New York Habitat Blog

After sharing with you some tips to determine if you are dealing with a legitimate company or agent before choosing an apartment,  this week we wanted to show you how to spot clues that the apartment you are looking to rent may be a fake.

Rental scams are on the rise, so it is more important than ever to look into the person or company that you are dealing with and make sure they are legitimate. Here are a few things to look out for:

New York Apartment: 2-bedroom vacation rental in Greenwich Village (NY-9572) photo

1)    Is there a legitimate company name on the contract that you can investigate further? : We have seen many fake contracts with “company names” like “Charming and Cozy Apartment in Time Square” or “1br-Beautiful Option for Hotels”. Those are not business names; they are lifted straight out of a rental ad!

2)    You are receiving communications from multiple email addresses or names: If the email address contains a company domain name (the part just after the @ symbol in the email) you can look up the company to get more information on them.

3)    There are errors in the rental dates or prices quoted: Most scammers cannot be bothered to take the time to change the details for every scam or they are scamming so many people that they become confused themselves. That is a major red flag!

4)    The directions to the apartment don’t make sense: Google Map the address and see if the directions you have been given are legitimate. Many scammers don’t know the area and have no idea how to get to the apartment. A legitimate rental agency or broker will know the best way  to get to the apartments they are listing.

5)    The wording of the contract or communication from the agent or company is awkward or has spelling or grammatical mistakes: It may also have numerous repetitions or contradictions within it. Legitimate companies and brokers will have professionals reviewing their contracts to make sure there are no spelling or grammatical errors.

New York Apartment: 1-bedroom rental in Fort Greene, Brooklyn (NY-12503) photo

If you show up at your destination and realize you have been scammed: Read the entire story here… »

So, you’ve read all your travel guides on how to survive on $40 a day, packed your entire vanity into 3oz bottles and a quart sized Ziploc bag, found an apartment rental on the Internet and even managed to survive the cross-Atlantic flight existing solely on the one complimentary bag of airline peanuts. Magnifique! However, when you arrive at the location of that très chic, too-good-to-be-true vacation rental you found on the Internet, you find out the address you were given to your dream apartment is actually a Starbucks cafe. Mon ami, you have found a rental scam!

New York: Vaction Rental 1-bedroom in the East Village (NY-11155 Photo

It pains us to see our fellow globetrotting travelers end up in this predicament. So, as you ponder how this could possibly have happened to a très savvy travel aficionado like yourself, let us pass along some advice on how to spot various apartment rental scams so you don’t end up sleepless in Seattle (New York, London, Paris, or anywhere else in the world).

Obviously there is some hesitation involved in renting an apartment in a distant place. However, apartment rental scams happen everyday to people right in their own cities as well. As avid travelers, we all know that the thrill of travel is the quest for adventure; paired with adventure is both risk and reward. Just make it a calculated risk and do your research before you rent that furnished apartment or roommate share apartment, otherwise you might have booked yourself a one-way ticket to trouble.

New York Habitat thinks that a great way to help clients determine which apartment is right for them is to let them see what previous clients have said about our apartments. You can take a look at reviews that previous clients have sent us for each apartment in New York, London, Paris and the South of France directly on our website. Fantastique! We encourage you to ask for apartment suggestions from our knowledgeable agents as well. They have visited many of these apartments themselves and know many of the owners personally.

Read the entire story here… »

New York Habitat has been offering furnished apartment rentals for 18 years and prides itself on offering the best selection of thoroughly screened apartments in New York, Paris, London and the South of France. Today we will talk about some things to consider when shopping for a vacation rental apartment to avoid common rental scams in the market place. 

Recently New York Habitat’s president and founder Marie Reine Jezequel was featured on WCBS 2, the local New York CBS affiliate, talking about ways to avoid vacation rental scams. Visit the WCBS website to read the story: Internet Rental Scam Rocks Upper West Side.

Here are some of the ways New York Habitat ensures that our apartment rentals run smoothly:

• Prescreened apartments: All of our apartments must have a detailed prescreening and apartment visit before they can be listed on our website to ensure that they meet New York Habitat’s standards.
• A dedicated customer service team: New York Habitat takes seriously all client feedback and revisits apartments on a regular basis to ensure that all information provided is up to date and that apartments continue to meet our standards.
• Market knowledge: With 18 years of experience working on furnished apartment rentals, New York Habitat has built a deep knowledge of rental rules and other market factors to ensure that rentals proceed as expected.
• Knowledgeable agents: For each of our cities, New York, Paris, London and the South of France, our agents are selected because of their knowledge of local markets. Once joining our team, New York Habitat agents are trained comprehensively about our apartment inventory.

If you are looking for vacation accommodations in cities that New York Habitat does not offer apartments, here are some tips to avoid scams:

• Deal with a licensed agency. New York Habitat has licenses from the State of New York and Conseil Immobilier Agréé SNPI in France.
• Never make rental prepayments without a signed contract and knowledge that the apartment actually exists. New York Habitat uses an agency contract for every booking and we have met with every owner whom we have listed.
• Use caution when using sites like Craig’s List and other classified pages. Though the majority of the offers on these sites are legitimate, a significant portion of the offers are scams and there is no prescreening on these sites. These sites can be helpful in finding a local broker, as many reputable brokers, including New York Habitat, advertise on sites like these.
• If dealing with an owner directly ask if there are any additional conditions associated with the stay. You do not want to get stuck having to tell people in the building, that you are a friend of the owner or having limited privileges to enter the building. New York Habitat does not accept any rentals with conditions like this.

We hope that these tips will be helpful in aiding you in your apartment rental experiences. Whether looking for a New York rental, Paris Accommodations, London Apartments or the South of France Villas, New York Habitat’s carefully selected accommodations will help to ensure that you end up with a great place to stay.

central park new york winter

With summer just ending last weekend and winter fast approaching, it is time to finalize your plans for the 2007 winter holiday travel season. Whether visiting family in the South of France, traveling to Paris for the first time, touring London or enjoying New York again, the period from mid-December through the first week of January is one of the busiest for vacation apartment rentals. New York Habitat offers a variety of apartments throughout the year, but the selection for the Christmas and New Year’s holidays is rapidly changing as apartments are booked as quickly as they become available.

To help you in your search for the perfect apartment, New York Habitat has created some tools to assist you even when the options may seem limited:

• Using our RSS feeds (for more info, see RSS contribution to apartment search)
• Submitting your request to one of our specialized agents
• Expanding your search to other areas

New York Habitat recommends you start searching for accommodations for the Christmas and New Year’s holiday period as soon as possible. We see requests for holiday apartments as early as February of the year before. If by chance you are stuck with nothing just a few weeks before your trip, New York Habitat has the advantage that our inventory is continually changing because of the flexible schedules of our owners. There are almost always some last-minute apartment availabilities, but this can be a risky strategy because offerings are limited.

New York Accommodation 3 bedroom rental - NY-12362

Here are some accommodations that are available as of today for the 2007 holidays:

New York Apartments:

• A 3-bedroom rental in West Village, Greenwich Village (NY-12362) with a private garden and a convenient location
• A studio on the Upper East Side (NY-11943) that can sleep four and has a small terrace

Paris Accommodations:

• A 1-bedroom rental in Marais - Les Halles (PA-2281) that can sleep up to five people
• A studio in Saint Michel (PA-3257)

London Apartment Rentals:

• A 3-bedroom rental in Earls Court, Kensington (LN-374)
• A 3-bedroom rental in Camden Town, Camden – Brent (LN-428)

French Riviera Accommodations:

• A 1-bedroom rental in Nice, French Riviera (PR-707)
• A 2-bedroom rental in Saint Tropez, French Riviera (PR-629)

3-bedroom villa Aix en Provence

Provence Apartments and Villas:

• A 1-bedroom rental in Marseille (PR-441)
• A 3-bedroom villa in Aix en Provence (PR-506)

So, remember to book your holiday accommodations early. There are still great apartments available in London, Paris, New York and the South of France, but the best choices will soon be gone.

Central Park Photograph provided by francois-roux-photography.com

Blog articles such as: Keep Your Apartment Clean!, Tips from the Pros: How to list your apartment, and Tips from the Pros: Clear the clutter all provide tips on how to put forth the best presentation when listing an apartment.

While a clean and clutter-free home is important, renters are increasingly more concerned with the added perks. What amenities or attributes make an apartment stand out from the rest? New York Habitat offers some useful suggestions for pumping up your vacation rental, as well as a few enticing examples of each.

Child’s Play: Traveling with children

A large downside of staying in a hotel is the impersonal living quarters. The rooms lack personality and the cozy warmth that accompanies a home. Children, especially, are often times bored by the colorless walls and the lack of entertainment. Apartment and home owners can do well to attract the large family market by incorporating child-themed bedrooms into their rentals.

This three-bedroom rental near the Sacré-Cœur (PA-3172) (shown here) provides two children’s rooms in addition to the master bedroom, which is equipped with its own open bathroom and courtyard-facing windows.

This three-bedroom apartment in New York’s financial district (NY-11565) provides a children’s room along with toys and games to keep them busy.

Generation Next: High-speed Internet access

For those of us who have left the Puritan Generation (those born between 1588 and 1617), Internet and technology have become an important part of our lives. Whether traveling for business or pleasure, a high-speed Internet connection is a major attraction. Providing access to the Internet within a rental could sway a renter to choose your apartment over another.

An apartment like this one-bedroom rental in midtown Manhattan (NY-9951) is even more tempting because of the flat screen television, DVD player, and DSL Internet access.

Dirty Work: On-site washer & dryer

This last issue is a problem faced by most New York City dwellers. What is the easiest and most efficient way to do laundry? The obvious answer is to wash and dry your clothes at home. However, most city apartments are not equipped with the necessary machinery. Apartments that have their own washer and dryer or apartment buildings that provide access to a laundry room are an immediate plus for potential renters, especially those staying for more than a week.

This one-bedroom apartment on the Upper West Side (NY-11608) boasts a washer and dryer, as well as being located in a building that provides its own gym and terrace.

This two-bedroom rental in the hip Greenwich Village (NY-11885) (shown here) is a loft space that has a washer and dryer. Also of note are the nifty vanity lights!

A Quick Fix:

While these suggestions can be expensive changes to make, they will prove to be very useful in appealing to potential renters. However, if you are looking for a quick or less costly fix, purchase an espresso machine. Apartments that maintain a sufficient number of place settings in addition to wine glasses and a corkscrew will also tempt renters who enjoy company and/or dinner parties.

Do you have any tips for magnifying the attraction of an apartment? Leave them below.

Approximately 3,000 miles of ocean separates the United States from its European counterparts. With that distance comes differences in language, traditions, customs, and more. Once on foreign soil, many New York Habitat clients have expressed confusion over what may seem like simple things. As a good number of New York Habitat employees were born and raised in Europe, many of these questions can be easily answered by our staff.

Our New York City team has worked together to compile a list of the minor differences that our travelers can expect to stumble across while staying in Paris, New York, London, or the South of France. And even a peculiar way in which we’re all rather similar.

Going Up?

In New York City, a building with no elevator is called “a walkup.” As per New York State Law, however, buildings constructed after 1929 that are taller than six stories are required to have at least one elevator. In Paris, regardless of the building’s height, the majority of older apartment complexes do not have elevators and the ascenseurs that do exist tend to be much smaller than American elevators. The Wall Street Journal explains that older European building codes only required compact elevators for emergency use, providing room for just three firefighters and their equipment.

Floor Zero and Beyond: International Floor Plans

In Europe, the ground floor is called floor zero or the rez-de-chaussée in French. A 6th floor Paris walkup is actually labeled as the 5th floor, for example.   

The names of varying types of apartments are also different between the two continents. In Europe, this would be referred to as an F2 or T2. The F and T are abbreviated representations of the words ‘forme,’ ‘fonction’ or ‘type.’ Meanwhile, the number following is a total of the living room and of the bedrooms found in the apartment. In the U.S., on the other hand, only the bedroom itself determines the apartment type. 

Luxurious, top-level apartments in North America are often called penthouses. These luxe properties are known as appartement terrasse in France, which translates literally to “terraced apartment.”  The terraced apartment is found on the upper floors of buildings and is often attached to a private patio, garden and can sometimes include a hot tub!

This studio in Montmartre, Paris (PA-3302) is featured as a Hidden Gem on our blog. Visit our blog to learn more about this appartement terrasse and other available Hidden Gems.

If there is no appartement terrasse in the building, shoestring travelers can rent furnished chambres de bonnes in Paris, which are converted maid’s quarters housed directly under the roof.  These nooks sometimes offer shared bathrooms or kitchens, which allow for great affordability for the student budget.

I’ve Got the Power: Outlets and Voltage

The world’s electrical systems and machinery operate on either one of two voltages: 110 Volts/60 Hertz or 220 Volts/50 Hertz. The United States utilizes 110V, while Europe utilizes the other. Voltage converters or transformers can be purchased to assist in the use of electrical products while overseas.

However, transformers are not recommended for use with certain products like heaters, steamers, and coffeemakers. NOTE: Look for the voltage rating on the appliance. If the rating reads something similar to 100V~240V, then the product is dual voltage and can be used anywhere. Most laptops and camcorder/camera battery charges are dual voltage.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the shape of outlets differs all over the world. There are six varying plug adapters internationally.

Triskaidekaphobia (fear of the number 13)

Superstition is one thing that can be found the world over. Did you know that the tallest building in the United Kingdom does not rent out any offices on its 13th floor? London’s One Canada Square, along with numerous apartment and office buildings across Europe and the United States, are constructed in ways that avoid the 13th floor.  As in the case of London’s tallest building, the 13th floor is often reserved for maintenance equipment.

Many buildings, like the building that houses New York Habitat’s Manhattan office, skip the ’13’ button within their elevators.

Not superstitious?

· Be the 13th person to rent this Upper East Side furnished apartment share (NY-4923)
· Rent this 13th Street furnished 1-bedroom (NY-10263) for a day—or 13 days!

Let New York Habitat’s team of agents help you through the differences related to renting a furnished apartment on the opposite side of the pond. Our team has many years of experience and can help to bridge the gap between the two continents. Feel free to contact our agents with any questions.

Your company has flown you to Paris for a week on business and has set you up in a stylish apartment in the heart of the city with the help of New York Habitat. The days have been filled with appointments and the nights have been cut short due to early morning breakfast meetings. The end of your trip is approaching and while business meetings in a foreign country have been exciting, there is still much more you would like to see and do. The clear solution to this dilemma is to extend the trip. Luckily, New York Habitat is here with some tips to make this a task easily done.

Okay, first thing’s first … speed is key. The availability for any given apartment can change rapidly. Simply because your rental was available for the entire month when you arrived at your destination does not mean that it will remain that way through the end of your stay. Once the notion to extend your trip in Paris, New York, London, or the South of France pops into your head, get the necessary wheels in motion as soon as possible.

The first person you should contact is your agent at New York Habitat. Ensure that the apartment is available for the additional days that you desire. The two of you will also discuss and arrange the fees and paperwork necessary to make the booking complete.

If, however, the apartment is unavailable during those additional days, there are other options to consider. If the plan is to extend the trip for three days or more, then your New York Habitat agent will find another suitable apartment for the rest of your stay.

Always remember that the agent who completes your booking is your greatest ally. Don’t hesitate to ask any questions along the way. With your vacation rental easily booked for another several days, you are free to continue your exploration through a foreign destination. Enjoy!

If there are any questions you wish to have answered, feel free to post them below. Or you can check our list of frequently asked questions.