybe even in the 20s somewhere.

Neither of those are a studio in the 20s for $1500 in 2015. If that exists, I wish I knew the secret handshake.

In other words, it's all your own fault!

Nope, it's an inefficient real estate market with an affinity for bait and switch plus hidden points of entry.

I don't like the NYC real estate market, personally it's the reason I'm most likely to leave. But I've found great places and friends of mine have found great places; places many of the other commenters say don't exist, and I found these through friends and friends of friends. The longer I've been here, the easier it has come to find places I like that I can afford because I'm not relying on points of entry most likely to be scams or misleading.

the numbers provided by deet are accurate for rentals in midtown.