LEARNING LESSONS IN APARTMENT SEARCHING

Moving is no fun!  Moreover, most of us can agree that when we move we would like to minimize the amount of drama as much as possible.  There is an extreme amount of anxiety attached to moving when you are moving out of state.  I have moved state to state at least 5 times and each time I do my best to remember the lessons learned from the previous move.  There are some lessons that even after five moves I have not absorbed.  This move to New York was the first time that I went after an apartment for just me (vs. a roommate situation) 

My most recent move from Orlando to New York was very smooth all the way up to looking for an apartment and so with this blog post I hope I can save someone else the drama and you can apply the lessons I learned to your next apartment / house search.  Things have changed a lot over the years and not only have the prices risen but also the expectation as far as earnings and deposit amount.  Most landlords want you to make 40 times the rent and put down a 1.5 months as a deposit and Realtor / broker fees in some cases that are equal to one month.

When I first arrived into NYC, I stayed with a friend for a week.  Things were good... there were a nice comfortable bed, hot food, and good conversation.  Therefore, I spent this week looking for my new dream east coast apartment.  I had many ideas... exposed brick, fun neighborhood, and quick access to transportation!

In the NYC and tri-state, area people are accustomed to using Craigslist as a way to land a job, apartment, and a hot night out on the town with a certified crazy!  :-) 

So going to Craigslist was a natural first step for me.  I combed through all the postings and found my dream apartments but not the dream prices.  So sadly, I started looking in other areas of Jersey City and upstate New York.  There were some great places in Jersey City, with reasonable prices and good locations... so I printed my favorite postings out and proceeded to hit the streets in search of my new apartment.  

The first apartment was $635 a month and in a great neighborhood.  I was super excited about this place because I knew that with a rent this low I would be able to shop till I literally drop with all the money I would be saving in rent cost.  Outside the building, I was super excited because it was quiet and clean.  Once I walked in, I was super miserable because it was dirty and small!  Small is an understatement actually, it was the size of a one car garage.  There was absolutely no room to live at all.  Now I did consider staying here for about 10 minutes as I envisioned shopping and jet setting, but I knew I would be unhappy on move-in day; and so I kindly thanked the man showing me the apartment and went to apartment 2.

Apartment 2 was the start of the apartments in the $900 price range.  I was drawn to this apartment (while viewing online) because of the cabinets in the kitchen.  When I walked in the apartment smelled of fresh paint, the bathroom was to DIE for!  If you have ever been to an NY apartment, you know that the bathroom is sometimes the size of a closet and so the size of this bathroom was great!  I liked this apartment and there was nothing particularly wrong but there was nothing-particular right either.  I was able to get a potty break in and charge my phone because the property owner did not come to this place... he said, "There’s a key under the mat".  So, I took my sweet little time looking at this place and get powered-up for the next apartment viewing.

The next apartment sounded beautiful but I wouldn't know if that were actually true because this person didn't have time to show me.:(

The next apartment said "View of Statue of Liberty".  The pictures of the apartment seemed fine and so I proceeded to contact the landlord and we met a few blocks away from the apartment.  He said he would come and pick me up because I was far away and he was driving.  I was so tired of walking around that I agreed.  (Safety out the door when tired BTW)  We drove through the blocks and I noticed that there was a bunch of people just hanging out.  I asked the man "are all these people hanging out on the block with the apartment?" he said, "no, the block with the apartment is very quiet.”  I thought nothing more of it.  When we arrived at the apartment, the block was quiet, the outside of the house was clean, and all seemed fine.  When I entered the apartment, I fell in love.  The view of the Statue of Liberty was GREAT and perfect from a little Ohio-girl, such as myself!  The apartment was a two bedroom for $995 and there were some furnishings.  This was the best I had seen all day.  It was settled, I would take this apartment.

As the next days progressed, my friends moved my things into my apartment and I did my quick grocery run and was happy to get started on making this place the new home for Aleesha and my little doggy, Brooklyn.   

As I was cleaning up one of my friends called me and said that he did not want to be in my business but this neighborhood was bad and has a high crime rate.  Looking around you cannot see the "crime rate".  I hung up the phone with my friend and decided to go outside to look to see if I could use my super spy eyes to see any crime.  LOL Well I didn't see anything so I decided to ask the people that lived under me.  You would have thought I had reported a fire or an emergency of some sort.  They were nervous and said, "They didn't want to talk about it" and "by the Grace of God nothing has happened to us".  This was not a good feeling.  OMG now I have a bad neighborhood and bad neighbors.  So at this point, I was upset and called the landlord to get his take on it.  Of course, he said, the neighborhood is fine.  It is quiet and safe and you will have no problems. 

All the cleaning and home making ceased!  I just sat down and gazed out the window for hours.  I didn't know what to do.  The landlord at all my money and I was left with a stack of paper clipped papers that said that this place belonged to me for another 364 days.  

Eventually I went to bed and was woken up around 11:30PM with the sound of music, laughter, and partying.  The party must have been good because it lasted until 3:30AM. 

During this time, I emailed the landlord and said that this is not the apartment for me and I am moving out the next day.  Over the next few days, I went back and forth with the landlord telling him that he lied and him telling me that the neighborhood was safe and it was all in my head.)  After all the back and forth we both had to compromise.  He gave me a portion of my money back and I had to accept it because I really didn't have any other rights, since I signed the lease.  

Here are the lessons learned:

1. Check out crime statistics online before moving.  You cannot see crime with your natural eyes.
2. Drive through the neighborhood at night especially on a Friday or Saturday night.
3. Meet your potential new neighbors.  You want to make sure that your neighbors are your allies.
4. Add a clause to your lease about you changing your mind within 24-48 time-frame
5. Call a taxi, delivery pizza, or Chinese place and see if they come to this neighborhood...  If they do not... do not move in - this is usually a tale-tell sign that robbery is a problem.

 Stay tuned to learn more about the apartment woes in NYC.

Today I Am... learning some adult lessons in apartment searching in the Big City!