How do you decide a house (or whatever) is The One?

[gardengloves]

In NYC,

Try upper Manhattan, Inwood, prewar 6 story brick apartments, parquet floors, beautiful moldings and details, large spaces, low rents, but definately going up , beautiful parks near the Cloisters--- the most underrated space in NYC - near C, A and 1, 2, 3 subway lines..

 

[platinumrock]

When you can see yourself moving in, living there, making it your home, and you have an urgent need to make an offer/sign the lease because you don't want anyone else to get it.

That's how you know you have fallen in love with a house/apartment. Just make sure it's the right one for your needs and budget.

 

[Circe]

The plot thickens - I will update in detail tomorrow, promise, but right now I need to sleep like a pregnant lady who's been walking all day for three days straight on no food.

(My belly aches. Like I'd been doing thousands of crunches, I assume from the unexpected weight and wobble of my being up and about so much. And I looked so much I didn't have time to eat, which, let me assure you, is basically my top priority these days.)

(Don't worry, I am taking care of myself, I am just so tired.)

The short and cryptic version? I am halfway there, and firmly convinced that PS dust is magic. Keep it flowing, my darlings, and I will fete you like queens (or at least, amuse you greatly with The Further Adventures of Circe). Also: there will be pics!

 

[Circe]

Okay, so, like I said, PS dust? Is MAGIC.

So, first off: after viewing 1001 crappy apartments, and getting quite discouraged, I found A Good One. I started the morning by seeing a beautiful pre-war building in Midtown ... in kind of crap condition ... in Midtown ... with a baby coming. I totally freaked and called my best friend and asked if she could hop in a cab RIGHT NOW. I apparently totally freaked her out, as she thought it was an actual emergency, and not my indecision. But she came over, and looked around, and said, yeah, the apartment rocks, but LOOK OUTSIDE. Do you see any baby carriages?

So, no to that. She then proceeded to accompany me to a variety of places, from rooftop houses to basement apartments (oh, I'm sorry - "garden duplexes"). I love rooftop houses, so I was excited about this, but ... man. It was like the hut from the day before had been more successfully remodeled, and then a drunk carpenter had added a second story. And, in its defense, they had added an actual patio to it ... just, in the middle of a broad expanse of tar roof, complete with two-foot high ledge. I like heights, and I was nervous up there.

So, at the end of the day, I was pretty dispirited. My friend had to go off to watch "Cowboys and Aliens," (her assessment: almost as bad as the apartments we'd been seeing) so I saw the last apartment of the day by myself, and ... AMAZING. Prewar building, beautifully maintained, HUGE, with a washer ... pretty much perfect! That was when I said "I'll take it," and posted to y'all about how when you know, you know.

But wait! The plot thickens.

When I filled out my application, the broker said there was an application ahead of mine ... so, fingers crossed.

But, OMG, LIGHT YEARS better than any other place I've seen. But even given that, I kept looking, because who knows? Maybe even WITH that, I might have gotten turned down. So it was another day of crapalicious apartments: a basement apartment with a sub-basement that the broker told me I could use for storage "at my own risk," as the boiler leaked: a place where a remarkably sleazy broker tried to drag the pregnant lady up 4 flights after I explicitly said no higher than the second floor (he then proceeded to take me to two places I'd already seen, all the while denying that I possibly could have, and then had the gall to roll his eyes at me when I wouldn't rent them on the spot - HATE); and ... and an even better apartment.

Again, this was at the end of the day, when I was wiped out, but ... my god. I just cannot fathom that this place is in my price range - my original price range - while some of the crapholes are half a K more. This place, like the first one I wanted, is a beautifully maintained prewar building, roughly the same as the first one (a bit smaller, different layout, etc.) ... but with a view.

So now I am waiting with bated breath to hear if I might be approved. Please, keep dusting me! I am wholly convinced that at least part of this is due to the collective goodwill of PS.

I want this apartment so much.

 

[vsc]

Circe, that is great news!
I really hope you get the apartment! Dust!

 

[Jennifer W]

DUST!

I've been following the Apartment Hunting Adventures of Circe with interest. I went apartment hunting in NYC with my cousin many years back. In August, too. It's a time I remember vividly. Never before or since have I been so hot, skeeved out, tired or generally discouraged. We looked at every unsuitable abode on the island.

At the time, we kept telling each other how much easier it will all be when we're grown up and have good jobs and can afford things in a higher price bracket. I'm going to show her your adventure, to prove that it aint necessarily so. We found one in the end that was only exorbitantly priced, had one window which looked onto streetscape, one onto a brick wall (which you could touch) and was only 4 floors up. It had a questionable water supply, no A/C and there was a commercial laundry on the ground floor, so it was hotter than hell, and a little steamy at times. It did smell (faintly) of fresh laundry, though... She lived there for nearly ten years. Whenever I visited, I felt obliged to stay there instead of in my aunt's lovely apartment, since I felt partly responsible. That's how I know it had monster roaches, too.

I hope you get the one you love. I have everything crossed for you and nothing but sympathy for you having to go through the Apartment Hunt.

DUST DUST DUST

 

[Circe]

WE GOT THE APARTMENT!

 

[rosetta]

Yahooooooo!!!

Congrats, pics please!!

 

[iheartscience]

YAAAAAAAAAAAY! Can't wait to see pics! Congratulations!

 

[audball]

YAY!

 

[Circe]

Ahahahaha, SO HAPPY.

BTW, a warning, and I almost feel like this one might be worth starting a separate thread for: the first broker tried to SCREW us. He jerked me around by saying there was a previous applicant, but maybe if I sweetened the deal the owner might decide in our favor ... so maybe I should be prepared to offer more than they were asking. Then he told me we had a problem with our credit, so we'd have to pay a year (a year!) up front.

I had been planning to pay for a credit report that evening when I got home, no matter what: since I saw The Even More Awesome Apartment, the second broker, who is just a lovely woman, ran it for me in the course of the application. And, guess what? Our credit is fine. Better than fine, really, as she put it.

So, in short: every profession is full of unscrupulous people and marvelous people in equal measure; it is always important to double-and-triple-check everything.

 

[centralsquare]

Urgh - the last thing you need after such an arduous process already!

 

[missy]

Ahahahaha, SO HAPPY.

BTW, a warning, and I almost feel like this one might be worth starting a separate thread for: the first broker tried to SCREW us. He jerked me around by saying there was a previous applicant, but maybe if I sweetened the deal the owner might decide in our favor ... so maybe I should be prepared to offer more than they were asking. Then he told me we had a problem with our credit, so we'd have to pay a year (a year!) up front.

I had been planning to pay for a credit report that evening when I got home, no matter what: since I saw The Even More Awesome Apartment, the second broker, who is just a lovely woman, ran it for me in the course of the application. And, guess what? Our credit is fine. Better than fine, really, as she put it.

So, in short: every profession is full of unscrupulous people and marvelous people in equal measure; it is always important to double-and-triple-check everything.

CONGRATULATIONS on your new apt Circe!!!!!!!!!

Regarding the unscrupulous Real Estate broker- you could file a complaint with the agent's local board of Realtors if they are a Realtor or with your state's licensing board. FYI-Here is the code of ethics Realtors should be following (not all real estate agents are realtors):
http://www.realtor.org/mempolweb.nsf/pages/code

Congrats again- may you and your family enjoy much health and happiness in your new home!!

 

[zoebartlett]

Circe -- congratulations on the apartment!

This is probably going to sound stupid, but I'm in awe of anyone who lives in NYC. I'd love to have the chance the stay there for an extended period of time, just to see what it's like to live there. Does that sound strange?

 

[rainwood]

I'm so happy for you, Circe! Manhattan has at least one pregnant lady who deserves a well-earned rest. And a nice meal.

I look forward to seeing the photos. And thank God, you didn't end up renting from the sleazy broker. Sometimes, things are just destined to work out.

 

[yssie]

Awesome!!


It *had* to be the one and only, of course, and there *had* to be another application - the Higher Beings indulging their senses of humour and all that.

And - oh - I hear you on the unbelievable brokers! In talking to some of my friends who are going through the same searches - apartments, houses - it seems that sleazy realtors and lawyers who speak solely in CYA and nutty inspections are just - par for the course. The seller's broker of choice on the house we're trying to get - OMG.

Really, really glad your credit is, in fact, better than okay. Of all the things to bait you with...


Perfectly functional *and* perfectly maintained *and* in the right location - it sounds like a gem! I'm excited for you


ETA
And for your nursery: http://www.etsy.com/listing/72393680/bilby-small-australian-rodent-decal

 

[Circe]

We're signing the lease at 5:30! In the meantime, I have to run to the bank to withdraw stupid amounts of money for the deposit and the broker fee, and, well, eat my own body weight, because that is what I do these days. So, while food cooks, figured I'd update, and actually respond to people one-on-one.

So, first off - thank you to ALL of you for the dust and good wishes! I genuinely believe it makes a difference (even if it's only in giving me the mental energy and reinforcement to keep looking) - positive vibes FTW!

GardenGloves, good call on the neighborhoods! It wouldn't have worked for us because of my husband's commute, but I LOVE the area up there, and some of my friends have beautiful apartments. They keep tempting me to come to the Dark Side: not this time, but if and when the time comes for a three bedroom, well ....

PlatinumRock - exactly. I am doing an anxious little dance around my house, waiting for 5 so I can go and sign the lease. I did not feel even vaguely like this about any other place.

VSC - thanks!

JenW - oh, lol'd. The apartment you're describing is totally a close relative to one of the ones I saw, although mine lacked even the faintly redeeming quality of the laundry smell. And, ugh, monster roaches - seriously, I don't care if they're harmless, those things SCARE me. When I found a waterbug in my house out in Cali, I was completely serious about burning it to the ground and salting the earth, should he be the advance scout of an invasion. UGH.

I do find it utterly fascinating, though, just how much variation there is across any given price range. I mean ... how the heck can this place, which is my original budget, be so much nicer than the myriad places that I saw that were half a K more? It boggles the mind.

Rosetta, Thing, Audball, Rainwood. thanks! As soon as I get back from lease-signing, OH THERE WILL BE PICTURES. I love my bling, but I am looking forward to showing this off more than any jewel I've ever owned.

Centralsquare & Missy - no kidding! The funniest bit is that, after I e-mailed the broker to ask about the discrepancy, he tried to guilt-trip me! Said he'd worked so hard, and that I needed to let him know ASAP if I was backing out so as to not damage his relationship to the management company, and, maybe, possibly, he could talk them down to only half a year's rent upfront, but I'd have to promise to accept the deal if they took it. I ... ugh. Am seriously considering filing a complaint (but, this being NY, sort of figure it's caveat emptor - am glad I only lost $200 on the credit checks, and didn't get taken for more in the form of an unnecessary rent increase and the loss of a year's interest on a large sum of money).

Zoe - thank you! It doesn't sound stupid at all - I feel that way about just about every big city in the world. My idea of the perfect retirement is to spend a year apiece living in Venice, Rome, Barcelona, Cyprus, London, Paris, Prague ... you name it! But of all the cities I've seen so far, NY is still my favorite - the perfect combination of huge and exciting and yet full of surprising nooks and crannies and secrets. Definitely worth all that we had to do to be able to come home.

Yssie - ahahahaha! I am so getting one of those and putting it up on the day we move in as a surprise for my husband. He will crack up.

 

[Circe]

Hm, and just because I am, a) totally paranoid, and, b) kind of an innocent when it comes to these things (this is the first time I've ever rented through a broker) ... how do you know everything is legit? I mean, when you sign a lease - do you get your keys right away? What sorts of sensible protections are in place to make sure that someone posing as a broker doesn't simply walk away with large chunks of change? I think this broker is lovely and on the up-and-up ... but my crime-show-watching side is sort of like, best set-up for a scam EVAH. How do people avoid getting taken? What do you look out for?

I'm not a neophyte, I swear, and I lived in NY as a responsible adult for a decade - but all my apartments were either through university housing or through the owners of the buildings directly. This? Is a whole new world ....

 

[yssie]

Not broker centric, but a couple of things - demand all keys to all doors, and specify that you want second and third spares, garage openers, etc. Better yet - change/request that all the locks be changed right away - but our apt wouldn't let us do this, so...

If you've got a car let the garage watch know you're moving in - with cookies, preferably. Having the people watching out for your car - and you when you come home at 2am - paying extra attention can only be a good thing!


Edited - apt, not house!

 

[Circe]

Oh, yeah - totally with you on that. My husband thinks I'm NUTS because of it, but, like ... what, you know nobody ever made a copy of these keys before you moved in? OY.

 

[centralsquare]

Centralsquare & Missy - no kidding! The funniest bit is that, after I e-mailed the broker to ask about the discrepancy, he tried to guilt-trip me! Said he'd worked so hard, and that I needed to let him know ASAP if I was backing out so as to not damage his relationship to the management company, and, maybe, possibly, he could talk them down to only half a year's rent upfront, but I'd have to promise to accept the deal if they took it. I ... ugh. Am seriously considering filing a complaint (but, this being NY, sort of figure it's caveat emptor - am glad I only lost $200 on the credit checks, and didn't get taken for more in the form of an unnecessary rent increase and the loss of a year's interest on a large sum of money).

What a nightmare! My first thought when I heard that was "I feel bad for the people that aren't as sophisticated as you are." There must be some naive people that are just taken advantage of. Not only super annoying for you but scary, scary for everyone else!

 

[Circe]

Centralsquare & Missy - no kidding! The funniest bit is that, after I e-mailed the broker to ask about the discrepancy, he tried to guilt-trip me! Said he'd worked so hard, and that I needed to let him know ASAP if I was backing out so as to not damage his relationship to the management company, and, maybe, possibly, he could talk them down to only half a year's rent upfront, but I'd have to promise to accept the deal if they took it. I ... ugh. Am seriously considering filing a complaint (but, this being NY, sort of figure it's caveat emptor - am glad I only lost $200 on the credit checks, and didn't get taken for more in the form of an unnecessary rent increase and the loss of a year's interest on a large sum of money).

What a nightmare! My first thought when I heard that was "I feel bad for the people that aren't as sophisticated as you are." There must be some naive people that are just taken advantage of. Not only super annoying for you but scary, scary for everyone else!

Well, that's been my thought throughout this whole thing - poor out-of-towners! I went hunting with my best friend for her place last summer, and we were shown one dreadful place that was on a highway exit, on the first floor, facing the garbage cans, and just big enough for a bed, at the top of the range for studios in that area. My friend and I just looked at one another, dead-pan, but this poor college-aged girl who was looking at it with her mother sounded serious about the place. It was like ... oh, HONEY. You can do better!

Methinks I'm going to write up a guide.

In the meantime, can I vent? I love my husband, but, jesus, is he Mr.-Nothing-Is-Ever-Good-Enough. I feel like I worked a bloody miracle by finding us a place BIGGER than anything else I saw, in the EXACT location he wanted, FOR OUR ORIGINAL BUDGET. All it took was 5 days of endless, 8-hour-straight pavement-pounding apartment hunting, while 6 months pregnant. His response? A disappointed sigh, a comment about the noise (YOU WANTED TO BE BY THE EXPRESS LINES!), and the remark that he guessed I'd just talked it up too much.

Prewar building! 12 foot ceilings! Walk-in closets! Freshly remodeled kitchen and bathroom! City views! Allow me to attach some pics .... I mean, I ask you. (Yes, we signed the lease anyway. It just kind of spoiled my excitement about the whole thing. BAH.)

 

[iheartscience]

Okay, no offense but your husband needs to shut it! That apartment is fantastic! So much LIGHT. The floors! New kitchen! I love it! I'd take a place like that in a heartbeat! Congratulations again!

 

[pregcurious]

I've always found house hunting similarly confusing, but like you, there is usually one place that shines and/or just feels like home. I usually have to like the "bones" of a place, and the general flow.

 

[rainwood]

Circe -

The apartment looks fabulous. And oh my God, that herringbone floor in the living room is a thing of beauty! And it looks like it gets great light and has some nice views. The kitchen looks so clean and new.

Maybe your husband's reaction is because he hasn't had the experience you've had in looking at one crappy apartment after another to recognize what a jewel you've found. Either that or he's nuts. You choose.

 

[zoebartlett]

I love it, Circe! Looks like you picked a winner.

 

[gardengloves]

Gorgeous classic apartment- what a find. It's a knock-out

I love these 12 foot ceiling prewar apartments, the floors, windows and trim work are amazing, and the light, wow.

Congratulations -

 

[iLander]

What a great place Circe! Gorgeous! Love the floors!

If you or a friend ever need a 2/1 in CPS, one of my friends has a furnished place she rents out. Prewar, elevator, doorman, all that, I think she said around 4K per month. She seems to rent it pretty regularly.

How did you find your brokers? Did you look on the net at the apts first? Or just call a broker? I looked at some of the NYC sites (streeteasy.com and nytimes) and it seemed to me there were TONS of apts. Are those just fake listings or something? I've never looked to rent a place but it seems that NYC apartment hunting is always tough, but on the net it seems like there is plenty out there, so I'm confused. Are the ad pics way better than the actual place?

Congrats on your pretty place!

 

[Circe]

Thing, you are dead on - my husband totally needed to shut it. We bickered for a day or two, I pointed out all the other, less awesome apartments out there ("Hey, look at this one! It's the same price as ours, but half the square footage. Ooo, or this one - I went there! Looks nice, right? Yeah, basement." And so on and so forth ....) and he capitulated and admitted that, a) he'd been cranky from his workweek, and, b) it'd be fine with, you know, furniture in it to cut the echo-y effect, and maybe an AC. So all is well, but, grr! I was pissed. There's nothing worse than hard work being nit-picked.

Preg Curious, thanks! What I find interesting is how we forget the feeling in between victorious hunts - hence all the people on RT asking if they should keep their stones! The human mind is a funny thing.

Rainwood, thank you! The funny thing is, he spent the weekend tromping with me - so he missed some of the prizes, but he was there enough to get a decent sense of what's out there. He spoke wistfully of the first place we'd seen ... which wasted a couple of hundred square feet on a hallway, and so had much smaller bedrooms, a less inviting kitchen, less of a view, and, oh, yeah, the aforementioned low ceilings! I guess I think of there being objective "good" and "bad" qualities when it comes to apartments, whereas his priorities are so off from mine I can barely recognize them (size and light and ceiling height are less important to him than quiet, location, and newness of appliances - I figure if he got two out of three, he can't complain too much). Best parallel to me would be: me, as a diamond aficionado, caring about the 4 c's pretty equally, with cut at the front: him, caring more about, oh, clarity and color. Glad I won this one!

Zoe, thank you! And likewise GardenGloces - I ADORE prewar buildings. They are going to have to pry me outta there with a crowbar.

Thanks, iLander! I hunted the internet and called on anything which looked even vaguely feasible. There really are a ton of places out there, but the problem is, all places are not created equal - hence the handy guide to come in the next post.

 

[Circe]

Thought the First: There are surprisingly affordable apartments at some of New York's best addresses.

Wait, don't laugh at me. I didn't think it was true, either. But ... if you go and search for a specific building, as compared to a general area, you will find that the price gap is not as wide as you'd imagined. For the same money, you can have an equally crappy apartment in, a) a nameless building in a random location on the UWS, or, b) The Ansonia.

What is The Ansonia? It is a building that gets its own article. It's that great grey palace of a building on 72nd and B'way, the one that looks like it was transported directly from Beaux Arts Paris by way of steampunk. When I saw an apartment listed at The Ansonia, I spent the rest of the night wandering around exclaiming "The Ansonia!" like Katherine Hepburn. Living there is actually one of my ambitions, as a New Yorker. (The other two were/are a brownstone on the UWS - check! - and a rooftop house, which, hey, not this time around.) Sadly, the apartment I saw was a pretty crappy representative. See, The Ansonia used to be a hotel, so the floorplans for various apartments ... vary, to put it mildly. Some are these glorious old-world masterpieces with bizarre round living rooms and dressing chambers, and some, say, look directly across an airshaft into the windows of other apartments (me!). So, I opted to keep looking, this time around, but for somebody who cared more about living in a building that housed celebrities from Babe Ruth to Angelina Jolie and once contained a rooftop farm and a speakeasy and a gay bathhouse (... er, during different periods) than they did about, say, natural light ... and for the same money as a crappy basement apartment in a no-name building ... it might be a different choice. Hell, the next time I need to move? I am stalking The Ansonia and The Pythian and The Beresford, just waiting to swoop in on one of those suckers. There is nothing wrong with being a real estate vulture.

Thought the Second: Pictures lie.

You cannot tell jack from pictures. You actually have to look at each and every god-forsaken apartment that fits the rough parameters of what you're looking for. Because, a) brokers use remarkably deceptive terminology (see also, "garden duplex," YES I AM STILL BITTER), and, and b) you can make a room look surprisingly big if you shoot it from inside the corner of the bathtub through the door, and c), contrari-wise, brokers and private individuals trying to rent their places alike can be astonishingly stupid about taking listing photos. Look, a place with a city view should not be indistinguishable from a basement apartment looking at a wall. And yet, many people choose to shoot their places like they're trying to backlight their stained sofa. Also, why the hell would you feature the stained sofa, as opposed to, say, picking up after yourself and taking a shot of a clean, crisp-looking place? DON'T ASK ME.

Thought the Third: It isn't actually about your budget.

As far as I can tell, the secret of apartment hunting is a lot like the secret of comedy: timing, and dumb luck. I saw horrible places listed for stupid money, and wonderful places listed for affordable sums. (You'll be shocked to hear that I went for one of the latter.) I saw a lot of the crappier places around the end of the month, when I am assuming freelance brokers had picked the bones of the city's available apartments pretty clean already: however, the awesome one? It had been on the market for 18 damned days, apparently. Who looked at it and thought, "Huh, this prewar building with its light-filled city view is okay, but, nah, I think I'd prefer to go for that windowless cell for $200 more that I saw yesterday ...." I just do not know.

Thought the Fourth: Bring a tape measure. No, seriously.
Remember when I was whinging about the apartment I thought I should take that just didn't ring my chimes? And how its ten-foot ceiling seemed low? Yeah, apparently I have no idea how high ten feet is, because when I saw an apartment with actual ten foot ceilings, I thought, "oh." The first place had 7 foot ceilings, tops - I could touch them with my fingertips if I hopped. No wonder I didn't love it.

Thought the Fifth: Fight for your rights, if you're in a couple, or renting with a friend; fight your own instinct to be "reasonable" alone or paired off, and wait until you find The Place.
At the end of the day, while I wish my husband and I saw eye to eye on this one, the bottom line is that we have to live there for two years or more (I vote more!) and where I'm living matters a lot to my general happiness and state of mind. Even if I hadn't been at odds with my husband, if I hadn't stumbled across this place on Day 5, I'm betting on Day 6 or Day 7, one of the basement apartments would have looked better than the rest ... and I would have spent two years being utterly miserable. It's worth slogging through to find a place that makes your heart sing.

And, last but not least ... have a sounding board! Y'all gave me good advice through the process, and a place to think out loud. I WUV YOU, PS'rs!