Apartment Hunting...in NYC

Everyone has heard the stories about apartment hunting in NYC, particularly the horror and humor of finding a proper living space in Manhattan. But, despite our 4 moves since Jerome and I arrived in this great city....i've never written about it. Why start now? Well, my feet are aching and my day is fuzzzy and somehow I'm going to try to relay all the highlights to Jerome when he gets home. In the meantime, I'll share it with you.

Five years, and four moves around this town and I finally know what I'm looking for in this city - and exactally how much it should cost. A one bedroom apartment, a living room with windows, an outdoor space, a cookable kitchen (please note: 4 burner stove, full sized fridge and at least 4 feet of coner space) and subway station close by. My expectations are not easily meet but are not over the top, and my price range is very resonable. Does this mean my apartment searches have become seamless and easy? Nope.

I use Craigslist as my primary search method in the hopes to avoid brooker fees (another part of NYC apartment hunting I truely despise) but I found brookers to be unavoidable this time around. So, I trecked through the city with two diffrent brookers in the hopes of finding the perfect new apartment. I laid out my perameters with both, taking on their challenge to see other apartments they thought suited my search. Sadly, they were wrong.

Once I told the brookers what I wanted -- limiting it to specific areas and the details I mentioned above and offering them to use their creativity on some of the other basics (luxury building vs. pre-war, elevator vs. walk-up, doorman vs. homeless person on my doorstep, etc.) -- I gave them open reign to take me where ever they wanted. I saw several studios (no, I do not want to put up a wall in my new apartment), hiked more than 10 blocks away from a subway station, hiked up hundreds of stairs, laughed at a few loft-style spaces that were obviously built for midgets or a group of children living on their own and lastly I saw some of the world's worst kitchens.

Despite their best efforts, I did not find my dream apartment through the brookers I worked with. I still love my Harlem apartment and adore our amazing landlord. I'm happy to stay and will need a pedicure after this experiece....but feel happy to have gained some great knowlege and views over the last two weeks.