How We Found Our New Jersey Apartment
Finally – a little peak into our New Jersey apartment! It has been about 2.5 months since I packed up all my things and moved to bagel mecca. I’ve been taking forever to post about my lovely apartment because there is still so much to do. For example, I have a shelf that has been in my living room for about a month, hooks that still need to be put in my closet, and I eventually want to put up a gallery wall in my bedroom. But it’s slowly coming together.
Note: most of the furniture you see are from Bob’s discount furniture and Home Goods.
A Little Background
Back in April, I accepted a Digital Marketing Analyst position at Need Supply. It was like a dream come true. Finally, I’d be able to sell products I actually love. Since my roommate from college/best friend goes to school near by, it was a no brainer that we should live together. Like the over prepared planners we are, we immediately started a spread sheet in Google docs.
How We Organized Our Search
I actually found this idea from Francesca who moved to the city a little over a year ago. She had the great idea of sectioning off a spread sheet as the following:
- Location
- Link to listing
- Rent + additional expenses (broker fee, first month, last month, security deposits)
- What we like about it
- What we don’t like about it
- How long the commute is for each of us
- Contact information for realtor
- Tour date
After we made our list, we highlighted the ones we really wanted to see. Courtney ended up seeing four or five apartments because she was closer and I came down once we fell in love with two. The whole process took us about a week and a half – crazy I know!
What We Were Looking For
I admit, we had an extensive list for what we were looking for. Courtney needed “easy” parking because she would be commuting to school every day. I on the other hand only cared about two things: safety and open windows. Since I have a ton of houseplants, I needed sunny rooms to keep them thriving. I also wanted an apartment where I wouldn’t be scared walking home at night and that had great locks for when I’m inside. We also really wanted to be able to do laundry in the home/apartment.
What to Check for When You’re Touring Apartments
I admit, I don’t have much experience with this because I only saw two of the apartments. The one we didn’t get was going to be a nightmare. It had narrow stairs to get to the fourth floor which would make it impossible to bring everything up. Based on the pictures, the apartment looked huge but when we actually visited the space we felt like we were going to topple over each other. There would have been a fire escape right outside Courtney’s bedroom window where anyone could break into um no thank you. The bottom floor is where laundry was and anyone could break into the building through a window or door at the bottom. Lastly, the entire time we were there a dog was barking above us. I’m telling you all this to prove that it’s important to have back ups and look at one or two places. Sometimes it looks better on the internet.
What We Ended Up Finding
We ended up finding an adorable apartment in the Hoboken-Weehawken-Union City area (I don’t want to be specific as to where exactly because some people are creeps… not you though). We live in the top part of a gorgeous, 1920s house. The owners of the house live on the bottom floor and are beyond nice. There are multiple locks you have to go through in order to get inside, a washer and dryer, ample parking in front of the apartment, and a million windows for my plants. We ended up getting extremely lucky with the amount of space where we have two living rooms, two bedrooms, a giant kitchen, and one bathroom. Plus, my commute is very easy with a 15-20 minute bus ride and a 20 minute subway. It beats my old commute!
My Favorite Part of the Area
I took this picture yesterday on my walk. The best part of living on the Jersey side of New York City are the incredible views. I feel like my Instagram stories are just covered with these spectacular views. Plus, I love that I can get away from the city. Although I technically still live in a city, it is much easier than the city.
What did your first apartment look like? How did you find it? Let me know in the comments down below.
As always,
One Comment
Pingback: