Apartment Hunting, Day One

Today was my CraigsList day. No brokers, all Sammas. Here's how it went:

Apartment #1: Advertised by the landlord as a large one-bedroom. In reality, a tiny bedroom in a four-bedroom apartment. The landlord has already found the other three tenants: three Columbia students. Um, no thanks.

Apartment #2: A beautiful, spacious, and surprisingly reasonably priced first-floor studio across the street from Riverside Park. Easy access to everything either Titan or I could ever want. Basically my ideal apartment. But it doesn't allow dogs that weigh more than 30 pounds. Guess that won't work, then.

Apartment #3: Not much information provided in the ad. Or, at least, not the right kind of information. One-bedroom located on the fifth story of a walkup. It wouldn't be bad... except that the first three floors of the walkup reeked of urine. On top of that, it was locked and nobody was there for the "open house." I called it quits and left.

Apartment #4: Another large yet inexpensive apartment that I'm eager to see. I call the advertised number when I arrive at the door, but nobody answers. I call again. Still no response. This building actually looks presentable, and I'm interested enough to call the management company and find out what's going on. Nobody can get in touch with the assistant that's supposed to be showing the place. They're mad, I'm mad, and we'll try again tomorrow.

Apartment #5: One bedroom available in a beautifully furnished three-bedroom apartment. On the fourth floor, but with elevator access. Again, across the street from Riverside Park, and this one even comes with another big dog that would love to have Titan as a live-in buddy. Inexpensive and in a quiet neighborhood, to boot. Plus, the guy whose room I would be taking over might sell me his furniture. I'm almost sold on this one... except for the fact that one of the roommates has a seven-year-old son. Hm, it would be awkward having friends come visit me and crash on the couch with a kid in the apartment. Still... the best one I've seen today.

Tomorrow I tour some more apartments on my own and I'm also meeting with a broker to look at studios and one-bedrooms. Wish me luck!

Bonus: Someone stopped me on the street and asked me for directions today. And I knew how to get there. This. Is. Awesome.