For those who have never had the pleasure, allow me to explain the exhilarating process that is renting an apartment in Manhattan.
First, you have to learn the lingo. Pre-war or post-war? Walk up or elevator? Brownstone or luxury high rise? Fee or no fee?
Then you have to navigate the complicated web of craigslist and brokers to find someone who will even show you an apartment. There are scarcely few buildings that you can even see without a broker. Whether or not you have to pay the broker for their services depends on how desperate the building management company is to rent the apartment, because sometimes when times are tough (like now), the management company will pay the broker so you don’t have to.
After spending an entire day apartment searching this weekend, Mary Logan and I had narrowed it to two beautiful apartments, either of which we felt were appropriate choices for us. The first was an elegant townhouse building with fifteen foot ceilings, closet space galore and an exquisitely renovated interior. We put in our offer only to find out the apartment would not be available in time for our mid August move in date.
So, over a glass of rosé on the Upper West side we debated our second choice apartment. It featured a beautiful pre-war building in possibly the most ladylike building I’ve ever encountered in Manhattan. It also had a doorman, elevator, incredible kitchen and every charming detail for which we had been searching. As luck would have it, the apartment also carried a broker’s fee of one month rent that our broker called non-negotiable.
Defeated, we started from scratch and began calling brokers from craigslist. Just as our disappointment was setting in that both of these apartments were out of reach, our broker called and said the management company had agreed to one month free rent to offset the broker fee!
Then the fun part began. New York apartments are so fiercely competitive that you have to prove your worth to the management company. They require no less than the following: employment letter stating compensation and length of employment, bank statements, tax returns, an application fee and a credit check. Even after proving that we could afford the apartment several times over, they still wanted more. As of Monday night, we are still waiting to hear from above if we are worthy enough to rent this apartment. I am inclined to believe it would be easier to buy a home in most areas of the country.
Now we wait. Hopefully our dreams of living in a lovely apartment near Central Park will soon be reality.
JLH
First, you have to learn the lingo. Pre-war or post-war? Walk up or elevator? Brownstone or luxury high rise? Fee or no fee?
Then you have to navigate the complicated web of craigslist and brokers to find someone who will even show you an apartment. There are scarcely few buildings that you can even see without a broker. Whether or not you have to pay the broker for their services depends on how desperate the building management company is to rent the apartment, because sometimes when times are tough (like now), the management company will pay the broker so you don’t have to.
After spending an entire day apartment searching this weekend, Mary Logan and I had narrowed it to two beautiful apartments, either of which we felt were appropriate choices for us. The first was an elegant townhouse building with fifteen foot ceilings, closet space galore and an exquisitely renovated interior. We put in our offer only to find out the apartment would not be available in time for our mid August move in date.
So, over a glass of rosé on the Upper West side we debated our second choice apartment. It featured a beautiful pre-war building in possibly the most ladylike building I’ve ever encountered in Manhattan. It also had a doorman, elevator, incredible kitchen and every charming detail for which we had been searching. As luck would have it, the apartment also carried a broker’s fee of one month rent that our broker called non-negotiable.
Defeated, we started from scratch and began calling brokers from craigslist. Just as our disappointment was setting in that both of these apartments were out of reach, our broker called and said the management company had agreed to one month free rent to offset the broker fee!
Then the fun part began. New York apartments are so fiercely competitive that you have to prove your worth to the management company. They require no less than the following: employment letter stating compensation and length of employment, bank statements, tax returns, an application fee and a credit check. Even after proving that we could afford the apartment several times over, they still wanted more. As of Monday night, we are still waiting to hear from above if we are worthy enough to rent this apartment. I am inclined to believe it would be easier to buy a home in most areas of the country.
Now we wait. Hopefully our dreams of living in a lovely apartment near Central Park will soon be reality.
JLH
