When you start looking for an apartment, you can start with Web sites that list apartments in Westchester County.  The Westchester Board of Realtors offers a link to a database of available rental apartments as well as homes, condominiums and co-operatives. The county newspaper, The Journal News, offers classified listings.  You can access the national database of available rental apartments, where you'll find listing of apartments, condominiums and town homes.  This site offers free e-mail alerts for new availabilities and contains up to six photographs for each listing.  The Penny Saver offers listings online as well as through their free publication. Most of these are apartments being offered by the owner of the property without broker representation. Many apartments listed are located in homes and are commonly called “accessory apartments."

Is there an organization that can help me find an apartment?
Not-for-profit housing organizations do exist and provide useful information on the rental market. Visit the Westchester Residential Opportunities Web site to learn about rental listings and to get an idea of rental ranges.

WRO can provide many valuable resources for your search, such as:

• Listings of available apartments
• Reports on advertised rent amounts with analysis and commentary
• An e-mail address to inquire about housing assistance

What is an average rent in Westchester?
Rents in Westchester vary widely so any average can be misleading.  The local Section 8 office of the Department of Housing and Urban Development lists the following 2007 Fair Market Rents for apartments in Westchester as:

• $1,000 for a studio
• $1,200 for a 1 bedroom
• $1,395 for a 2 bedroom
• $1,680 for a 3 bedroom

You will find asking rents above and below these numbers.

What is the right rent for me? 
A good first step for you is to determine a budget for rent payments. Housing can be an expensive item in a family or individual’s budget.  Also budget for unexpected shortfalls or interruptions or reductions in income so you will be able to make your rent with no trouble.

Is there any standard for budgeting my rent payments?
It is generally accepted that rent payments should be about 30% of your gross income.  It may be a challenge to balance this against the asking rents you do find.  You have to determine carefully what you can afford.

Is there a central list of rental properties?
No. You will want to take advantage of the web sites listed above. Additionally, Westchester County does publish a Multi-Family Housing Listing  which lists 3,830 buildings and residential complexes. The multi-family properties list details rental buildings as well as condominiums, cooperatives and government subsidized. While the booklet was published in 2000, it is still relevant.