Adventures in Apartment Hunting (NYC Style)

So I survived my weekend in NYC apartment hunting. I even managed to have a little fun while I was there!!

On Friday, I looked at two apartments on the Upper West Side - one on 81st and Columbus and one on 106/West End Drive. The first apartment was cute and in a good area- but a bit run down and also wasn't available until April. Not good since my job starts March 5th! The second was a very well maintained beautiful studio in a nice building, but it was a bit above my price range and no laundry in the building. Seems like if I'm going to spend extra each month I deserve laundry!

But I wasn't too worried. I had more appointments the next day. So on Friday night I crashed the SCBWI VIP cocktail event with my writer friend Charlene. (She was attending the conference, but I was not.) I got to meet my new editor at Dutton, Sara Shumway, who seems really nice. Can't wait to start working with her.

Saturday I met up with another agent, Caroline Bass from Citi-Habitats. GREAT realtor. She totally rocks and made the whole process a ton of fun. We looked at a lot of places. None of them were dumpy, but some were TINY! I mean, you could barely fit a bed for $1,900 a month! I was starting to get worried, as you can imagine. But she assured me she had one "special" apartment that she was saving til last. It was a rare vacancy in this dog-friendly high-rise and she had an exclusive on it. The girl who was supposed to rent it had gotten sick and couldn't take it after all. Since I had gotten Caroline's name through a special referral by someone who was close to the owner, she was going to show it to me.

Well, let me tell you I was not disappointed! The apartment is adorable. A large ninth floor studio facing the street, very well maintained with crown moldings, high beamed ceilings, and beautiful hardwood floors. It's in a fancy doorman/elevator pre-war building with laundry and accepts all dogs. And the best part - it's on 72nd and Central Park West - an awesome neighborhood half a block from the park and the express train. It couldn't be a more perfect spot for me.

As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to have it. So I filled out the application, put down the deposit and crossed my fingers. I didn't even go to my 2nd realtor appointment. I had my mind made up. This apartment was MINE. That night I went out to dinner - a delish Italian place 80s/Columbus - and drank at this amazing little basement Moroccan bar with some friends. My friends kept saying "Oh, you'll have this in your neighborhood, etc." which started freaking me out - like, what if I don't get it?!!?

But like romance novels, this story has a happy ending. The next morning the realtor called and said the apartment was all mine - just come down and sign the lease and produce exorbitant amounts of money. I did and then headed back to Boston on the train, happy and excited.

Success! And beyond my wildest expectations. I never thought I'd find such a perfect place in such a great neighborhood. Moving to NYC is going to be sooo much fun!

:)
Marianne