and I thought Jenga was hard.

Photo by Matt Perrone.

Spring brings the new, and this Spring there is a lot of new coming my way. Our lease for our apartment is ending on April 30th which means it's time to get out and into a new place. Unfortunately, the semester actually ends on May 19th, so in the middle of final projects and presentations, I also have to pack up my entire life and settle into a new location. If only the trouble ended there.

I originally was simply going to relocate with 2/3 roommates I'm living with now. We found a place in East Harlem that we liked and the wheels began to turn to get the application approved and then eventually the lease signed. However, as I've come to learn is quite common in NYC, as soon as the lease it finally proposed, something goes wrong and you're back to ground zero. In this case, there were differing financial situations and I was left to find a place for the summer on my own.

It might be hard to believe but finding a place to live in New York City is actually quite difficult and for a few reasons. You need somewhere affordable - that's always a given in one of the most expensive cities in North America - but you also need somewhere safe, accessible, and with enough room for you and your stuff (you would think that one would go without saying but you also wouldn't believe how much people pay in this city pay for a closet to live in). So I began my search on Craigslist, Naked Apartment, Street Easy, and any other apartment listing websites I had been referred to. I was mostly looking for a vacant room in a 2 or 3 bedroom apartment with someone just looking to fill their room. I kept finding amazing deals, but this is where you need to be careful. You're essentially online dating for someone to LIVE with. Dangerous and also highly susceptible to crazies. It is New York City, after all. You really are asking strangers to live with them. Kind of freaky right?

Well, I went about it with a cautious hand, but I also was getting a little desperate for a place to live as my lease end date was creeping up on me. I looked everywhere. Harlem, Brooklyn, Queens, New Jersey and obviously Manhattan. It was insane. I would reply to 50 postings and get maybe 2 responses. 

Then the most annoying part comes in. I would see an apartment, love it, get along with the roommate, and the deal would be put into motion. As soon as signing the lease or closing the deal came around, something happened. Some kind of excuse, "My friends are coming into NYC and need a place to stay", "We've decided to give the room to someone else", or they would simply just stop responding. It was like building my tower and getting it nice and tall, then one wrong move, it all comes crashing down and it's time to start over - like Jenga. 

So I've learned a few things in this process:

1. Stay positive - getting frustrated is only going to make this already stressful process even more stressful.
2. Keep an open mind - some apartments may not appear amazing from the outside but you need to use your imagination. A new paint-job can make a world of difference.
3. Don't be picky - beggars can't be choosers. Don't forget that you're desperate and might be homeless...
4. Get all the details - not just the ones you want to hear. Is the neighborhood actually safe? Is the person actually clean? Laundry is how many blocks away?
5. Trust no one - People are going to say yes, but like I said there's always an unexpected no. Don't get your hopes up and look out for yourself because this stuff is subject to immediate and unexpected change. 

Beware kiddies, this chica is tired of her tower falling down and she's getting pretty good at balancing. 

The only way out is up.