I am moving to NYC for grad school and only have a day and a half to tour apartments with my roommate. Is 1-2 days enough time to find an apartment for an August 1 move-in if we already have all our documents ready?
Yes, 1 to 2 days is enough time to find and secure an apartment, but only if you have a guarantor lined up and stick to standard rental buildings.
You can cross this worry off your list: successful NYC rentals actually happen in days, not weeks. A concentrated 1.5-day search is exactly how the market is designed to work, provided your paperwork is flawless before you arrive.
Having your standard documents ready is crucial, but it does not bypass the income requirements. In NYC, landlords require your household's annual gross income to be at least 40 times the monthly rent.
If you are a student and do not meet this benchmark, you will almost certainly need a guarantor. The guarantor must prove an annual income of at least 80 times the monthly rent.
You cannot bypass this by offering extra rent upfront. Under the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act (HSTPA) of 2019, landlords are legally prohibited from charging a security deposit greater than one month's rent. Because landlords can no longer take extra prepaid rent as a cushion, a qualified guarantor is their primary requirement.
