Monday, May 12, 2008

Apartment picking day.

(Part 11) We both arrive around 6 and wait for our leasing agent, Clay. It took a while before we went out to look at places. They found 5 units to look at though. 3 one bedrooms and 2 two bedrooms. The first one bedroom was very nice, and spacious with an entrance right on the street (most units only have entrances facing the courtyard (i.e. the center of the block)). However, those units (1425 Brooklyn Ave) are 3 blocks from the subway and both my roommate and myself are pretty pretty lazy. The next one bedroom is a little closer, 2/2.5 blocks from the subway. It's a little smaller, but nice. There's a two bedroom in the next building that is also nice. We see one last one bedroom and one last two bedroom. These are near the management office (which is near the one mail room and one laundry facility), at the corner of Foster Ave and New York Ave. They too are nice. We've now come to the realization that the only thing that matters is size and layout, because they all look the same before being renovated, and they are all of similar quality after being renovated. Though some have tile-floor kitchens and some have tacky laminate floor kitchens (the first being far superior, see pictures). Also, the color of tile may vary after renovation. They seems to buy mixed lots of tile to save money. However, I (and probably most people) prefer that little bit of a hodge podge color look in tiles, as compared to a uniform color look. They look nice. So yeah, if you don't care about tile v. laminate, or slight color differences, then the post-renovated units are all going to look the same (basically).


So, we like them all. Probably want to think about it. Clay seems anxious to leave because his friend (who is apparently picking him up) is waiting. He tells us of a two bedroom near the subway that over looks the basketball courts opening up for June 15th if we want to come back. He also recommends that we could pick now, or call him early tomorrow morning and he'll hold the units for a little bit while we arrange a money order for the deposit. So, we part ways to think it over. Seems likely we'll ask if we can hold our favorites until we can come back to see June 15th apartments, and do that asap.


BTW, Clay doesn't live in Flatbush either. Though I asked him about that, and he said he applied and was approved, but is nervous about living there since they might call him to fill in all the time. A fair concern. He says the guy in the video (see www.flatbushgardens.net) still lives there.




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