Apartment pictures!

I’m one step closer in moving into my new apartment. So, if you’ve been reading my site, you are aware that I’ve been in search of a new apartment. Why? Well I’ve realized my current building sucks and even more importantly is that the management company is irresponsible. Another reason for my desire to move is that my current location isn’t very convenient. It takes me forever to get to the subway station.

We (roomie and I) applied for an apartment at the beginning of April for a convertible two bedroom apartment at 91st street. We were excited that our search was over by using what we thought was a great service at the time, Rent Direct. We eagerly submitted our application with hopes to find out if we were getting this apartment in the next week. Four weeks later, the landlord was still on “vacation” for Passover. At this point we were frustrated because everyone at the management company was giving us the run around. During the last week of April, we decided it was time to give up with this apartment and look for a new one. I have learned that it is pretty much impossible to find a no fee apartment in New York City. As much as we all hate brokers, if you really want to find a good apartment, you must be willing to pay that fee to get it. Most importantly, do NOT ever sign up for any no fee services such as Rent Direct and Innovative Apartments. They are just out to scam you out of $200 and still make you find an apartment with a broker.

Two weeks ago I went on an apartment spree and saw about 10 apartments in a week. I found one at 91st street and I was ecstatic. I came to the meeting prepared and filled out an application immediately. The “broker” seemed pretty nice and he even filled out a receipt for my credit check fee that I paid in cash. He reassured me that this was a June 1st move in and that he’d be in touch with me since the whole application process should only take 4-5 business days.

The next day, I receive a call from him telling me that the apartment is actually for July 1st. I was like WHAT?? He was very apologetic and said that the current tenants could not find an apartment and therefore were staying another month. I was very upset so I asked if he could find any other apartments available for June 1st. He said he would try (at this point I doubt I’d hear from him ever again). About an hour later he called me with some good news. There was an apartment available at 86th street. I said that my roommate would be there after 4 pm. She met with him and said we’d take it. After work, I ran to meet them and agreed that the apartment would be perfect. He put our application in for this apartment instead. I did not hear back from him until the next week! He asked if I wanted to see the actual apartment. He had shown us an empty apartment that is identical to the real one. I definitely wanted to see if the apartment was indeed identical. I met with him after work. The super’s wife took us to the apartment. I started taking pictures of the apartment. She was a bit confused why I was taking pictures. Ron (broker) told her that we (my roomie and I) would be taking this apartment. She complimented me on my digital camera and started to ask me about Canons. I am a HUGE fan of them so I told her to definitely get a Canon. She said she was getting a cheaper model than mine. Anyhow, I think this is how I got “in” with the super’s wife.

On the way down to the lobby, she told Ron that she would not be showing this apartment to anyone else since I was taking it. At that point I actually started to believe that we might actually get this apartment! When I left the building, the broker gave me a document outlining what things I needed to bring to the lease signing!

A few days later, I did not hear from him. I told my future roomie that I’d be calling him on Monday to see what the deal was. To my surprise he called me on Sunday to setup an appointment. We agreed to meet on Tuesday at 5pm to do the signing. I was so excited. I had all my documents ready and my cashier’s checks. Great!

On Tuesday, I go into work early so I can leave early for the lease signing. I get a call from my roomie that Ron called to reschedule the signing for 3 pm! I was shocked because I didn’t get a call from him. Anyway, turns out that the leasing lady had an emergency and had to go home early. We rescheduled for Wednesday at 1pm.

Today, I go to work hoping that our apartment search was indeed over. I did my work as usual. Then Ron called and asked me what was wrong. I’m like well I just want to know if we’re actually meeting today. He said yes, I confirmed with the leasing company. I was excited. I arrived at the office about 10 minutes early. My roomie was already there. We “initialed” a bunch of documents and signed our names everywhere. It was so great. Then the best part was when the lady, Michelle, gave us our Welcome packets! Now we just have to get our guarantor to sign, notarize and send it back. Good times!

Being the anxious person that I am, I decided to call the super to ask him when the current tenant would be moving out. He asked me where I was, and I told him that I actually was across the street of the apartment building. He told me to meet him so he could discuss all the details with me. He told us that the tenant would be moving out on May 17th! I asked if I could move in maybe a day before June 1st (that’s when the lease starts). He actually suggested that we could actually move in a few days earlier since a ton of people were moving out on May 30th. We then discussed the wall and he said he would take care of that as well. I love this super already. He is so nice! I’ve never had a conversation longer than 2 minutes with my current (crappy) super. I can tell that this is the start of something great. I will be posting pictures of the apartment SOON!

Sorry for my LONG boring post. I doubt anyone has read my entire blog. If so, you must be regretting it right now.