It's been quite awhile--I do apologize. The apartment hunting really ate my life for a week and a half or so there, and I've been recovering since we signed a lease last Tuesday. That's right! Signed a lease!
K and I will be Brooklyn residents at the end of the month, and it feels a little bit like the end of an era. I'm a born-and-raised Manhattanite, so it'll be a bit of an adjustment.
My personal rent bill is going from $625 to $750, which is a big bump. The raise (about $90/month in real terms) will make much of the difference, but I'm also going to have to dial down my 401(k) contributions. While doing so is a bit disappointing, I've been contributing a pretty sizable amount up until now (about $115/paycheck), and reducing that to about $60/paycheck will allow me to pay my rent while still earning the full employer match in my 401(k) this year. I'm just going to get from here to December on that--my budget will need to be totally retooled then anyway, since I'll (hopefully) have met my Freedom Fund goal, and my travel fund will get much more urgent, and everything will be in flux some more.
We've paid the security deposit and the first month's rent, but have yet to figure out the situation with the broker fee--we're still hoping to negotiate the broker down from her draconian 12% figure, and it's all a little bit chaotic right now. Having pulled $1250 from savings is scary, even though I'm pretty confident that it'll be paid back when we get our security deposit back from our current place.
There's a limbo period in which many balls must be kept in the air. I'm just hoping not to drop any.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Goodness.
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11 comments:
Good luck with the new apartment. If you start to feel the pinch once you have the increase in rent, you can try making some money online in the evenings. If you find a really good set of websites to earn from you can really make a big difference to your income.
A broker fee? Is this a NY thing? Someone that shows you the apt/house gets a cut? Sheesh...
BROOOOOOOKLYYYNNN!!!!!!
(What can I say, I'm a native Brooklynite. Southern Brooklyn, though)
Congratulations on signing a lease! My boyfriend and I are thinking of moving as well - luckily it's still pretty easy to find a place in L.A. on your own - but I'm getting nervous for the hit that our savings will take when we put down the deposit. I'm just crossing my fingers that we'll get back our deposit on our current apartment.
Have fun with the moving!
hope all goes well with the move!
Not to belabor the obvious, but the time to negotiate the broker's fee was before you signed the lease. Now she has no incentive whatsoever to come down.
Congrats on the new place! I just did the same thing, but I had to pull $2,100 from savings (ack), including a "half-fee" for the broker (lame).
Keep us posted. :)
Good luck with your new apartment! I'm moving back home to Brooklyn this summer after 4 years at college, and I can't wait!
Brokers fees are ridiculous. Where else in the world does it become necessary to shell out thousands just to have the privilege of paying thousands more for the apartment?
welcome to brooklyn, and congrats on the lease :)
i know it sucks to dial down your savings, but you're still saving a very hefty sum each month, and that's something to be proud of.
Brooklyn?! Heh. ;)
But it still sounds like a pretty good deal, despite the broker's fee.
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