The Adventure Continues
I don't think Peter or I thought that my stay at his house would be long, but the real estate market in is pretty hot and wildly expensive.
Before coming North, I had subscribed to a few free apartment e-mail services, but none of them turned up anything I could afford. On the Saturday after I arrived in New Hyde Park, I hooked up with a couple of realtors who proceeded to show me apartments around the Forest Hills area. I looked in Forest Hills as well, but it is a very expensive part of town and the rents in those places were out of my reach.
Nevertheless, I looked at a few interesting places in the surrounding neighborhoods of Rego Park and Kew Gardens. One agent, Mark from Century 21 showed me a nice place in Kew Gardens that was listed as a studio apartment, but clearly had a seperate bedroom. It was also the most reasonable rent I could find. So I acted quickly on this place because it's location was ideal for my needs, and the rent was in my range.
After calling Mark back and leaving him a message, he finally got back to me by the middle of the week and said that he would be out of town and that he would contact the landlord expressing my interest. This was the Wednesday after I arrived in New York (July 27).
Time was of the essence for me because I didn't want to overstay my welcome at Peter's house and my job started on August 1 which was the following Monday. By the end of the week I had all papers signed, securities and fees paid, but Mark told me that the landlord wouldn't make the place officially available until the following Tuesday (Aug. 2). This is what I get for moving quickly. I was beginning to get frustrated with the slow pace.
I had always understood New York City apartments needed to be acted upon quickly, but I never saw a process move so slow... at least not here. Between the time when I decided to move into this apartment and the time I actually moved in was more than a week. That may not seem like much time to many of you, but in this market, it's an eternity. I probably would have found an apartment back in Jackson faster than this.
On Tuesday, I was finally able to pick up the keys from the building superintendent and move my stuff in. Of course, it's not really that simple. You see, my building is a Co-Op and has restrictions on when and how residents can move their things into the apartment. My building's rules were that all major moving must take place between 9 and 5 Monday through Friday. The rationale for this was that in the evenings and weekends, residents shouldn't have to ride the elevators with major articles of furniture. I guess that makes sense, but it wasn't exactly good for me.
Fortunately, I knew a Baptist minister through my previous life in New York. In fact, I've known Pastor Ludwig most of my life. Anyway, he has a van and is available during the day. After our first Fellows orientation on Aug. 2, I was finally able to move all my stuff from Peter's garage and into my apartment. We jammed all my stuff into Pastor Ludwig's van after I got home from Redeemer that afternoon. Judging by how full the van was when we packed it, I thought back to the 15 foot truck I rented to bring my stuff up from Jackson. I'm glad they upgraded the size of my rental because the van was so full, there wasn't enough room for any passengers.
So now my stuff is in my new place. I still have very little furniture, but everything I own is under my own roof. I'm hoping to secure either free or very inexpensive furniture because between my rent, bills and having to put food on my table (when I get a table), I'm still operating on a shoestring budget. Hey, that's the nature of Church Planting.
I don't think Peter or I thought that my stay at his house would be long, but the real estate market in is pretty hot and wildly expensive.
Before coming North, I had subscribed to a few free apartment e-mail services, but none of them turned up anything I could afford. On the Saturday after I arrived in New Hyde Park, I hooked up with a couple of realtors who proceeded to show me apartments around the Forest Hills area. I looked in Forest Hills as well, but it is a very expensive part of town and the rents in those places were out of my reach.
Nevertheless, I looked at a few interesting places in the surrounding neighborhoods of Rego Park and Kew Gardens. One agent, Mark from Century 21 showed me a nice place in Kew Gardens that was listed as a studio apartment, but clearly had a seperate bedroom. It was also the most reasonable rent I could find. So I acted quickly on this place because it's location was ideal for my needs, and the rent was in my range.
After calling Mark back and leaving him a message, he finally got back to me by the middle of the week and said that he would be out of town and that he would contact the landlord expressing my interest. This was the Wednesday after I arrived in New York (July 27).
Time was of the essence for me because I didn't want to overstay my welcome at Peter's house and my job started on August 1 which was the following Monday. By the end of the week I had all papers signed, securities and fees paid, but Mark told me that the landlord wouldn't make the place officially available until the following Tuesday (Aug. 2). This is what I get for moving quickly. I was beginning to get frustrated with the slow pace.
I had always understood New York City apartments needed to be acted upon quickly, but I never saw a process move so slow... at least not here. Between the time when I decided to move into this apartment and the time I actually moved in was more than a week. That may not seem like much time to many of you, but in this market, it's an eternity. I probably would have found an apartment back in Jackson faster than this.
On Tuesday, I was finally able to pick up the keys from the building superintendent and move my stuff in. Of course, it's not really that simple. You see, my building is a Co-Op and has restrictions on when and how residents can move their things into the apartment. My building's rules were that all major moving must take place between 9 and 5 Monday through Friday. The rationale for this was that in the evenings and weekends, residents shouldn't have to ride the elevators with major articles of furniture. I guess that makes sense, but it wasn't exactly good for me.
Fortunately, I knew a Baptist minister through my previous life in New York. In fact, I've known Pastor Ludwig most of my life. Anyway, he has a van and is available during the day. After our first Fellows orientation on Aug. 2, I was finally able to move all my stuff from Peter's garage and into my apartment. We jammed all my stuff into Pastor Ludwig's van after I got home from Redeemer that afternoon. Judging by how full the van was when we packed it, I thought back to the 15 foot truck I rented to bring my stuff up from Jackson. I'm glad they upgraded the size of my rental because the van was so full, there wasn't enough room for any passengers.
So now my stuff is in my new place. I still have very little furniture, but everything I own is under my own roof. I'm hoping to secure either free or very inexpensive furniture because between my rent, bills and having to put food on my table (when I get a table), I'm still operating on a shoestring budget. Hey, that's the nature of Church Planting.
posted by Jack at 5:39 PM
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