Best strategy to find an affordable apartment?

Submitted by faelady8080 t3_109zr0o in newhaven

Hi! I'm trying to move to New Haven in late Feb/early March. I saw a lot of cautions about management companies to avoid, but I'd love to hear about the good strategies!

I'm looking for a studio/1bdm closeish to Yale under $1500 (preferably under 1300 tbh). Are there good sites to be looking at or other community resources? So far I've seen the best reviews from renting from Seabury and Topliff, but Seabury is pretty pricey.

Any help is appreciated!

(And yes, I know to avoid MandyManagement, Ocean, Pike, Farnam, Paris, and Urban Haven.)

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Songolo t1_j416nbk wrote

Almost all small landlords post on Craigslist.

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saltNpepasNeggs t1_j422eed wrote

This has reduced over the past few years due to the rampant scams on craigslist that target both property owners and prospective renters (including stolen photos/listing details). Craigslist's fraud team seems to be MIA.

Facebook marketplace has replaced Craigslist for many small landlords.

Zillow and apartments.com.

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kezzwithak t1_j41ffcm wrote

Work with a realtor. Costs you nothing. Melanie Gunn at Seabury Hill was wonderful in helping me find a rental a few years ago and I was so impressed I’m working with her on buying my first house. Also check out their website they have listings.

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Parking-Corgi6793 t1_j41fq2k wrote

Also cannot stress enough how wonderful Melanie Gunn was when I was looking at rentals! So patient and knowledgeable!

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crisptortia t1_j42d7gz wrote

My partner and I moved to NH last month from Denver and we used Seabury Hill Realtors—like a lot of others have in this sub. We managed to find a rental in literally a day, but had to give up on the idea of living directly downtown. We live in Westville, about 15-20mins from downtown on the bus.

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buried_lede t1_j42n8dj wrote

Will you be Yale affiliated? Yale has lists of apartments. Check their websites. Also, there are Yale groups that share apartments lists, like International postgrads. Ask around, I don’t have a link as it’s been many years. The Yale Reddit sub might know. And not all the Yale lists are Yale exclusive.

Also some people advertise their rentals on Facebook marketplace

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nejibashi t1_j41sk4x wrote

I found my amazing, small landlord on Zillow Rentals around this time last year. Worth checking out.

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ashleysea t1_j441e4o wrote

Topliff is GARBAGE. We had soo many problems with them during our two years there. From a window breaking (not due to us, it was open in the summer and then just fell and smashed) in November and not being fixed until mid January to the literal wasps that were in our wall that they did shit about (we had to pay for an exterminator because they had the handyman (who was awesome) use a foam that trapped them in the wall causing dead wasps to rain from the walls and ceilings)… I would NEVER. There were so many other issues. Our upstairs neighbors had a squirrel literally bust through their wall and their solution was to install a metal square over the wall. This was 34 Trumbull St. Loved that apartment but Dave and all the other topliff guys can fuck themselves.

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forgotmapasswrd86 t1_j41j75e wrote

If you're willing to spend 1300 for a studio, look at other towns unless transportation is a big issue. You'll get better options.

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HartfordResident t1_j41rg53 wrote

All of the other towns are pretty "meh" though if you're looking to live in a walkable urban environment. Personally I'd rather find a roommate than have to live out in Branford or Meriden or something.

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flytweed t1_j4238an wrote

Uh New Haven is where it’s at so OP u have the right idea!

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ashleysea t1_j441y6c wrote

OH. And when we moved in on august 1 of 2020, most of the previous tenant’s things were still there. I’m talking mattresses, desks, chairs, kitchen table and chair set. We reached out and they never answered so we had to move it all out ourselves. Then they eventually answered and said they’d have someone clear the junk away. They took a few things and then the rest sat rotting in the backyard for 2 more years. I have so many more stories. This post just unleashed years worth of rage lol do not do it!!

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da-ha-la t1_j43kmxl wrote

PMC might be the closest to your price range of the bigger property groups. They have properties in downtown and Wooster Square. They’re pretty middle of the road in terms of property groups in New Haven, not the worst, but also not the best.

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ihgordonk t1_j443t7p wrote

i stayed at olive street for several years and enjoyed it. agree, not the worst, not the best.

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littleA1xo t1_j43r79w wrote

avoid mandy management like the plague

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spatcherlongdog t1_j44atrh wrote

I found a small landlord who is just a random guy who owns a house and it was the best decision I’ve made regarding housing in New Haven. You can find a lot of these people on FB marketplace, but please be wary of people who look like small landlords but are terrible management companies.

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Boomertlive4ever t1_j44yvlu wrote

Try Elm City Property management.. East Rock Neighborhood mostly.. Coumo Family. Amsterdam Aptm, many other's..

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eclaireg t1_j45n1b4 wrote

Look up C.A. White on Chapel St. Their two buildings the Traymore and Campus View tend to have 1 bedrooms in your budget range (if they have any openings)

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eclaireg t1_j45n5jk wrote

Just saw two other people also recommend CAW— glad they’re so well known! They are a great family owned company.

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dslicex t1_j423zd1 wrote

Ditto on what someone else said about Facebook. I found mine very luckily on Craigslist though

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Catlady_1001 t1_j436288 wrote

900 chapel might have some apartments starting 1600ish. DM if you want to know about the building

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