The residences at Domenico Vacca — one place to look for furnished apartments NYC.

For some New York residents, furnished apartments are the ticket. It may seem odd to live with furniture someone else owns, but if you want to bypass the hassles of moving or buying a whole home’s worth of stuff, furnished apartments NYC can be a great way to go. There’s a freedom that comes with not being tied to material items, and getting a furnished place is simply much more convenient, especially for those just arriving in New York.

If you’ve decided a furnished apartment is for you, there are a few things to consider beyond checking the “furnished” box on the StreetEasy search panel. Some neighborhoods offer many more furnished apartments than others. These neighborhoods are your best bet for finding furnished apartments for rent in NYC, as determined by listing data from 2018.

Top 10 Neighborhoods for Furnished Apartments NYC

* Number at time of publication.

For Furnished Apartments, Manhattan Is King

Manhattan reigns supreme when it comes to the availability of NYC furnished apartments. To make the most of your housing options, look above 34th Street — Midtown has the most available furnished listings, with 27.7 percent of its total available inventory listed as furnished. Hell’s Kitchen and Lenox Hill round out the top three. Also note that while other neighborhoods, such as Central Park South, did not have the most available furnished apartments, they still had a high percentage of them: 28.6 percent of the apartments in Central Park South were listed as furnished at the time of publication.

If you’re looking for a place in Brooklyn, Queens, or the Bronx, furnished apartments will be harder to find. Two Brooklyn neighborhoods managed to place within the top 20, though the numbers are not promising. Only 1.6 percent of Williamsburg listings are listed as furnished. Greenpoint had a higher percentage, at 5.2 percent, but less inventory overall than Williamsburg. A measly 0.5 percent of apartments in Astoria were listed as furnished.

A furnished Blueground apartment at at 101 W. 15th St. in Chelsea.

NYC Furnished Apartments Can Be Expensive

It is important to note that all of the top areas for furnished apartments NYC are fairly expensive, and most of them cater heavily to corporate housing. The median asking rent in Manhattan is $3,325 and the medians in these neighborhoods easily top that. Chelsea has a median asking rent of $4,035, while the Financial District median is $3,769. Furnished units may also come with additional fees for the use of the furniture, maid service, and move-out cleanings.

Not sticking around for a full year? This may complicate your search, but some companies cater to those needing a short-term lease or temporary corporate housing in a prime location. Blueground specializes in high-end rentals for professionals and leisure travelers, and offers prospective tenants flexible lease terms as long as they stay for at least 30 days. (A shorter length would violate NYC’s Multiple Dwelling law.)  These kinds of luxe accommodations are expensive, but still cheaper than an extended stay at a hotel, and potentially more convenient than a temporary home stay.

Need a Furnished Apartment on a Budget? Consider a Sublet

Those looking for a more affordable option, or wanting to find a furnished apartment outside of Manhattan, should consider a sublet or shacking up with roommates who have already furnished the place. If you’ve exhausted all of your leads through family and friends, consider using a sublet site like Flip, which connects users with others looking to have someone take over their lease or rent their space for an extended length of time. There are also apps like Roomi, which will help you find a roommate from within its verified community. While the units you get may not have fancy concierge services, they will likely be much more affordable way to get a furnished (or mostly furnished) apartment in NYC.
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