aapound's Profile

In New York, don't use a broker to see large complexes with a rental office. Go straight to the office. For harder-to-find places with "character,” use a broker. When showing you an apartment, if she says, "Let me show you a couple other places in the neighborhood," tell her what you have already seen or have plans to see in the area. I've had brokers claim I owed them a fee because they just mentioned an apartment I was already scheduled to visit on my own. Don't cave to this kind of pressure. Also, be aware that some brokers do a bait-and-switch as a matter of course, telling you to meet them at the location, and then when you get there, telling you the apartment has been rented but they have another one "just around the corner." You can choose to look at the apartment, which is likely to be either a lot worse than the one advertised or a lot more expensive, but don't use that broker again. In my first Manhattan apartment, I paid a huge broker fee just to have the broker send me to the landlord's office to pick up the key and look at the apartment myself. The landlord and broker hid all kinds of problems with the apartment until after I paid the fee. They were discovered only after I moved in—nightmare. For my second NYC apartment, I gave up on wanting "character" and went for a big, established complex—Normandie Court—and ended up loving it. You can always add your own character.

I have loved many of the apartments I've seen on AT, but this is my favorite. Just exquisite to the last detail.

We have moved several times in the last ten years and have lost favorite items to trucking damages and downsizing. Once I learned some of the lessons you list here, I found it liberating to be less attached to my things. Now I see change (and loss) as an opportunity to try something new and creative. Keeps me from getting into a rut.

We got our shelving units at Lowes but outfitted them with accessories from theshelvingstore.com – shelf liners, wine rack, wine glass holders. The site sells the shelves and posts, as well.