Apartment hunting in NYC is an adventure. By adventure I mean a pure hell I don't particularly care for, but hey...it must be done.
When I first moved to NYC 5 years ago I looked at a bunch of places and finally found a roommate who was perfectly suitable. Liked sports, beer, etc. Wasn't perfect but it was never like we had any terrible arguments. I was living somewhat within my means with that, but when our lease expired I decided it was time to get my own place and luckily a studio apartment opened up down the hall. Easiest move ever. I was able to get the rent negotiated down and though it was more than I could afford I had my own place on the Upper East Side in a great neighborhood.
Fast forward 3 years, I quit my job in finance and suddenly did not have one of those income things and suddenly the apartment went from being a little too expensive to plain out of my price range. You might say I was short sighted in not lining up an income source or moving to a less expensive apartment. Lesson learned.
So here I am in need of an apartment again. An income - albeit a smaller one than I once had, but decent. And the knowledge that I should probably pay a rent that is within my means.
Do you know how difficult that is? Everything I want is exactly $250 more a month than I want to pay. So now that I am looking at less expensive places it has translated into moving to neighborhoods that are "up and coming" ie. advisable to obtain a gun permit and/or make sure you can run from sudden danger and/or don't carry much cash at night. It also means new roommates. That sucks. I am not super excited to live with strangers. If it happens, it happens and it beats sleeping on parking benches or Uncle ACE's place. (Uncle Ace's is the A C E subway line that is the longest in the MTA - thus many homeless people ride it. I know that not from experience, but a New Yorker article).
But to that end, you have to interview and what if the people don't want me? A lot of judging. I mean you have to commit to share a bathroom with these people for a long time. Do they cook smelly food? Are they messy? Too neat? (I would rather too messy than OCD about Swiffering the floor). I mean, I want to size up these people to see if they are going to be selling my stuff on eBay when I go to work. Are there any couples living there? Cause they could turn on you or each other. Do I want to live with a couple in the middle of a break up? I don't think so. Do they have pets? I mean I like pets, but I don't want to become a dog walker or be cleaning a litter box. And what if I grow attached to this pet and the people move out? I don't need that kind of trauma in my life.
What happens if I walk through a neighborhood and people wonder why I am there. (ie, a mostly "cultured" area where I am the only white person and they look at me like I am the police). That happened once. It sucked. A lot. I didn't even look at the apartment, there was NO WAY in hell that the apartment building I saw had the apartment pictured in the photos. NONE. I am pretty sure if I had entered that staircase I would have gotten mugged and then my stuff really would be on eBay. Don't need that.
Then there are the bogus ads that you hope are real, but you know that there are no 1 Bedrooms on the Upper West Side in the 80's for $1100. There just aren't and if you know of one let me know. But I am pretty sure those are like Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster.
So I am searching and emailing and hoping that the perfect roommate will come along and we will live in a safe neighborhood, mind our own business, and drink beer occasionally. I don't think that's too much to ask, but apparently....it is.
When I first moved to NYC 5 years ago I looked at a bunch of places and finally found a roommate who was perfectly suitable. Liked sports, beer, etc. Wasn't perfect but it was never like we had any terrible arguments. I was living somewhat within my means with that, but when our lease expired I decided it was time to get my own place and luckily a studio apartment opened up down the hall. Easiest move ever. I was able to get the rent negotiated down and though it was more than I could afford I had my own place on the Upper East Side in a great neighborhood.
Fast forward 3 years, I quit my job in finance and suddenly did not have one of those income things and suddenly the apartment went from being a little too expensive to plain out of my price range. You might say I was short sighted in not lining up an income source or moving to a less expensive apartment. Lesson learned.
So here I am in need of an apartment again. An income - albeit a smaller one than I once had, but decent. And the knowledge that I should probably pay a rent that is within my means.
Do you know how difficult that is? Everything I want is exactly $250 more a month than I want to pay. So now that I am looking at less expensive places it has translated into moving to neighborhoods that are "up and coming" ie. advisable to obtain a gun permit and/or make sure you can run from sudden danger and/or don't carry much cash at night. It also means new roommates. That sucks. I am not super excited to live with strangers. If it happens, it happens and it beats sleeping on parking benches or Uncle ACE's place. (Uncle Ace's is the A C E subway line that is the longest in the MTA - thus many homeless people ride it. I know that not from experience, but a New Yorker article).
But to that end, you have to interview and what if the people don't want me? A lot of judging. I mean you have to commit to share a bathroom with these people for a long time. Do they cook smelly food? Are they messy? Too neat? (I would rather too messy than OCD about Swiffering the floor). I mean, I want to size up these people to see if they are going to be selling my stuff on eBay when I go to work. Are there any couples living there? Cause they could turn on you or each other. Do I want to live with a couple in the middle of a break up? I don't think so. Do they have pets? I mean I like pets, but I don't want to become a dog walker or be cleaning a litter box. And what if I grow attached to this pet and the people move out? I don't need that kind of trauma in my life.
What happens if I walk through a neighborhood and people wonder why I am there. (ie, a mostly "cultured" area where I am the only white person and they look at me like I am the police). That happened once. It sucked. A lot. I didn't even look at the apartment, there was NO WAY in hell that the apartment building I saw had the apartment pictured in the photos. NONE. I am pretty sure if I had entered that staircase I would have gotten mugged and then my stuff really would be on eBay. Don't need that.
Then there are the bogus ads that you hope are real, but you know that there are no 1 Bedrooms on the Upper West Side in the 80's for $1100. There just aren't and if you know of one let me know. But I am pretty sure those are like Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster.
So I am searching and emailing and hoping that the perfect roommate will come along and we will live in a safe neighborhood, mind our own business, and drink beer occasionally. I don't think that's too much to ask, but apparently....it is.
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