My (poor) 24 year old daughter lives in the East Village of NYC and her landlord wants to raise her rent 12% (to $4000/month for her 3 bedroom apartment in a building with no elevator). What would you suggest  she do (she works and wants to stay in NYC)?

Has she tried negotiating with him? If the landlord loses one month rent in the transition over to getting new tenants then this rental increase is to his detriment. He is also risking getting a non-paying tenant. It ends being math for you .. if you can negotiate only a 6% increase it could be worth it because of moving costs and sheer stress in finding that new apartment. Let me know how it goes. Best, Alicia Co-Founder: http://www.Rentenna.com Rental Expert: http://realestateqa.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/20/ask-an-expert-renting-in-new-york/

I would suggest she finds a rent-stabilized apartment with two bedrooms and gets the lease in her name. In a couple years she will be able to rent out the larger, more desirable bedroom to a roommate for between 75-100% of her rent. When she only has to pay a nominal amount for housing, she can stop being your poor daughter and become your rich daughter.

I live in East Village, and I can tell you that 1/3rd of $4000 for an apartment in East Village is a really good rate these days. However, if that is still too expensive, then I suggest she tries looking for something in Queens. It'll be difficult to get cheaper rent anywhere in Manhattan, though not impossible. Even Brooklyn is getting too expensive now, unless she is willing to live really far into Brooklyn.

I live in the East Village and can tell your impoverished daughter that one third of a 4k apartment here is not a bad deal. Tell her to look slightly east to Alphabet City , where rents fall but it is still hip and convenient. Or, you know, I have heard rumors that there are 4 other boroughs too.

That's a "reasonable" rent for this 'hood in the current market. Landlords will always raise rent to market rate. If she can find a rent-stablized apartment the lease can go up a much smaller % each time it's renewed. She could also move to New Jersey or Queens. Or pay a lot to live here like everyone else does. Sorry.

She's poor because she lives in the East Village. The East Village is home to some of the worst buildings in all of New York and the highest rents. $3,600 for a 3 Bedroom apartment opens up a wealth of opportunities for Manhattan living, let alone New York living. I'd suggest she uses her head and she takes the initiative to find those places, it's not your role to help her.

The East Village is one of the most expensive neighborhoods in not only the city but the country.  Brooklyn has really had a lot of up-and-coming neighborhoods where she could get a three bedroom place for much less that is most likely renovated and in a hip neighborhood.  If she wants to stay in Manhattan she most likely would have to move uptown to the UES.

Probably too late to be useful to the original poster but you can find 3br apartments in the east village for less than $4k

Wow. There was a time when artists could actually live in the East Village. That was a long time ago. But I hear the Upper East Side is getting hip. Or she could live in parts of Brooklyn inexpensively as long as she steers clear of hipsterville (Williamsburg) and breederville (Park Slope). Neighborhoods on the borders of these hoods such as South Slope and Greenpoint are more reasonable and close to what their more expensive neighbors offer. Clinton Hill is a great area and a pretty reasonable alternative to Ft. Greene.