Apartment Hunting, Round 2

So, while I know Lane already posted about apartment hunting, I figured I would revisit it with my perspective. For starters, I don't start my job until July making it a bit less pressing than Lane's hunt. However, I do get the joy of moving into an entirely different market than Lane. Since I am working in New York City, I was looking for apartments within commuting distance of the city, which adds a whole different market and entirely different pricing.

I actually started my search back in April. I went with friend from school who is also going to be working in the city. We looked at two luxury apartment towers (operated by the same company though) in New Rochelle, NY. While we liked the apartments, and they had a ton of great features (laundry in unit, dish washer, across the street from the train station) they were expensive, charged for parking, and we found that New Rochelle wasn't the nicest of cities (better than Worcester, but still...) Additionally, she really wanted to live in NYC, which I was strongly opposed to (I wanted to be able to keep my car, which would not have been possible if I had to try to park it in NYC and pay NYC income tax), so we determined that we wouldn't room together after all.

Thus began my individual apartment search. I widened my search out to included White Plains, NY; Mamaroneck, NY; and even out on Long Island in Great Neck, NY. I searched around on the Internet using Google, finding agent listings, looking at Craig's List. But, none seemed to turn up anything noteworthy. Finally, a different roommate suggested I check Stamford, CT. He lived there for a while, and knows plenty of people who commute by train to NYC. After ~10 minutes of searching on Craig's List we found two places that seemed interested, both listed by the same real estate agent. So, I sent off an email and set up a time to view apartments.

I went down this past Tuesday and spent three hours having her show me around. We saw a number of different places in different parts of Stamford. Notably, a couple mid level studios and one bedroom apartments which were nice, but not stunning; two higher end 1 bedroom apartments, though one was a ways out and the other felt both cramped and a bit sterile (white lights, white walls, white carpet, etc.). Finally, we viewed a luxury studio near the train station. When I saw it, I was floored. The apartment is only 607 sq. ft. but has huge ceilings and huge windows, so it feels much more roomy. Additionally, it has a dishwasher, laundry in the unit, and is only 1/3 of a mile from the train station. Everything is gorgeous and it should be the perfect size for me. The only problem (and really the problem with most of the places in commuting distance to NYC) was price. They are expensive! But, that goes with the territory.

After returning home, and having a bit of a panic attack about committing to such an expensive place, I placed the call to the leasing office and put the place on hold. So, after all that I should (pending credit check, which should not be a problem) have a place to live lined up for July. A big step toward the real world.

Well, that's it for now, I'll try to keep updates on my life, running, and whatever else comes to mind. Also, I think I will start a series on city living from a small town perspective once I start work, but that is still a ways (though realistically, not as far as it feels) away.

~Alex