Tag Archives: real estate

At least one part of my life is falling into place

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And thank goodness because recently, most of my brain power has been consumed by uncertainty and a need to make decisions.

I’m not completely in the clear, but I have found a new place to live. Obviously I’m not going to post a link to the apartment description and announce to the world where I live. But I will say that I’m staying in Williamsburg – yay!

Weird fact: I ultimately chose between two finalists upon deciding I couldn’t live with this oddly broken-up closet.

closetThe bad news about finding a new home is that rents are super high so I need you guys to click an ad banner or use a referral link tout suite.

In case you’re curious, here are a few places I considered during the hunt.

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What has my slacker self been doing?

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Hi friends,

This flu really knocked me for a loop – and I haven’t felt at all creative about writing. There are MANY unfinished posts hanging out in the Drafts section waiting to be ready. But rather than bore you with something potentially silly or rush the process, I have stayed rather quiet. Hope you understand.

Here’s what I’ve been doing recently.

Reading this book in preparation for seeing the much-lauded Hamilton on Broadway with Ms. Moxie. Before you get too excited, we’re going in NOVEMBER. Waiting is hard. Particularly given that my friends are always posting about it.

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A post shared by Amalah (@amalah) on

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Where are they now – real estate edition

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Remember my apartment search when I was moving back to NYC from DC? I can’t forget. I might be scarred for life.

Something made me look back at the apartments I considered to see what rents look like now.

A penthouse studio at now goes for $3450 at 95 Christopher Street.

Via Streeteasy

Via Streeteasy

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Saying goodbye to NeighborKid (and other thoughts on moving)

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Last Sunday, I played apartment hallway baseball with NeighborKid. I had a minor hangover and was wearing the boot. Truthfully I just wanted to go back to bed with a pillow over my face.

But she was so happy to play that I kept pitching and she kept hitting.

After all, I’m moving soon so I won’t have many more moments like these.

NeighborKid

When I moved into this apartment, NeighborKid was two and a half years old. More baby-like than kid often. She had a sometimes challenging personality (her parents would agree!). But now, she’s fun and silly and I’ll miss her.


Fortunately the new apartment is giving me lots of reasons to be excited: Continue reading →

Moving on up!

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I’m moving on up…to the Northside of Williamsburg, that is.

At the end of May, I’ll be moving approximately seven blocks from where I presently live to a much larger apartment I’ll share with my friend Katie.

One bonus: my rent is going to go down by a LOT. Another bonus? There’s a washer dryer in the apartment. This is a big deal in NYC.

When I told my mother that I am moving, it was clear to me that she hoped it would be to a Manhattan apartment. Sorry, Mom.

WB

I like Williamsburg and here I can afford a much, much nicer apartment than in Manhattan.

The only thing I’m not excited about? Packing. Ugh.

Los Angeles apartments have pink tile too

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I thought NYC had a lock on weird apartments. Craigslist will prove otherwise.

I give you a small selection of Los Angeles‘ rental oddities.

Pink tile.

LA pink tile

Green tile

Mint

Carpeting. Ugh, carpeting.

Carpeting

This is the extent of the kitchen.

Bachelor

Like in New York, you can find sad window air conditioner units reflected in mirrored closets.

uggles

Just to be clear, I’m not moving to Los Angeles. It’s true that LA is one of my favorite places and I look forward to my trips there. Every time I’m there, I wonder what it would be like to live in LA.

The apartment that got away

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I know I said I was staying put, but then the rent went up and I started looking around.

The pickings were slim, as always given that it’s NYC, but I kept looking. It seemed like a good opportunity to press RESET, perhaps lower my rent and maybe even go back to Manhattan. As I’ve said, I love Williamsburg, but the L train occasionally challenges my sanity. It would also be nice to have more friends closer to home.

I saw a few “one bedrooms” that were actually studios with a funny wall built to awkwardly break up the space. Like this.

Via Bond

That seems to be the trick of the moment. Years ago, before NYC realtors used the internet much for posting their listings, tricks included not telling you the apartment location and making you meet them on a nearby corner (so you wouldn’t try to see the apartment independently and avoid their broker’s fee).

Then I saw one apartment that was a possibility. Continue reading →

NYC real estate in a nutshell

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While doing some comparison shopping, I came across this bit of hilarity.

Pauper.jpg

How many paupers do you know that can spend close to $3000 on monthly rent?

Pauper 2.jpg

A real pauper would instead consider this room in Nolita which is gently priced at $395 per month. Of course, it’s also disgusting.

Gross apartment

Now you see how I keep coming back to the I’m Staying Put conclusion.

Should I stay or should I go?

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The early days of this blog featured a few posts about my epic apartment hunt in 2011. After all of that, would you believe that I have thought about moving? I considered it.

kitchen

I love my apartment with a few small exceptions: Continue reading →