Hi Members,
Needed some information regarding New york & new jersey apartments for rental purposes.

1) What area would be good to rent in those 2 areas, we are a family of 4 with 2 kids. Should have good public school for my 5 years old and also Indian groceries close by.
2) Where to search for appartments on the net.
3) What could be the montly rental charges for 1BR and 2 BR.
4) Do they ask for 1st and last month rent. What documents do they ask for we are moving from toronto.

Abhishek

Depends on where you will be working. Will you be working in NYC?

If so, there are many places in northern and central NJ with train access to NYC in about an hour through NJ transit. Edison is predominantly an Indian area, about 45 mins by NJ transit to NYC. Princeton has excellent schools - an hour's train commute to NYC. I have many friends there who would live nowhere else.

Similarly with Parsippany, Randolph etc. Used to live in a nice apartment complex in Randolph - Gateways at Randolph (http://www.valuegroup.com/res_randolph.asp).
Plenty of desi families there. There is a subzi mandi not too far from there. You will find lot of desi stores everywhere in NJ & NY.

I would avoid Newark and Jersey City areas.

Monthly rents in NJ for 1 BR are usually around $900-1000, 2BRs a couple hundred more.

Or if you want to live in NY, you have some good areas in Queens (rather crowded, IMO) and Long Island. Most apartments in Queens don't have enough parking space. The commute to work is about the same as from NJ, though. Long island is better, but maybe too far. It all depends on where exactly you will work.

Thanks jughead for your reply, I hope to be working around manhattan. In that sense Long Island could be the good option. Do you know the rentals in long island/jackson heights. Is it in the same price range $1000 - $1300 or ridiculouly high.

Also do you know if we could take our 2003 Honda Accord accros the border, how much would it cost us.

Hi Abhishek,

If you're going to be working in Manhattan, I would recommend NJ (more because I lived there for 5 years). It is more family-friendly than most parts of NYC, IMO.

As for Jackson Heights (it is in Queens), it has a lot of desi shops and restaurants - it is right by the subway. I wouldn't recommend living there. It's good for shopping and eating out. That's it.

Some parts of Long Island (Nassau county) are connected to NYC by the LIRR (Long Island Railroad). If you live further apart, you will have to endure a long commute.

Check out rent.net for rentals. If considering NJ, check out nj.com. You will find all ads for rentals.

Also you can look at njtransit.com for NJ train routes to NYC, and lirr.com for Long Island train routes info.

I don't mean to say that NYC is bad, there are many good areas in Queens and Brooklyn, but most parts in NYC are either more expensive, crowded or unsafe compared to many other parts of NJ.

Yes, a rent of $1000-$1500 is about what you will have to pay for a 2-BR apartment in a decent area in NJ, and most parts of Long Island as well. The farther you move from New York City, the lower it gets. Don't take my word. Just do your research as well, on these websites.

Thanks jughead,

These are so much valuable information that you have provided. Also let me know the Car insurance company to go for, do insurance company takes the driving records from canada and give some discounts. How much are the insurance costs yearly.

Also how is the weather in Jan and feb, similar to what we have in Toronto or a bit milder.