State of me:
Safely, happily, joyfully divorced – check
Social Security Number – check
US Bank Account – check
Place to live… not quite yet.
The search for an apartment has been borderline epic. New York works like this, for those of you planning on moving here soon: rentals are listed with brokers. You can try Craigslist and The NYT, but in the end you will probably go with a broker because they know the right questions to ask, like, “where do you work?” This is important because if you work conveniently near the subway, then really you can live anywhere along that line and feel like you did awesome. It takes 4 minutes to take the express train from the Upper West Side at 79th to Penn Station at 34th and then 20 minutes to walk to Madison. Walking from Murray Hill at 39th and 2nd to the same address takes 20 minutes. So, for an extra 4 minutes of your morning, you can save a few hundred bucks in rent, and live in a great (and much quieter) neighbourhood.
You can choose your broker. Practically interview them. Apparently they all work from essentially the same pool of vacancies. Makes sense. There are over 2500 brokers, many of them with more than one ‘storefront’ or brand. It’s a renter’s market too. Every other building is renovating like crazy to stay solvent against a tough economy and new construction. Most brokers charge 15% of a year’s rent, and in this market, it’s easy to find lots of options where the landlord is picking up that charge, and maybe even a month’s rent. Maybe two if you sign for 18 months.
So if you’ve got the luxury of time and you can be picky, the brokers have lots to show you, and just about every building will wiggle fifty bucks or so. Especially if you can move in immediately.
All that said, we’re still talking about $2000 for the bare minimum one bedroom situation. Or a slightly better studio. You don’t really get into the market until the $2200 mark.
Shnykees.
Last time I rented in Victoria I had a two bedroom condo for $800. In Vancouver I had 860 square feet for $1050. The loft in Gastown, with a stunning view of the Lions and Coal Harbour, was $1350.
Takes a bit of getting used to.
So I’m making an offer on a one bedroom with a couple others in mind as backup. All on the Upper West Side. All for the kind of money I could live on and feel wealthy just a few years ago. I think I can say that without feeling like an old man. It was just a few years ago. On the west coast of a different country.
But hey. I love love love New York. It’s almost perfect. Work is fantastic. Fantastic. The creative side is moving along very strongly and the more work-horse side has performed stunningly well lately. There are details to be worked out but The Adventure is in full swing and I wouldn’t trade it. I’m visiting BC for a week early next month and then traipsing off to the Dominican Republic for Christmas and New Years. Nobody is as lucky as me. Pretty sure.