Well, I moved here 6 years ago and have been lucky to stay in the same place since. I know the renting market is a whole different animal now than it was back then, what I'm hearing from people now it's much more difficult to find rentals, especially at non-exorbitant prices.

But the biggest advice is don't rent anywhere you haven't seen in person. Brokers pull all sorts of shady stuff like posting pictures of another apartment, meeting up to see one place and "oh sorry that one's booked now, let's look at this other (much shittier) one that's the same price". Also lying about what neighborhood a rental is really in - putting the name of a more desirable neighborhood when the place is a mile or two into a neighboring, less desirable (higher crime, more run down, industrial, etc) area.

I ended up paying for a real estate agent, which is expensive (typical price is one month's rent for the apartment they find you) but he was able to find us a great, unlisted place and talk down the rent by $100/month, which has more than paid back for itself. Especially since you're across the country that might be a good choice for you.

Also, back when I moved in, we also had to pay our landlord's real estate agent fee, in addition to our own agent, security deposit, and first and last month's rent - so 5 months rent total all at once. I believe in the past year or two NYC passed a law making it illegal for the landlord to pass their agent's fee onto the tenants, so make sure you look up your rights if someone tries to pull that on you now.

If your interested in being near Bushwick, you may end up having better luck further out in neighborhoods in Queens like Ridgewood, still walkable to Bushwick. Greenpoint is also a good option for North Brooklyn. Most Brooklyn neighborhoods (and Queens ones too) have their own positives if you're more flexible, just definitely stay away from anything in East New York though, it's still one of if not the most dangerous neighborhood in the city.

I moved here in a 2 week period - between getting a job offer, putting in 2 weeks notice at my old job, coming up to search for apartments the one weekend in between, and moving in on the weekend between last Friday at my previous job and first Monday at my new job. It was stressful and definitely not easy, but I didn't really have a choice. Real estate moves so quick here you can only really find something a week or two before you're ready to move, and as others have pointed out you need to have a proof of salary to get accepted.

Since you're confident you can get a job easily, then why not just get one before you move and save yourself the worry? Staying in a hotel or paying rent with no income will blow through your savings real quick.