After a year and a half of living in my place in New York the time has come for me to spread my wings and move. Moving has always been a very traumatic experience for me. Even when it is to be expected. However this time it is not. I was totally blindsided, but the silver lining in this move is; a bigger newer place, laundry in my building and 2 express trains! I'm moving on up! Literally.Let's be real moving in New York no matter what time of year sucks, but it really sucks when you have to move in late summer. This time of the year, although the weather is nice, is the most expensive and most competitive. But there are tricks and savvy ways to makes it happen and hopefully makes it as less stressful as possible. Here's some of the resources that I used.

1. Craigslist 2. NYC bits 3. Alumni Circles 4. Word of mouth around the office 5. Friends 6. Fee and No Fee brokers; whichever fits your budget or preference. 7. Walking around and asking tenants about openings in places that you want to live. 8. Community organization offices and local church 9. Local papers (New York Times, the Village Voice, the Daily News,El Diario and the Jewish Press) 10. HUD.gov- affordable housing

If you find yourself living in NYC and you need to move sooner rather than later: take a deep breath, say a quick prayer, reach out to everyone and get to exploring your surroundings! I hope that these resources are helpful even if they only serve as a reminder.

Happy hunting and good luck!

A Gamine

p.s. Always remember, to cast your net wide. You can never have too many options in NYC.

Image: kenkenphotoblog.blogspot.com