Property Tales
BARBARA LILIE moved to New York in 1998, planning to share a Manhattan apartment with a friend. After two weeks of hustle and bustle, the friend decided New York was not for her. Lilie had to find her own place.
"I couldn't afford Manhattan. Brooklyn seemed reasonable, but I didn't know which neighborhoods were safe and convenient. In the Yellow Pages, I found a real estate agency with 'Brooklyn' in its name. It was in Bay Ridge. So, not realizing how far it is, I took a place in Bay Ridge-the first of my five apartments during the last six years," says Lilie.
She paid $600 per month for a just-renovated studio in a private home. The owners were darlings.
"They were an Italian family. They had a Virgin Mary statuette in the front yard and invited me to barbecues in the backyard. They treated me like family, but eventually I tired of having noisy kids around and of living in a studio-which was too small, especially after my boyfriend moved in with me," says Lilie.
So, after a year and a half in the studio, Lilie took another Bay Ridge apartment.
"It was newly, tastefully renovated-1200 square feet, two bedrooms, high ceilings, tons of closet space. I loved it," she says. "But the express bus to Manhattan took an hour and a half. The commute was a pain in the ass. My friends lived in the city. I felt isolated. I decided to move."
By then, Lilie's boyfriend was working and living on Long Island. Lilie spent weekends with him, so opted for a workweek pied à terre in Manhattan. She found a Gramercy Park two-bedroom share with a friend of a friend.
"My room was tiny, but I could walk to work and to Union Square and the East Village, where I met friends," she says. "But, after six months, the leaseholder moved and the landlord decided to renovate. I'd been paying $1100; the new rent was $3500. I couldn't afford it. I had to move again, frustrating as it was."
Still spending weekends with her boyfriend, Lilie sought another temporary share. She mass-emailed friends asking for leads.
"I found a three-person share in a gorgeous four-bedroom duplex in Brooklyn Heights. I paid $800 for a big, airy room-the leaseholder was there long enough so the rent was super-cheap," says Lilie.
However, shortly after she moved in, the leaseholder moved out. Lilie interviewed for a new roommate.
"We found someone we liked and signed a new lease. I lived there for two more years. Eventually, after breaking up with my boyfriend, I wanted to establish my life in my own place. I didn't want to be 35 and living with roommates," says Lilie. "I had a job, good credit. I wanted Manhattan, newly renovated, a junior one bedroom."
Lilie saw at least 30 apartments in six months.
"I couldn't commit. Eventually I realized Manhattan wasn't happening for me. I was about to give up, but one day was randomly checking Craigslist and saw an owner's posting-no broker's fee!-for a studio five blocks from where I was living. A guy was breaking his lease in a management-company-run building, and needed someone to take over," says Lilie.
"It wasn't newly renovated, wasn't one bedroom, wasn't Manhattan. But the place had a good feel, great character. It was 500 square feet, with a bedroom alcove I could screen off, and full-size appliances in a small kitchen and a bathroom with stylish old black and while tile and a nice sink. The rent was reasonable-it increased to $1250 when I moved in, but is now rent-stabilized. It's a nice building, three blocks from the Promenade, and close to the subway. So, I thought what the hell, and took it."