Normally, the idea of apartment hunting in New York is enough to put most people all the way to Crazy Town. The hunt for Monica and Rachel's mythical Greenwich Village pad is what drives most and is the sole cause for utter despair when the reality of its non-existence is finally accepted. But then throw in this summer's 100+ heat index and I'll tell you exactly what you get: rationalizing why we are staying put "for just another year".
This kind of lazy is just about the last rung on the ladder before it's time to give up the ghost and just move to Oshkosh, by gosh.
Coincidentally, I've been scanning websites for apt. rentals in Manhattan (LES, UWS, Harlem, Midtown Westside/Hell's Kitchen, Chelsea, the Village areas) and am still in a bit of shock at the prices (which I'm no longer used to) and the smallish size of the apts.
ReplyDeleteLee,
ReplyDeleteHonestly, the pricing just doesn't even phase us anymore. We know everyone pays a ridiculous amount in rent and its accepted as the norm for Manhattan.
I finally had to tell the energetic little broker that having lived in NYC for 15 years now, she could cut out all the sell BS. We didn't just get off at Port Authority. We want to know hard square-footage, rent, current rodent/bug status and how many flights up they think we're going to tolerate climbing. "Charming" as a way to describe a neighborhood and historically accurate parquet floors isn't going to get us to sign.
I think the smartest thing I did when apartment hunting was limit my search to one neighborhood. Fewer options = less craziness. Other than that insight, I really was just winging it because I'd never had to look for a place in the city before. (My friends who lived in my old building in Park Slope helped me get that apartment without my having to do very much at all.) I was told by a couple of agents that I was looking too soon—before the middle of May—when my lease was up at the end of June. But I'm not sure my new place would still have been around in early June, when the agents said I really should begin starting to look.
ReplyDeleteBeau - One page I landed up checking out was for Prudential Douglas Ellman. Dunno what the agents' fees could gouge a person for but the apts. where not that bad nor were the rents on some of them even in elevator buildings. Dunno what you and Jeff pay nor what you're looking for, tho.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I seem to recall Glenn B. saying nice things about the agent he and Derrick used a year or so ago.