be cautious with this landlord

DO NOT LET THIS LANDLORD OR HER REPRESENTATIVE LIE TO YOU. I am the former tenant and my partner and I were ideal tenants. I am happy to share my experiences but you deserve the truth. UTILITIES ARE VERY HIGH Utilities are outrageous. They lied to us about this so I would like you to know this going in. If you can afford the rent plus utilities then you have nothing to worry about. The first year... [more]

DO NOT LET THIS LANDLORD OR HER REPRESENTATIVE LIE TO YOU. I am the former tenant and my partner and I were ideal tenants. I am happy to share my experiences but you deserve the truth. UTILITIES ARE VERY HIGH Utilities are outrageous. They lied to us about this so I would like you to know this going in. If you can afford the rent plus utilities then you have nothing to worry about. The first year we paid $700 and $900 (nov and dec) in utilities. After I went to level billing it was $400 a month. Keep in mind they are 3 very old under the window units and the only way you can control the bills is to constantly worry about having them on. We get efficiency reports from Con Ed that consistently show we are using double the energy of an average similar home. Factor this in when you look at this place. We sent the landlord requests to replace and all the information on new units but she never even responded to us. THE LANDLORD HAS A COMMUNICATION PROBLEM The landlord communicates late and often never responds to you and shows no interest in resolving issues that are problematic in the apartment. Our request to fix broken items and to do regular updates like caulking tubs that were never correctly caulked were ignored. THESE ARE LUXURY PRICES. YOU DESERVE TO HAVE A WELL MAINTAINED APARTMENT. MAKE SURE YOU GET LANGUAGE IN THE CONTRACT THAT SPECIFICALLY SAYS THE 600 SQ FT TERRACE IS PART OF THE APARTMENT. We took this apartment for the terrace. The inside is only 850 sq ft. The outside is 600 sq ft. It is the reason she prices it as she does and the reason we rented it. This year in June with no warning at all people showed up and took the terrace out of commission for 5 weeks during the time when a terrace is most important. I subtracted the 5 weeks loss from the rent. I proactively told her what I was going to do and she claimed the terrace WAS NOT PART OF THE APARTMENT and that I could. not do that. If it is not part of the apartment DO NOT LET HER CHARGE YOU the same as the other apartments. $4000 / mos is what the full size apartments cost and they are HUGE and you can use the space all year. Do not over pay for 850 sq feet. Get language that says the terrace is part of the apartment. THIS IS NOT A 2 BEDROOM APARTMENT It is originally a 1 bedroom. A wall was put up cutting the living space in half to make an office. with a tiny closet. No one could live permanently in that second bedroom. Its great for guests but not a full time living situation. It is also great for an office. But again, they are trying to charge for a 2 BEDROOM. I lived there almost 3 years. It is uncomfortable for guests after a week. Especially when the massive ac/heat unit is blowing right on you. WINDOWS DO NOT OPEN The windows have child safety locks on them. You cannot open to get fresh air so your utility bills go even higher. Hot air gets trapped in the apartment and you cannot open the windows to let it out. WASHER DRYER AND OVEN HEAT THE PLACE UP The washer / dryer is not vented properly. Im not sure its legal. It will heat the apartment up very quickly and make it humid. Same with the oven. It just makes the window issue and the utility issue worse. Many of these issues are fixable and for the right person or couple this set up is amazing. However, you need to get a commitment from the landlord up front that she can fix these issues and will communicate with you and negotiate with you in a timely way. Nothing replaces human to human communication. [less]