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Topic: Finding an apartment in the city
| Author | Message |
| rainydaygirl | Posted – 10/15/2007 11:50:25 PM | show profile The apartment hunting process I find, after almost two months of searching has proven to me HARDER than getting a job in the city. I found a decent, well paying job in less time than finding someone that I'm willing to hand over a handful of money for a shoebox sized apartment! Seriously, went through the whole craigslist, walking around on the streets just looking and even brokers. Came so close to so many but at the last second they backed out because of one or two little minute details they didn't want to bother dealing with. They pretty much just want you to shut up and take whatever they give you and smile. The moment you ask a question or hesitate while giving away pretty much half your savings, they say good bye. SO frustrating!!! I need advice from city dwellers. How does one (or a couple) find a decent starter home in the city, and yes, not settle. I'm not being picky. I have expectations, albeit high ones, but I know it's possible to find a studio for under $2000 in SoHo.... isn't it? |
| ManhattanMatt | Posted – 10/16/2007 3:06:09 PM | show profile Raingirl .... I'm very curious ... what are these "one or two little minute details" that caused the LANDLORD to want to back out of a deal? And studios under $2000 in SoHo may have been a possibility 10 years ago, but certainly not today. They're closer to $3,000 in SoHo. In fact, it's very difficult to find ANYTHING for "under $2,000" anywhere in Manhattan, unless you're looking for a share. Have you tried Brooklyn or Queens? Even the Bronx has some great deals now. |
| imagine22 | Posted – 10/16/2007 3:40:29 PM | show profile rentdirect.com I had good luck there. All listings come directly from landlords instead of brokers. You have to pay a fee ($175 when I signed up last July) but I found an awesome apartment within two days of joining and it saved me from having to pay a gigantic broker's fee. |
| Bleak Spouse | Posted – 10/16/2007 4:33:39 PM | show profile why anyone would chose to live in Manhattan is one of the great mysterious of life. besides that fact that it will be blasted off the face of the earth with a nuclear bomb within the next five years, it's the most ridiculously overpriced place to live in America. I'd say SF is, but it's a much more interesting and worthwhile city to live. |
| ManhattanMatt | Posted – 10/16/2007 7:06:52 PM | show profile Because ... ...we like it here, and we like not having to commute to work. |
| Unemployed-gal | Posted – 10/16/2007 7:22:31 PM | show profile MM, read closely, and you'll see that it was the broker, not the landlord, who backed out at the last minute. But like MM, I'm curious: usually a broker will do anything to get your money. Why did they back out? I agree, I think you need to expand your search a bit. Brooklyn and Queens have some great places. What are your expectations? If you're just starting out in the city, maybe you need to get a little more realistic about them. Why are you so set on having a studio? (they're really not all they're cracked up to be). Why not go in with a roommate for a 1-2BR? I'm surprised you didn't find anything through Craigslist; I found my place right away--and I wasn't settling. But congrats on getting the job before the apartment; usually its the other way around. |
| westsidestory | Posted – 10/16/2007 7:45:41 PM | show profile I actually thought this was a troll post...does anyone really believe they can get a studio in Soho these days? OP, are you there? |
| Bleak Spouse | Posted – 10/16/2007 7:53:27 PM | show profile ManhattanMatt: Oh. Before you say you'd rather die in a nuclear blast in Manhattan than live the rest of your life in, say, Boulder, Colorado, you should sit down and read John Hersey's short classic Hiroshima. |
| ManhattanMatt | Posted – 10/16/2007 7:58:06 PM | show profile Bleak Spouse ... ...you don't even feel it coming. You're vaporized within a fraction of a second. And just because you can't afford Manhattan doesn't mean you should wish evil thoughts on those of us who can and do. |
| seeattleme | Posted – 10/16/2007 9:35:19 PM | show profile Not really, manhattan matt--you should read Hiroshima. People did survive that attack (both of them) and it wasn't pretty. |
| rainydaygirl | Posted – 10/16/2007 10:12:54 PM | show profile Still here.. and was out looking for apartments. But glad to see responses. Yes, people think it's impossible to find an apartment in SoHo for under $2000, but I've been searching for two months now and have come across numerous ones. They appear and get snatched up the day they get on the market, but they do exist. I myself haven't been able to secure one, but am slowly learning from the process. The brokers backed down because we weren't desperate enough to fulfill their every whim and just go along with everything they had. We had a guarantor who was a lawyer and when he asked a few questions about the contract, they couldn't be bothered to deal with it. The second apartment, they called to verify my boyfriend's workplace. Unfortunately, the boss happened to not be in and pick up and they thought it was sketchy and shut us down. Plus he didn't like that we were a couple sharing a studio. It's just little nit picky things but on paper, everything we have is perfect and has been approved over and over. There's just the finishing touches which we fail on, which I'm starting to hate because we don't even get to TALK to the people who make the decisions, it's all through the broker middle man who pretty much are done with us the moment the landlord/owner decides 'no'. Unemployed gal, totally don't know how you found a place through craigslist but that's fantastic. I've literally been screening the listings every chance I get and it's mostly just brokers posting. It's an almost impossible dream, but it's not impossible. Hence my stubborness in trying. Hey, I didn't think I'd be able to get a job, and I did. Therefore, I figure, if I can get a decent job in SoHo, why not an apartment? Yes, MM said it right. I want to not have to commute to work. I'm not living in SoHo because it's 'fab'. I just want to have the ability to stay late at work and not worry about the commute home! I think I will try out rentdirect, but really, I don't know how people do it, besides being at the right place at the right time. Know of anyone moving out or anyone wanna refer me to their landlord in SoHo? Or ANY suggestions! |
