One Month's Rent, One Month's Security, AND a Broker Fee?!

Although I'm year's away from leaving this little island and moving away from my parents, I've always loved looking at real estate listings in hopes of getting an idea of the cost of a great apartment. I say apartment because I don't see myself at a permanent residence until late in my career. Also, the costs of home ownership are always changing; in the long run renting is a lot cheaper than buying a home - if you're living in an apartment for less than 5 years.

It's always good to get a head start in things, and I'd say it goes the same for this situation. Having been in college for about two years now, the thought of my future has been constantly nagging me. I've set up a plan for myself, which of course is subject to change seeing as I'm not psychic. It's a bit of a long term goal - looking at about 6-7 years. This plan consists of finishing up the remaining 3 years of college to get my BSN all while getting a license to become a CNA, as well as an LPN to add to my resume and work experience in the hospital. Afterward, hoping that I've saved enough money, I'll be off the island IF I find a promising job. My ideal location would be New York, Brooklyn to be exact. I really haven't thought about a Plan B, but I do have 3 years...

Other than searching for affordable real estate, I've also been looking for possible graduate schools. Most schools look for about 2 years of experience in a hospital setting after receiving your BSN which means we're looking at Year 5 of my 6/7 year plan, so this idea is still inconsistent.

Onto the subject of this post, New York real estate. There are the days when I have nothing else to do, and the first thing that comes to my mind is an apartment. I'm always looking at listings, mostly on the NYTimes website, trying to find the average price for a 1-2 bedroom apartment. Here are a few examples of places I've been looking at:

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These pre-war apartments go for about $1600 and are both located in Park Slope, Brooklyn, near Prospect Park and have 1 bedroom 1 bath. If I do find a roommate (I have a few in mind), then the search for a 2 bedroom will begin. But as I said, I have 3 years, and it's not like these apartments will be available for rent 3 years from now. These examples are just ideal - hardwood flooring, large windows, great location, etc. But, I do fancy the first apartment even though a month's rent, security, and broker's fee are due at signing. This might be the basics, but I don't know too much about these terms just yet.

Does anyone live in Brooklyn and care to share any experiences with the real estate there? Any type of input would be great. I have so much ahead of me, yet I'm here blogging... time for other tasks. I'll be a bit busy tomorrow, so I'll see everyone on Thursday.