Anthology Of Apartment Hunting: Round One
Tuesday, June 21, 2011 at 9:04AM 
Darlings, I may be married, but I am back on the market.
The house market, that is.
I have loved living in our apartment - the high ceilings, the loft-like master bedroom, the views of the Statue of Liberty, the French doors that separate the rooms. But we picked it quickly and under pressure {we literally had one day to decide!} and I really want to take my time and find a place that I could really settle into. Also, CJ is starting preschool this fall and I want to cut down on our commute. I'm hoping to live close enough to the preschool that we can just walk or close enough to one of the subway lines that it will dump us out directly near the school {we live within walking distance to a subway now, it just drops us off a bit far from the school}. Fingers crossed!
The New York real estate market is riddled with problems - shady brokers, mystery apartments and odd fees. I'm already intimidated, so I'd love to take you sweet readers along on my apartment hunt. Maybe you can offer up advice, share horror stories of your own or just gasp right along with me. What do you think?
The first time we tackled apartment hunting, Greg and I were like two turnips that just fell off the truck. We had one day to find a place. At the end of that day we did have the one apartment we needed, but it took a pocketful of bizarre twists and turns to get us there, including a missing broker, a super that kicked us out of an apartment when we asked if we could paint it, one apartment where the washer and dryer hooked up to the kitchen sink and one very special apartment where the second "bedroom" was a closet in the master bedroom. I kid you not.
We haven't really delved into the meat and potatoes of the process just yet, but after peeking through the apartment listings over the past couple of weeks we decided to pursue three primary properties. We weren't sure we were going to put in an offer just yet, but wanted to have a gander at a few places as we had just reevaluated our budget and wanted to see if what we could afford matched up to what we wanted.
There was a three-bedroom loft-style apartment on the Lower East Side. A modern two-bedroom in a high-rise in Gramercy Park with views of the Empire State Building. And a two-bedroom duplex brownstone with a garden on the Upper East Side.
Three days later and all three apartments have fallen through.
Le sigh.
The Gramercy Park and Upper East Side apartments were both mysteriously in contract after being on the market for over 100 days each. I consulted with a friend in NYC that works in commercial real estate and they informed me that these apartments were probably just "bait," especially since they are still listed in the database as available. Agents hope to lure you into a neighborhood, make you fall in love and then reveal the apartment is mysteriously off the market. They are hoping their carrot, read: classic six apartment, was enough to lure you into wanting to plant in that area anyway, even if that space is no longer available. The broker will then try to dump one of their less-than-desirable properties in the area off on you. Tricky.
As for the Lower East Side apartment, the broker informed us the building's owner preferred that the space be occupied by roommates. Weird. Does my two-year-old count as a roommate? However, they would still let us view the apartment as long as we provided all sorts of private information. Thanks. But, no.
So it looks like the real estate market is just as brutal as where I left it just over two years ago.
At the end of Round One: NYC Real Estate Market +1, Stanleys 0.
Do you have a real estate agent/broker horror story? What does your dream home look like?
{Photo by Philipp Klinger}
Reader Comments (2)
Yikes! When we first started off renting apts we had looked a one that seemed great. Nicely updated and in a great part of town. However when we got there to talk to the landlord and she found out we weren't married she would only entertain the idea of us renting a two bedroom apt. We tried to tell her we only needed a one bedroom but she said no they would only rent us a two bedroom.....um were are still going to sleep together in the one bedroom :) I guess you have to experience the duds to be able to appreciate your dream home. Best of luck to you guys!
I am cracking up at this, Jenn! Too funny!