I've been doing a lot of searching recently. Primarily apartment searching, although job searching is right up there as well. Apartment hunting sucks.
For those of you who are not familiar with the real estate industry/market/what have you in NYC, let me tell you that it is unlike its counterparts anywhere else in the world (well, at least anywhere I've been, and I've lived in a lot of places). It is, in a word, ridiculous.
First, prices are obscene, but one gets somewhat used to that...or at least resigned to it. But it only gets better from there. In order to get an apartment, you need to come prepared with every single piece of financial documentation you can think of - a credit report and credit score, pay stubs and W-2s, bank statements, and heck, bring your tax returns from the most recent year. Oh, and don't forget a letter of employment and the deed for your first born.
Anyway, also be prepared to be completely ignored or rebuffed if you don't make more than 40 times the monthly rent (so, if you are favored by God and can find an apartment for $1000/month - and don't push it on size here, you'll settle to fit your bed and have a kitchen & bathroom, even if they are combined...it's called a "bitchen" - you have to make $40,000 annually). You also need to have a deposit ready - at least one month's rent for the security and usually first and last month as well - if you don't have to go through a broker and pay a fee...tag on another month's rent if you have to pay the broker's fee. So, to sign for a
cheap apartment, you're going to lay down $3,000 - $4,000 up front. Yep. I've already been blown off from even seeing an apartment because my temp work doesn't put me over the pay threshold, even though I could pay for an entire year up front if absolutely necessary (although I really do not want to do that - but I'd put down a few months extra).
All of the above is part of why people in NYC resort to Craigslist. Craigslist apartment hunting is its own little form of hell. You have to weed through hundred of postings that are posted by bait-and-switch agents or are not actual listings, but just sample ads (whatever that's supposed to mean) to find the legitimate postings. Then, you have the fun task of emailing those people and competing with hundreds of others who are responding to all the same posts. Hope your email doesn't get lost in the pile - make sure to add some personal details to stand out. Thankfully, I seem to do pretty well at that and have even gotten responses from posters thanking me for the coherent email.
The next step is setting up times to view the apartments and meet your potential new roommate(s). Also fun. This week, I have 6 apartments scheduled - all during the week after work. I had a 7th, but they cancelled yesterday. Another one of the 6 may cancel as well...I've seen 3 thus far this week (I've seen a number more in the past few weeks, and been blown off by a few as well). Hope that the people you are going to meet aren't crazy, especially if you, like me, are going alone. Be ready to bolt if necessary. Running shoes could be a plus...
On the bright side, I have met some cool people through my search. I've also become more familiar with various neighborhoods throughout Brooklyn. I'm also keeping my juggling/scheduling/organization/communication skills honed through this process, so that's a plus, I guess.
Hopefully, I'll have found my new shared home (at least for awhile) by the weekend. I don't know how much more of this craziness I can take. That, and increasing the number of places I check out increases the likelihood of running into a psychopath, and I'm trying to avoid that.
