Please know when you are ready to proceed and lease an apartment; being armed with the necessary paperwork is important. All major landlords and owners/investors pretty much require the same things; and its some combination of the below documents.
Being overprepared is always better - especially if you end up renting from an investor, since condos and co-ops tend to require more paperwork. Keep in mind – landlords require you to earn somewhere between 40-50x the monthly rent in guaranteed income (bonuses are not counted). They prefer one person to be the leaseholder – but can combine if necessary.
Employment Verification Letter. This letter must be recently written, and on company letterhead and state name, title, base salary and bonus structure. Any and all guaranteed allowances should be mentioned.
Bank Statements (two months of both checking and savings).
Last two years tax returns (first two pages) with W-2 or 1099 forms attached. If you were not paid in the US a foreign equivalent of this will suffice.
Landlord reference letter. This letter must be on the landlords’ letterhead and state your name, address, length of tenancy and that you were good tenants and paid your rent on time.
Verification of any other assets (401K, stock accounts etc).
Government issued Photo ID
Rental Types
RENTAL PROPERTY
When you rent an apartment in a straight rental building what this means is that every single apartment in the building is a rental unit. The building is managed by a management company that manages the entire building. You will pay your rent to the management company monthly.
The process to apply for a rental property is rather simple and much of it can be done online. You fill out an application, submit some backup documentation and within a few days you will be signing leases and approved. It’s a very streamlined process and is most certainly the quickest.
CONDOMINIUM RENTALS
When you rent an apartment in a condominium, you are renting directly from an investor that owns the apartment. A condominium is managed by a board of managers that manage the building and each rental that happens in the building needs to be approved by the board of managers.
The process from viewing a condo until move-in can easily be thirty days based on this process since you will need to fill out a board application which can be quite cumbersome. That being said, once the owner of the apartment approves you as his/her tenant, which often happens very quickly, the apartment is yours, but we would just need to adhere to the perfunctory process of submitting the board application. Also, with a condo, you are never guaranteed a renewal since you never know if the owner has other plans for the space. You will always be protected by your lease agreement.
CO-OP RENTALS
Co-op transactions are very similar to condo rentals. These types of buildings are also managed by a board of directors and you will be expected to submit a board application. The main difference is co-ops reserve the right to interview all potential rental candidates and this interview date is rarely at a time that is convenient for the renter, but at a time that is convenient for the board. They always happen in the evening which is helpful.
Housing Questionaire
** Here in Manhattan landlords use a very simple equation to qualify their tenants.
They will take all of your guaranteed income and divide this number by 45 and that is the rental amount you qualify for. Guaranteed income is anything that can be verified in writing by your employer. Performance based income is not considered. Housing allowances are simply added to your guaranteed income and put into the qualification equation.
For instance, if you earn a guaranteed $200,000 / 45 = $4444 would be the rental number you qualify for. Using this equation - what is your comfort zone? Of course I will stick to your budget but knowing this information is important when representing you here in Manhattan.
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