Bob In The Village

Greetings - my friends. Today I have a few tidbits of good news to share with you guys. I have decided to accept an offer from Register.com who offered me the job two weeks ago. After going on a few more interviews - I decided that I was ready to get back to work and wanted to work in a new industry - so I will be starting in 2 weeks. Also I have just found an apartment!!! In the last few days - I have been looking at apartments in Manhattan - and boy let me tell you - it is so exhausting. There are so many factors to look at - obviously price, location, size, kitchen counter space, and FEES. These apartment brokers will charge a fee that is 15% of your annual rent. So on a $1,600 apartment they get almost $3,000. Outrageous if you ask me, but of course no one is. The other day I was fortunate to find a gem of a place on the edge of SOHO. And the best part was that it was one of the few that did not have a fee. It was quite spacious relatively speaking of course, full size tub, immaculate and it was on top of a subway stop. There were a few negatives - it was facing busy 6th Ave., the building is on top of a subway stop, and ther is absolutly no counter space. The kitchen could only fit one person and had a stove, refrigerator, a sink, plus cabinets on top. So there was no room for counters to store a dish rack, microwave or to even cut up anything to cook. The other thing was the subway, it sure is nice to get downstairs and walk 10 feet to the subway. But you can kind of hear and feel it just a little when one passes by. Then after looking at about 8 other dives - I was just about to give up and go with the SOHO apartment. But before I could - I decided to finish the last appointment of the day and see what this one other guy had to offer. And to my surprise - I found my new apartment. It is not big - under 500 sq ft. But it is oh so charming and cute. I really like it and I had to pay him a fee - arrgghh...however I did manage to get him to reduce it by $400 and I also got them to reduce the monthly rent by $150. It is in a great neighborhood - Greenwich Village - YEAH!!!!! - 5 minutes from SOHO and 10 minutes from the East Village. So all in all I am very pleased. It is rather quite charming and cozy I must admit. It just needs a little lovin' and a whole lot of scrubbin'. And for all of those who are planning to visit soon - come on by - I know of a great hotel a few blocks away!!!