I am currently researching relocating to the US in the second half of 2010. I have no friends/family there and am going because I was fortunate to be chosen in DV lottery program.

I currently live in France and will be looking for a job in NY but am planning to live in NJ. Will it be difficult to rent with no US credit history/past US pay stubs? How can I get around this? Are landlords open to negotiations?

Also, is there an alternative to hostels/hotels for the first month that I am there looking for a job/apartment? Am worried about paying someone for a short term rental before I arrive only to find out I have been ripped off in some scam or something. However, hotels are so expensive!!!And I will be jobless!!!

Really appreciate ur insights.
You could open an account in France,with an American bank.
run the account correctly,then you should have a credit rating that a US bank stateside can view.

I did a similar thing here in the UK,before I went to work in Australia.
I ran the account for 18months,when i arrived in australia,everything was ready to go.
pay a few months up front with cash.
To rent an apartment, you are going to need 3 months rent in advance for first, last & security deposit. You need proof of income in an amount of at least 3 times the rent. You need references from former landlords or character references, and they must be verifiable.

Just because you got a DV lottery visa does not mean you can start looking for work right away. You will need an Employment Authorization Document while you are waiting for your green card - that can take up to about 6 months to obtain. Only after you receive EAD can you go to the Social Security office and apply for a Social Security card. Takes around 3 weeks to receive the card. After you have both EAD and SSN, then you can start to work.

The job market in the US is appallingly bad and getting worse. The real unemployment rate has been over 20% since May and is still rising. The doctored numbers for sheeple consumption are pure manipulation and not to be believed. There are 30 million citizens seeking work right now. Unless you have some extraordinary credentials, you will have serious difficulty finding any sort of work, even a minimum wage job at McDonald's. You cannot live anywhere in Metro NYC on minimum wage.

You are going to need money, and plenty of it, to move to the US. It seems you have a year to save up.