Blow Up the Outside World
I'm exhausted! Between looking for a place to live and learning how to do my job, I'm really wiped.
The good news is, I really like NYC. I love it. I think it's incredibly beautiful, especially at night. My outlook might change when I'm freezing my ass off, but I really came at the perfect time of the year.
Finding a place to live in NY is really difficult. It's not like you just jump on apartments.com or rent.com and find an apartment complex. Most apartment buildings are run by management companies. And most management companies use brokers.
Some buildings and houses are privately owned, but for the most part they use brokers as well. The fee for using a broker in Manhattan is 15% of the first year's rent. So a studio in a semi-safe area that costs $1,500 is actually quite expensive. It costs almost $6K to move in (first month's rent, security deposit and broker fee).
Brokers in Brooklyn and Queens usually charge 10% or one month's rent. That's a lot more doable. In the Bronx they just give the apartments away.
Although I've only been actively looking for a place for four days, it's been a LONG four days. I've visited lots of brokers, filled out a shit load of paperwork and seen a bunch of places.
Fortunately, I've had Shawn to walk me through everything. He's been able to steer me away from crap and lead me to good.
Unfortunately, twice I've had deals pulled out at the last second. The first time it happened was Saturday. I wrote out a check for the deposit and started looking at furniture. A couple of hours later, the broker called to say that the super had promised the apartment to a friend.
Tonight I was supposed to meet with the landlord to sign the lease. As I was walking out the door, the broker called to say the landlord found someone who would pay more. (I wasn't going to go higher).
So.... tomorrow, it's more phone calls and I'll hopefully look at some more apartments. It's not only physically demanding (it's a lot of walking up and down the neighborhood), but it's emotionally draining as well. Each time you look at a place, you think it's "the one." And then you find out "it's gross."
Another challenge to finding a place is you have to act immediately. You can't think about a place too much. If you like it, you say, "I'll take it." But if you want to think about it for an hour or so, it will be gone. I think I read that there's only a 1% vacancy rate in NYC. Considering that there are 5+ million here all scrambling to find something affordable, the numbers are against you.
If I didn't have Shawn to help me through all of this, I don't think I'd be very positive. But I am! I know I will find a really great place that will be comfortable. And I have his couch as a safety net. But I think I'll get a place before the end of the month.
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I was walking home the other day and saw the funniest thing. A homeless man was pushing his grocery cart down the sidewalk. He had a boombox in it and it was blaring, "Pour Some Sugar on Me," by Def Lepard. I don't know why but it just cracked me up. Nobody else took notice. So you had some homeless guy blaring Def Lepard and some freak laughing his ass off.
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A guy at work looks like Chris Cornell from Soundgarden
This is a really great video and song. Read the lyrics here. It's particularly poignant for me during my search for the apt.
Nothing seems to kill me no matter how hard I try
Nothing is closing my eyes
Nothing can beat me down for your pain or delight
And nothing seems to break me
No matter how hard I fall nothing can break me at all
Not one for giving up though not invincible I know
Melodramatic? Yes, but I'm tired right now. :-P
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I had tickets to the Alice in Chains/Velvet Revolver concert in Phoenix tonight. I'm really really really bummed I couldn't see it. I love those bands so much. This video will not appeal to anyone who's not even remotely an AIC fan. But fast forward 5 minutes in to hear Jerry Cantrell's guitar and Layne Staley's voice (his voice is bigger and better than any pop diva).
The lyrics are beyond dark, but I love this song so much. Don't judge. :-P
The good news is, I really like NYC. I love it. I think it's incredibly beautiful, especially at night. My outlook might change when I'm freezing my ass off, but I really came at the perfect time of the year.
Finding a place to live in NY is really difficult. It's not like you just jump on apartments.com or rent.com and find an apartment complex. Most apartment buildings are run by management companies. And most management companies use brokers.
Some buildings and houses are privately owned, but for the most part they use brokers as well. The fee for using a broker in Manhattan is 15% of the first year's rent. So a studio in a semi-safe area that costs $1,500 is actually quite expensive. It costs almost $6K to move in (first month's rent, security deposit and broker fee).
Brokers in Brooklyn and Queens usually charge 10% or one month's rent. That's a lot more doable. In the Bronx they just give the apartments away.
Although I've only been actively looking for a place for four days, it's been a LONG four days. I've visited lots of brokers, filled out a shit load of paperwork and seen a bunch of places.
Fortunately, I've had Shawn to walk me through everything. He's been able to steer me away from crap and lead me to good.
Unfortunately, twice I've had deals pulled out at the last second. The first time it happened was Saturday. I wrote out a check for the deposit and started looking at furniture. A couple of hours later, the broker called to say that the super had promised the apartment to a friend.
Tonight I was supposed to meet with the landlord to sign the lease. As I was walking out the door, the broker called to say the landlord found someone who would pay more. (I wasn't going to go higher).
So.... tomorrow, it's more phone calls and I'll hopefully look at some more apartments. It's not only physically demanding (it's a lot of walking up and down the neighborhood), but it's emotionally draining as well. Each time you look at a place, you think it's "the one." And then you find out "it's gross."
Another challenge to finding a place is you have to act immediately. You can't think about a place too much. If you like it, you say, "I'll take it." But if you want to think about it for an hour or so, it will be gone. I think I read that there's only a 1% vacancy rate in NYC. Considering that there are 5+ million here all scrambling to find something affordable, the numbers are against you.
If I didn't have Shawn to help me through all of this, I don't think I'd be very positive. But I am! I know I will find a really great place that will be comfortable. And I have his couch as a safety net. But I think I'll get a place before the end of the month.
___________________________________________
I was walking home the other day and saw the funniest thing. A homeless man was pushing his grocery cart down the sidewalk. He had a boombox in it and it was blaring, "Pour Some Sugar on Me," by Def Lepard. I don't know why but it just cracked me up. Nobody else took notice. So you had some homeless guy blaring Def Lepard and some freak laughing his ass off.
___________________________________________
A guy at work looks like Chris Cornell from Soundgarden
This is a really great video and song. Read the lyrics here. It's particularly poignant for me during my search for the apt.
Nothing seems to kill me no matter how hard I try
Nothing is closing my eyes
Nothing can beat me down for your pain or delight
And nothing seems to break me
No matter how hard I fall nothing can break me at all
Not one for giving up though not invincible I know
Melodramatic? Yes, but I'm tired right now. :-P
____________________
I had tickets to the Alice in Chains/Velvet Revolver concert in Phoenix tonight. I'm really really really bummed I couldn't see it. I love those bands so much. This video will not appeal to anyone who's not even remotely an AIC fan. But fast forward 5 minutes in to hear Jerry Cantrell's guitar and Layne Staley's voice (his voice is bigger and better than any pop diva).
The lyrics are beyond dark, but I love this song so much. Don't judge. :-P
Comments
but it's emotionally draining as well. Each time you look at a place, you think it's "the one." And then you find out "it's gross."
Another challenge to finding a place is you have to act immediately. You can't think about a place too much. If you like it, you say, "I'll take it." But if you want to think about it for an hour or so, it will be gone. I
Good luck man. I would be pulling my hair out. I can't say I envy you as I already did my time in NYC. I enjoy the weather and my small slice of cookie-cutter suburan sprawl out here too much to ever look to live in the center of a major city again. Anytime you are looking to move back or even just visit, I can offer you better than a couch- I have a bunk bed (top or bottom, your choice- oh and I am not looking for a reply to that comment) with your name on it.
Great song by Soundgarden.
Sorry you had such a hard time finding a place little brother. Thanks for the AIC video! I remember the first time I saw them in concert. They were opening for Van Halen when Sammy first joined, I had just bought my first AIC cassette so I was pretty wound up when they started to play. Lorraine just said Alice in WHAT? Who are they? It was a great concert, mostly because it was my first with Lorraine.