There are two ways of staying long term in NYC. When you're rich you buy something, then you live there for as long as you please and then you sell it with a profit. If you're poor you rent something and work your fingers to the bone to pay the rent. New York makes the rich richer and the poor labour hard.
I tried to find a place via on line brokers. DON'T !!! This is how it works: Browsing the data base you'll find a couple of gems. These will appear to be fake. When you apply for them they won't be available anymore. They never were. But of course, now they've got you on the hook they have something else to offer. This offer will be total crap. So you'll complain about that. Then they act like they're going to make you a special offer and make you feel smart. In the heat of the negotiation they will make you an offer that looks like a mistake and so you think you have to snap immediately. DON'T !!! Carefully read the small print first!
I was about to make a deal untill I red the small print in the on-line brochure. It said "these pictures show a show model accommodation, all accommodations look the same". "Accommodation" may mean "apartment" it also may mean "furniture and amenities". So I asked for the floor plan of the apartment they offered me. To my amazement it was not available (!?!). Then I asked if the view from my apartment was similar to the pictures. The answer was "there is no window sir".
So I went to NYC to find an apartment using my own eyes. This seemed to be a good idea. Still there are lots of other ways NY real estate sharks manage to drain your wallet. First. They won't give you a contract shorter then one year. This means that if you're staying for half a year or so you'll have to break the contract and have to pay at least one extra month rent as a penalty. They're also very creative in the creation of all sorts of extra fees: application processing fee, cleaning fee, heating start up fee and so on. In most cases they want you to mail these fees in cash, check or money order. They will not accept credit card or wire transfer because these are all bribes they have to keep outside the books. And these were official renomated brokers!
On the brink of dispare and ready to make such a deal. I was dead beat and prepared to go al the way including the bribes. I made the arrangements and called to make an appointment to pass the cash, sign the contract and collect the keys. "Oh yes sir, and don't forget to bring $500,- good faith deposit to hold the apartment for you in the mean time, of course you'll get this back if we decide to cancel the deal". In other words if I would cancel the deal in my turn I would loose this money. Once I got stuck to the deal you'd bet that they would rob me even more with all kinds of so called fees and deposites.
So far my experience with the open market of free enterprice. It's not freedom - that's a fairy tale - I had nowhere to go. This was mere blackmail and extortion! Now I'm occasionally sharing apartment with Linda and rent via AirBnB all over town. AirBnB is a marvelous on-line diy system of couch sharing and sublet. No tricks, no cheats, just straight one on one deals with common honest folks like you and me. And of course there is a big political lobby going on of real estate companies trying to outlaw this grass roots self help practice. Well, I still got this crowbar in the toolshed.
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