ThermonMermon

Moved in yesterday. Let me know what you guys think.

NYC rents fluctuate upwards of 20% depending on the month you sign, so I did my due dili and checked out market reports, and avg monthly rates. im in real estate investment banking, so its only natural...in the end, I wound up with an amazing apartment in the heart of the East Village. The place is an absolute steal - a true 1 bdrm for well under 2Gs/mo without ridiculous broker fees.

The neighborhood is unreal. Every other storefront is a lounge, bar, or restaurant. Its a great place to be single, thats for sure. The apt looks out towards Tompkins Sq Park. St Marks Place is around the corner, and Union Square is within a 10 min walk. The only qualm I have is the noise, as the street below is absolutely packed with young people - which is cool, but could sometimes be an annoyance.

those sketches shown are my freehands from my previous life as an architect. the hanging photos (most of which you cant see in the pics) are also my travels - i got photos of Florence, Munich, Buenos Aires, Iguazu, Rome, Venice and Amsterdam. the theme is world culture. ha. i really couldnt be happier in this place.

TL5280

Congrats, the place looks great. Were you already living in NYC?

ThermonMermon

used to have a room share in a herald sq. tower. it was basically a box with a view. the old apt was cool, on a 50th flr, actually - but thats not my style. the neighborhood had no culture, and the wall st roomies didnt have secure positions. the older rent was higher, and i had to share a bathroom. just wasnt worth it, in my book.

photos from the old place (not my actual unit)

Sarlacc

you really are pretty full of yourself, huh

ThermonMermon

not at all...just explaining the living situation

ThermonMermon

oh, were you referring to the photos/sketches?

maybe a bit narcissistic, but thats like an artist not hanging up his own work. i guess...ha

NSXNEXT

iTrader: (2)

Did you forget the red text?

Nice plan TM. Always wanted to live in the city, just didn't have the guts to do it.

Renegade

I hate the East Village, bunch of hippy weirdo's running around there, but place looks good.

el.profe

iTrader: (2)

Congrats bro. I think you got a great deal, I'm always at union square. I think thats the best place to be at. Your in the middle of it all.

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

Looks nice!

ThermonMermon

thanks for the comments, guys.

yes, the hipsters could get to be a bit much, but its not as bad as williamsburg. from what ive seen so far, ppl are constantly out during weekdays. very european vibe to it, as if everyone is on a siesta. it really makes me scratch my head as to how ppl afford rent. even though E. Village is one of the cheapest neighborhoods, its still manhattan nonetheless.

i believe a lot of these young hipsters are either NYU undergrads who's parents pay rent, or trust fund babies who just chill / "freelance" a few hours a day. i guess the most extreme scenario, which i have witnessed firsthand, are ppl/couples my age in the area who were given 5M brownstones, dont work, and pay off their MTGs with sublets. pretty damn outrageous.

GIBSON6594

Nice, under 2G's huh? Not bad at all.

michimonster

Thanks for the reminder that I'm being raped in rent. I dont even live in NYC and I pay near that.

DarkSithCL

iTrader: (1)

Really cool digs! love the brick on the wall... sweet views and an actual nite life are worth the noise... plus, nothing is forever... I have a great home, I am renovating our other home and I want to move again...

ThermonMermon

if it makes you feel better, the avg market values are well over 2Gs.

http://www.tregny.com/pdf/market_report_mar_10.pdf

here are some expensive areas:
tribeca avg studio: $2,589
soho 1 bdrm: $3,880
soho 2 bdrm: $6,983

my reasoning for the move: most room shares in a converted unit in an elevator building are ~1500-$2000. but the fake partitions render the common space with zero daylight. so to me, finding a walk-up jr 1 bdrm for <2000 in a cheap, yet cool, neighborhood with my own kitchen, bathroom, and an actual living room, was a no brainer. granted, im 49 floors lower than my old apt, but dont care for that.

as for east village market - non doorman buildings: $2,462 1 bdrm, and $1,725 studio.

so im paying $1750 for a ~300+ sq ft. jr one bedroom, which is basically the size of a studio. (9x9 bedroom, 13x10 living room, 9x7 kitchen, bath, 2 closets) so i dont have the "living in a box" feeling that most NYC studio give you.

im waiting to discover something horribly wrong with this place. i think it could be just the noise factor. the bedroom is on the 2nd floor faces ave a, and is above a bar and restaurant and bus stop. sunday night, i was able to make out sidewalk conversations quite clearly from bed until midnight. it felt as if i was sleeping on the sidewalk. i guess thats the downfall :/ if it the noise isnt much later than midnight on a weekday, then ill be happy.

F-C

Looks small.

chill_dog

The place looks nice, but ~300SF . I can't imagine living in a place that small, especially considering that cost. I thought the two bedroom, two bath apartment I had for a year after I got out of college was small at just over 800SF.

GIBSON6594

Meet NYC. The ass rapist of America.

godfather2

sweet

hornyleprechaun

I enjoyed my 1100 sq. ft. apartment for $980/month after college.. was 10 minutes from Buckhead and 10 minutes from work

Nice looking place

ThermonMermon

ahh yeah...my old 2 bdrm was ~6500/mo and it had to be converted to 3 bdrms, with the kid in the master suite shelling out close to 3000/mo just to share the place. so now, getting in 1 bdrm under FMV for 1750 is a breath of fresh air.

funny though, im in real estate investing, so i need to play both sides of fence, owner/tenant speaking.

ThermonMermon

NYC pricing has gotten to the point that you need to compete with the elitists of the world. high end condos are barely even affordable by american standards. only ceo's, and Wall St MDs apply. foreigners have been super hesitant in buying luxo condos...apparently my chairman snagged a 10M penthouse in a new DFR building for a whopping 20% discount. MGMT had three foreign buyers walk before closing.

its the city of elitism. cant tell you how many friends were completely rejected from NYC MBA programs bc upwards of 30-40% of the seats of designated for foreigners.

chill_dog

Scary, and you don't even own it. From a market perspective, I know that's how it is there, but that doesn't diminish the ridiculousness of it. Between that and the weather, no wonder all of you guys move down here .

The place does look nice, though. Like others, I really like the brick.

gatrhumpy

iTrader: (1)

You should go to Home Depot and get some cable hiders to hide that cable in the first pic!

Nice apartment!

ThermonMermon

the most ridiculous part of it is that in NYC, you need 40x rent to get approved. if you use guarantor, its 80x...multi-room apartments cannot be approved by combining 40x salary of the roommates. must be one person. so you must go through with guarantor...

meaning that room-shares in most elevator buildings frequented by young professionals MUST be guarantored by one roommate's father who makes 80x rent. so in order to get approved for an AVERAGE rent of 6500 means that one of the roommates has a father with a salary of 520k or greater. no joke, you would get denied at 519k...if that's not insane, i dont know what is.

GIBSON6594

This is why I hate it here. I hope to move out in the somewhat near future.

ThermonMermon

yeah, its nuts.

it really puts back into perspective my previous comment on hipsters living in multimillion dollar brownstones as "gifts" in the east village...hell, if you need a parent (guarantor) making close to 7 figures just to get you approved for a rental room-share, that parent might as well decide to go ahead and buy the child a $million+ condo/brownstone as an investment...which is probably why this happens more often than one would think.

Majofo

Try living in Hawaii.. My gf and I lived in a ~300sf studio for a year and paid about the same but power was ~0.24 / kwH. Had a full size bathroom and closet but our kitchen was small, w/ small 2 burner stove and mini fridge. We basically bought groceries every few days. Tough to beat the view and amenities from the complex though.

thunder04

iTrader: (1)

I love the brick! Nice place.

CLSter

It's nice. Makes me appreciate my 1520 sq ft home on .23 acres for $1600/mo.

ThermonMermon

buses / bus stop and streetsweepers 20' from bed - literally. all night.

how do i sound proof two bedroom windows facing street? is there some magical clear laminate? heavy curtains? or should i drown the noise with some sharper image bullshit?...no to ear plugs. thx.


fyi, the windows are 2'-6" x 6'-0" with double pane window casements. thin glass. prob 30+ yrs old.

hornyleprechaun

chill_dog

I'd recommend thick curtains with insulation. If the windows are that bad, the insulation will help in the winter. Plus, it helps cut sound. A thick fabric material will cut sound, as well. Sound proof? No. Cut sound? Yes. Sound proofing would cause you to loose use of the windows.

ThermonMermon

haha. well, its the loudest neighborhood in NYC. i was told that i would "get used to it" by previous tenant and friends. i didnt really get OWNED, b/c the noise isnt unique to my apt. im just complaining now b/c its new to me.

ill try the curtains. any films or something cleaner looking?

Majofo

Sorry OP but that is fucking hilarious.. hopefully it's only a weekly sweep. Thick curtains will do wonders. If you want to get serious you can buy polyurethane foam sheets to dampen the noise. The sheets are extremely cheap, typically used for packing but are great sound dampeners as well.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

nice place...and nicely kept.
do you by any chance go by the name Tyler Durden?

thunder04

iTrader: (1)

GIBSON6594

You'll get used to it

ThermonMermon

are you saying the way i setup the apt looks like im bi-polar?? b/c i think the brick wall ensemble doesnt correspond well to the wall with the couch/bamboo.

i guess you are you saying im a neat freak? haha. i just moved in, bro. the beer bottles and bras will come shortly.

ThermonMermon

hope so...for now, im in owned-denial phase.