Apartment Indecision.
Anyone who has any thoughts to offer, please offer them.
The choices:
Marlborough Road. Furnished. $950 - $1200 -- I'll find out the for sure price on Monday. In lieu of a $1200 brokers fee, I'd be paying $1200 to the former residents for their furniture. This is good because I would then have the option to *get rid of* any or all of it, or keep whatever I like. If the storage people let me have those pods delivered one at a time, this could potentially work. *If.* In Kensington, by The Co-op. Also 1 block from the Q train. Water included.
Hancock #1. This was the bait & switch. He said "Hancock at Throop" and it was Hancock at Tompkins. He said 2 br and it was two rooms. He said $1250 and it was $1400. First floor, no window bars.
Albany Avenue. $1100 for a reasonably sized 2 br on the second floor. The downsides: The ground floor smells like cat piss from a woman who the health department has said isn't in violation of anything. Also, while I was waiting to see the apartment, I got to witness a fight on the sidewalk (mid-day, in the middle of the week) where one guy shoved another guy into moving traffic, so the second guy responded by returning with two angry pit bulls. Heat & hot water included.
Stuyvesant #1 $1250, including heat and hot water. 1 1/2 bedrooms, and when they say half, they mean half -- it's like a bedroom, only chopped in half. The broker said she might be able to get him down to $1200. I have serious doubts that my stuff would fit. Second floor, directly across the street from the noisy drug dealers. Drug dealers I don't mind so much as the fact that they're on that sidewalk 24/7, radios blaring. 1 month brokers' fee.
Bainbridge #1. Second floor of a house, with the owners on the first floor. $1550 includes all utilities -- hot water, cooking gas, electric. Two blocks from the A & C trains. Tiny kitchenette, flanked by two larger rooms, each flanked by a smaller room. One of the smaller rooms could be a bedroom, assuming that I didn't put anything in there but a bed. I wish I'd taken better notes. Unfortunately, standing there, my brain just kind of quit on me. It's definitely bigger than the other places I looked at, but I still wonder if my stuff will fit. 1 month brokers' fee.
Bainbridge #2. The basement ("garden apartment") of another brownstone, with the owners living upstairs. Nice original details -- floors, mantle, hutch. Nice block. Big living room, and one big (carpeted) bedroom. I lied about how many cats I have because I was scared. All of my stuff *might* fit. Laundry room right next to the bedroom that I wouldn't be allowed to use. Separate entrance. $1350, and I no longer recall what that includes. 1 month brokers' fee.
Prospect. $1200, which includes gas and electric. Either 1st floor or 3rd floor. 1st floor has hardwood floors, but the bathroom ceiling is leaking -- there's a hole and it was dripping while we were there. The 3rd floor seems leak-free but has awful industrial carpeting circa my high school, 1986. Community center nearby which may or may not be too scary to use. 1 month brokers' fee.
Stuyvesant #2. I haven't seen this one yet, but will tonight. $1300, heat included. Ground floor apartment -- owners live upstairs. It's two blocks *further* from the subway than I am now (and currently it's a 10 minute walk). 1 month brokers' fee. UPDATE: It's a nice apartment, with a good sized kitchen and bathroom, and nice details. Unfortunately, I don't think all of my stuff will fit. Couch, yes. Bookshelves, no.
Hancock #2. There may be an apartment coming available in the building I'm currently living in. The plus is that it's a PALACE. The minus is that it's $1700. I could get a roommate, which may or may not make life better (or worse). This is one of the really sucky things about being unemployed -- I have no realistic sense of what I can afford, becuase I have no idea what I'll be earning, or when. $1700 could be no sweat. $1700 could bankrupt me in three months. Who knows. Also 1 month brokers' fee.
Poll
The choices:
Marlborough Road. Furnished. $950 - $1200 -- I'll find out the for sure price on Monday. In lieu of a $1200 brokers fee, I'd be paying $1200 to the former residents for their furniture. This is good because I would then have the option to *get rid of* any or all of it, or keep whatever I like. If the storage people let me have those pods delivered one at a time, this could potentially work. *If.* In Kensington, by The Co-op. Also 1 block from the Q train. Water included.
Hancock #1. This was the bait & switch. He said "Hancock at Throop" and it was Hancock at Tompkins. He said 2 br and it was two rooms. He said $1250 and it was $1400. First floor, no window bars.
Albany Avenue. $1100 for a reasonably sized 2 br on the second floor. The downsides: The ground floor smells like cat piss from a woman who the health department has said isn't in violation of anything. Also, while I was waiting to see the apartment, I got to witness a fight on the sidewalk (mid-day, in the middle of the week) where one guy shoved another guy into moving traffic, so the second guy responded by returning with two angry pit bulls. Heat & hot water included.
Stuyvesant #1 $1250, including heat and hot water. 1 1/2 bedrooms, and when they say half, they mean half -- it's like a bedroom, only chopped in half. The broker said she might be able to get him down to $1200. I have serious doubts that my stuff would fit. Second floor, directly across the street from the noisy drug dealers. Drug dealers I don't mind so much as the fact that they're on that sidewalk 24/7, radios blaring. 1 month brokers' fee.
Bainbridge #1. Second floor of a house, with the owners on the first floor. $1550 includes all utilities -- hot water, cooking gas, electric. Two blocks from the A & C trains. Tiny kitchenette, flanked by two larger rooms, each flanked by a smaller room. One of the smaller rooms could be a bedroom, assuming that I didn't put anything in there but a bed. I wish I'd taken better notes. Unfortunately, standing there, my brain just kind of quit on me. It's definitely bigger than the other places I looked at, but I still wonder if my stuff will fit. 1 month brokers' fee.
Bainbridge #2. The basement ("garden apartment") of another brownstone, with the owners living upstairs. Nice original details -- floors, mantle, hutch. Nice block. Big living room, and one big (carpeted) bedroom. I lied about how many cats I have because I was scared. All of my stuff *might* fit. Laundry room right next to the bedroom that I wouldn't be allowed to use. Separate entrance. $1350, and I no longer recall what that includes. 1 month brokers' fee.
Prospect. $1200, which includes gas and electric. Either 1st floor or 3rd floor. 1st floor has hardwood floors, but the bathroom ceiling is leaking -- there's a hole and it was dripping while we were there. The 3rd floor seems leak-free but has awful industrial carpeting circa my high school, 1986. Community center nearby which may or may not be too scary to use. 1 month brokers' fee.
Stuyvesant #2. I haven't seen this one yet, but will tonight. $1300, heat included. Ground floor apartment -- owners live upstairs. It's two blocks *further* from the subway than I am now (and currently it's a 10 minute walk). 1 month brokers' fee. UPDATE: It's a nice apartment, with a good sized kitchen and bathroom, and nice details. Unfortunately, I don't think all of my stuff will fit. Couch, yes. Bookshelves, no.
Hancock #2. There may be an apartment coming available in the building I'm currently living in. The plus is that it's a PALACE. The minus is that it's $1700. I could get a roommate, which may or may not make life better (or worse). This is one of the really sucky things about being unemployed -- I have no realistic sense of what I can afford, becuase I have no idea what I'll be earning, or when. $1700 could be no sweat. $1700 could bankrupt me in three months. Who knows. Also 1 month brokers' fee.
Poll