Official New Yorkers

Well, we’re officially moved into our Manhattan apartment. It’s true. It wasn’t easy, but we made it!

Just like every little boy and little girl dreams of what coming back from an amazing wedding and honeymoon to their new, rock star-like dream home, we came back to ours: an empty apartment.

Now, I should probably start from the beginning about apartment hunting in New York City, as it is an entirely different beast than the rest of the country. We were warned/lectured/told about the stresses and hardships of finding an apartment in New York by our friends and colleagues. Please. We were above the curve, different from everyone else, and we were going to have a nice enjoyable process and find that perfect apartment whenever we felt like it. It is a buyer’s market, right?

Let’s just say it didn’t happen that way, and leave it at that. Ok, I’ll elaborate.

We started looking in the beginning of April, in hopes of feeling out the market and getting a good sense for what our money would be worth in our new neighborhood. And honestly, it wasn’t too bad, mainly due to the fact that we were just looking. Most people were pleasant and willing to make a deal with us. We entered each apartment with growing confidence that we were in charge, and were about to find our new home. Prices were dropping, amenities were being added, and spirits were raised. What could go wrong?

This is about the time when I thought it would be a good idea to go through a brokerage firm. Since the economy was tough, owners were paying the broker’s fee, rendering their services “free” to people like me. It was a perfect idea: take advantage of a broker’s extensive knowledge and listings for free! One day after work I went with the broker to check out a bunch of spaces in the area we were looking at. And whadaya know? There was indeed a great apartment for rent still on the market! We took everyone’s advice and jumped on the offer right away, sending our paperwork the next day. Here’s where it all went awry. They dropped the bombshell that I had to get them the deposit immediately or they couldn’t hold the apartment for me. They assured me this would be enough to save my spot during the owner’s credit check. Against my better judgment, I wired the money to the firm and sat back and tried to enjoy our “moment.”

Cue the next day. I get a call from our broker, and I naturally answer in a cheerful tone, expecting to hear we were cleared to rent. Instead a voice tells me, “I’m sorry, but it looks like the apartment was already rented.” Already rented? As in, not by me? Wait a second, I thought I put money down for this specific reason? I tried to be calm, but I couldn’t. And, it just so happened that it was a Friday, and they “couldn’t get me my money back until Monday.” Basically, the rest of the weekend was going to be a waste, because we couldn’t put any money down on another place. I was furious, upset, and felt taken advantage of. We sheepishly looked for apartments the rest of the weekend, having low hopes that anyone would wait for Monday to let us put money down.

It was breakfast on Sunday when my phone rang. It was Clyde, a representative for an owner showing an apartment on the exact street Christine lived on! We had seen this place before, but had kind of figured it would have sold, seeing as we looked at it early April. We rushed to the place and met Clyde again. He was lovely, and seemed to enjoy us. We told him our scenario, and he told us it would be no problem to wait until Monday to drop the dough off. Oh, did I mention, the place was perfect! Monday rolled around and I took care of getting all the money situated and paid (thanks in part to my Mom shooting me a short-term loan!), and went up and signed the lease. We were Manhattanites! They were even going to give us a BRAND NEW HARDWOOD FLOOR!! Things were falling into place, finally.

Before this next part, let’s just remember this all occurred within 3 weeks of our wedding. In that time period, I also managed to lose my wallet and cancel all of my credit cards, debit cards, file a police report, and freak out (it was later returned, thankfully). This time period is typically ultra-stressful, and anything added normally puts people over the edge. Got it? Well, move-in date rolls around, and we go up to check out our new and exciting apartment, and hear people working inside. Confused, we open the door to find two men still working on the floors. What? We ask them when they think they’ll be done, and they don’t speak English very well, but we’re able to get “June” out of them. The date of move-in was supposed to be May 15^th. Not June, or any other date. So we sat, one week to the day from our wedding, in Christine’s current apartment, frustrated and upset over the actions.

After a few days of phone calls, the floor was finally finished and we could move in. Moving in Manhattan was a threat on my psyche, and I was nervous and afraid of the challenges we would face. And, after all the troubles we had, it went really smoothly. Except for the part where I drove a U-Haul truck down 2^nd Avenue during rush hour. This was easily the craziest and most stressful half hour of driving in my life. How do people do this every day? It was gridlocked, and just plain mean. But now, we’re all moved in, have everything pretty much all set up, and are currently enjoying our new place! We can’t wait to see you all again, and hope that some or all of you will eventually be able to make it up for a visit! Until next time….