where is $1500 1br apt in williamsburg?

The cheapest 1 bedroom in Williamsburg that I have seen (and I have friends who live there and really looked) was about $1900 and it's not in new construction. Even if new construction is over the bridge, you still pay a premium for it. Many of my friends in your price range gave up on the Williamsburg/Greenpoint area and moved farther out. My suggestion - ditch the new construction or try somewhere else.

oh and just to clarify - I am referring to real 1 bedrooms, not junior 1's. Junior 1's in older construction can sometimes be found for well under $1900 in those areas.

I just did a search for you on the OLR and I found 5 apartments in Billyburg $1200-$1700. You need an income 40 times the rent amount (e.g. $60,000 for a $1500 apartment) and good credit to get in.

None are new construction buildings, most are studios, there's one 1 bedroom, and there are recent renovations on the list. Most pay a commission to the broker so you shouldn't have to pay a fee.

I don't know who "People" are, but it really doesn't matter what anybody says.

All the matters is supply and demand.

A lot of people, you and me included, really like Williamsburg. And there aren't that many properties available at your price point, so the demand keeps price up.

The other thing is, taxes and other fixed costs haven't gone down for landlords. Some will wait quite a while before signing somebody at a loss or at too low of a profit.

So yes, if you don't like studios and want new and pretty you are asking too much. You will need to compromise somewhere.

{Manhattan real estate agent.}

actually my price budget is up to $3000 for 1 or 2 bedrooms and it is still cheaper than what I am paying in manhattan. I like a particular building and "people" from brownstoner were very skeptical about the price. They seem to know what they are talking about. They know the apt and its amenities and they came up with $1500 rental rate. It is my first time to be in brooklyn and I don't want to make a mistake - over paying for what it is worth. So what do you think the market value (I mean the equilibrium of supply and demand, not LL's asking price) of apts in williamsburg or greenpoint?

are you looking only around bedford?

around the lorimer/graham ave stop, I see new construction 1br's for around 2200-2400 which I still think is high. I think $2000 or so is probably fair.

$1500/1br would be for an older building, probably no washer/dryer/dishwasher. In the middle range, you can find some decent new renovations and might get lucky with something you like (not too many full service buildings though).

okmijn666, even among new construction, there can be enough differences to really impact rental prices, so don't be surprised to find that a lower price doesn't necessarily mean a better deal (or a higher price means a better apartment either!). If you're looking in East Williamsburg or Bushwick (and I'm not too familiar with the pricing there, honestly), a pretty bare-bones new construction 1BR might be found for $1500, but as others have said here, I don't think that's feasible for anything around Bedford or Lorimer. You might have better luck in Greenpoint as well. However, I'll say that if you're in no rush, there's a lot of new rental stock coming to Williamsburg in the next 12 or so months (see: corner of North 12th and Berry), which will keep prices flat at best.

fyi - people on Brownstoner basically HATE williamsburg. most also hate new buildings. i like both! just do your own real leg work. the rental market is pretty strong in WB for west of the BQE. try around lorimer or graham - it's great and there's still easy access to the L and lots of amenities. for super cheap and new, you might have to compromise on a different location further east and/or south.

On my first day of apartment-seeking in Williamsburgh, I got out of the subway at Bedford Avenue and asked a bum (this was a real one, the precursor to every one of todays' hipsters and ho-beaux) which way I should go to find an apartment. He pointed "that way", and I gave him the dime he asked for (Brooklyn was cheaper than Manhattan). On North 8th between Berry and Wythe, I asked a woman who was sweeping the sidewalk if she know of any apartments for rent. She pointed across the street several houses down, and I talked to the man and woman perched in the two ground-floor windows, Howdy Doody Show -style. At first they hemmed and hawed, and then said maybe I'd like to rent the second floor rear apartment. When I recoiled at the monthly rent they were asking, one of them said "Is $250 too much?" I agreed that it was not.

So try that to find the apartment you want. Plus it's the only nice block in the whole Greater Williamsburgh area.

LOL. You rock, alanhart.