The great apartment search of 2005 has begun.

I went to Bay Ridge today to scope out the area. Plenty of bars, restaurants, supermarkets, shops, train access and a nice view of the Verrazzano Bridge. All I needed now was to find an apartment. I walked into the offices of five random realty offices (there seems to be one on each block!) I laid out my criteria : a 1-bedroom apartment in a rent-stabilized, elevator building with laundry facilities for hopefully no more than $950 a month. (I’d really like to avoid using a laundromat) One broker said I’d be able to find something like that but she didn’t have any at the current moment. Another bluntly said that it’s doubtful I’d find a elevator/laundry building for less than $1000. Another just had me fill out an application and said he’d get back to me. But thankfully there were two brokers who made time to show me around! Not that they showed me exactly what I was looking for but it’s a start.

I toured three apartments today. The first was on 92nd Street between 3rd and 4th Avenue. The positives were that the rooms were large, in good condition, there was a view of the bridge and it was a half block away from the subway and a major supermarket. The negatives were that there was a heating pipe in the kitchen where I’d want to put my table and there was NO elevator (even though the apt was only on the second floor) and NO laundry. I then asked the price and I was told $1000. I persuaded the landlord to lower it to $975. The second apartment I viewed was on Marine Avenue between 3rd Avenue and 4th Avenue. The positives were that the rent was only $875 and the rooms were large. The negatives were that it was dingy, on the first floor with a crappy view, and oh yeah, NO laundry. Finally I was shown an apartment that DID have laundry and an elevator. It was on 4th Avenue and 71st Street. The current occupant was still living there so I got a good sense of how it would look furnished. It seemed ideal except there was a leak stain on the ceiling (that the broker told me would be “taken care of”) and the price was $985. Better but not quite there.

So the search will continue. After all it was only the first day. I will stubbornly look for exactly what I want and if I need to settle, that will come later on. When I got home I went onto Craigslist and found some interesting leads that I’ll have to follow up on. And of course I’ll provide full updates here!