If you’re on a tight budget, or new to the city, you might want to consider finding a roommate.

Many of Nofeerentals Properties’ apartments are designed to allow you to share with privacy. When two or more people contribute to the rent, it is often possible to afford a better apartment than you could manage by yourself.

Check out these roommate matching services:
www.roommateaccess.com
www.roommatelocator.com

If you’re an NYU student, you can find potential roommates through the Off-Campus Housing Office, in the Roommate Pairing Book. For more information, call 212-998-4620 and press “O.” The Village Voice also has a weekly listing of Roommates Wanted.

Avoid using any roommate matching service that asks you to display your phone number or your current address in your profile. Free roommate services do not perform background checks on their members, so you will probably want a credit history on your prospective roommate. This can be ordered on line from http://loan.yahoo.com/c/, or search “credit history” from your browser. For a more extensive check, including criminal records, go to www.knowx.com.