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An amusing article in the NY Times about how finding housing on craiglist shows how particular and specific people get when it comes to finding people to live with. Like wanting the drama-free and no toffs and people who aren't around that much (but have the money).
New Yorkers are also adept at constructing what the military calls a zone of separation. A woman with an apartment at Union Square posted a photograph, not of the bedroom she wanted to rent out for $1,150 a month, but of a large divider she planned to use to create the bedroom from part of her living room.Naturally, NYC has the most real estate listings out of all the craigslist cities: Craig Newmark explained, "New York real estate is kind of a blood sport, and also, because our site is free, brokers tend to post a lot of redundant ads." True enough, which means there's more of a chance for weird ads. The other interesting, emerging debate is whether or not some specific posts are disciminatory - leading cl to post this notice. But if is it wrong to want to tickle your new roommates?Near Columbus Circle, a "very small, but cozy space enclosed by tall bookshelves and bamboo screens" is listed for $1,700 a month. Potential occupants are advised that they must be older than 30 and cannot wear shoes inside the apartment, smoke, consume alcohol, invite guests over or have "sleepovers."
Do you have a favorite craigslist real estate ad? And here's craigslist's housing postings for the five boroughs.
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Laid back Lady looking for NonPsycho Roomie to share apt. in the city
Not sure why you write about craigslist.I found it really frustrating not to know more about the roommates. I usually use www.roommateclick.com or www.roommates.com which offer a more advanced service (e.g. background check).
I hate to ask this, but what is a "toff"?
Gotta share my tale. I rented a room (not a divider, an actual room) to a woman in my two bedroom apt in a nice part of lower Manhattan (FYI, I'm a guy). She was generally okay, quiet, kept to herself, paid rent on time, etc. One day I see she left... wait for it... a turd in the toilet. I let it pass. Why? Well to look at her room and her personal grooming, you'd think she was a neat freak. But she always left the bathroom in horrible condition, even for a beer and burgers blue collar bred guy like myself. Up until the turd, I had convinced myself I was being over-observant. But the turd changed my mind. A couple weeks later I bring up the condition of the bathroom (omitting the turd) and she actually gets a bit indignant and defensive. I take it in stride and give her the "hey's it's all good, just try to work with me, thanks." Couple of weeks later...turd again. That teared it. I sit her down in the public area (the kitchen) and tell her about the repeated turd offenses. DENIAL! DENIAL OF THE MOST HIGH ORDER! To be expected, but really, what guy falsely accuses a woman of leaving turds??
Anyway, her time in the apt. lasted about 9 months, but it was after this last conversation that she soon gave notice of her departure. Okay, no prob on my end, I actually had moved into a business situation where I no longer needed to rent the extra room. So it worked out.
But get this. The night before she leaves... drum roll... yet another turd! Then, when she moves all her stuff out and comes upstairs to get her deposit back she has the nerve to act pissed off and snatches the money out of my hand. The only thing that stopped me from flipping out on her was knowing that as a guy, she could have made up anything about me and I would be guilty until proven innocent, so I just let her leave with her deposit and said nothing.
This is just a tale to well meaning guys with a room to rent like I was... Just because a potential roommate is a woman doesn't mean she'll be less trouble than a guy roommate. My advice to all: if there is any way on god's green earth you can avoid entering a roommate situation, do so. There are good examples of roommate experiences, but most don't end up well.
P.S.
If you must be a roommate...for the love of god, FLUSH and then CHECK. flushandcheck,flushandcheck, so easy yet so important.
yeah. i too had a roommate who would leave the occasional phantom turd. not cool.
This is more of a plea, than a shared experience.
Almost all apts in NYC are rented through brokers. In the web age, nobody needs a broker when they have a browser. But it's the landlords who choose the broker and the tennants who have to pay.
This isn't even capitalism: the market has no influence on this set-up. Real estate will always get rented (eventually), and so we all get ripped off.
Is there a movement to get this situation changed? With so much regulation in the US, how come this one got left out? Anyone?
Yes, but browsers can't necessarily weed through undesirable tenants. A lot of landlords and management companies don't want to deal with qualifying people and credit checks. When dealing with the most desired property in the country, I can't imagine such an established system will suddenly cave to demands of prospective tenants.
But what does that have to do with roommates? I was really enjoying the "phantom turd" thread!