So, as a follow up to my last post, we spoke with my brother in law, who has been renting in the city since he finished his undergrad. He was able to tell us what was reasonable regarding the requirements for applying and negotiating a price, and what we could ask for that would give us better bargaining power.
Today E went and gave the real estate guy what we were willing to give him, and made the offerings that we'd decided upon. Basically, we were presenting what we would be happy with- a one year lease with a slightly lower rent than what they were asking, or listed price plus a two year lease (which then locks them in at that rate). The realtor called the folks and they nixed the two year lease, but said that probably they would agree to our other option.
Given that I love to arrange things ahead of time, I've drawn up a rough (as in from memory and not to scale) floor plan of what we would have if this 31st floor apartment happens, and included pictures from the listing:
Of course, you can't possibly read all my little labels and such (though I did write some in large enough for you to see). But you can see that there's a good bit of empty space. We'd be getting somewhere between 50 sq ft and 100 sq feet more than we have now.
I like your little stick you and E watching TV. :)
ReplyDeleteOne thing...I would seriously think about putting baby at the balcony. One...I worry. A LOT. Not sure how you will be as a Mama, but I can think up things to sit and worry about. But two, and probably the more reasonable of the worries, THE LIGHT!!!!! BRIGHT OPEN WINDOWS (at least in my experience) aren't the best for naptimes. We actually bought black out curtains for Aislinn because the sun comes up on her side of the house and wakes her up too early in the summer. Otherwise, she slept 'til 8/9ish. Not sure how early you want your mornings, and it does depend on the kid, but still. Just something to think about.
I actually thought about that when it was clear which room was the master. The room with the window looking out to the balcony has a small window, with a by law mandated child safe mechanism. Plus, since our cats eat traditional blinds, we'll have to get curtains or our own blinds. I was also thinking about using a folding room divider to sort of screen the baby area off from the study area, which would block the light too. We'll have to see if any one gets us the screen thing on our registry (it's a tad expensive, but less so than putting up a wall).
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