I have driven past this building many times and always wondered who is going to move into this place. The building is marketed as a luxury apartment building with many of the amenities you would expect to find in Downtown Brooklyn. The building looks displaced in this neighborhood. There is an N train stop close by and some fruit stores and that's it. Not even remotely comparable to Bushwick or Williamsburg. $1900 for a studio seems a lot for this neighborhood.
There goes the neighborhood. I smell the espresso.
2
Jeez. This sounds awful.
2
I wonder what type of visa is Ms Teo holding to work in the US on a free-lance basis. I thought work visas required the visa holder to have an established employer-employee relationship. I know her status in the US isn't the point of the article and I am not ranting about people being here illegally, I am just curious because her situation seems to be an outlier.
Maybe the O1-B visa. Many non-immigrant artists are here on visas. https://www.uscis.gov/working-united-states/temporary-workers/o-1-visa-i...
1
This is considered affordable? Your living room doubles as your kitchen. Lovely. I wish her nothing but the best of luck. She is going to need it.
1
What a terrific slice of life. Ms. Teo seems smart and able to take care of herself - not like me when I rented a NYC studio in 1974! Also love that cat, who indeed looks like TROUBLE. Very best wishes to her for future success.
9
"Ms. Teo’s only complaint is that smoke from neighbors wafts in. “The smell travels through the vents, especially now in the summer when you close your windows and turn on the ventilation,” she said."
In addition to concerns for her health, how will Ms. Teo prevent the fabrics and textiles with which she works from picking up the odor of smoke? Is there no amelioration for this traveling smoke situation?
In addition to concerns for her health, how will Ms. Teo prevent the fabrics and textiles with which she works from picking up the odor of smoke? Is there no amelioration for this traveling smoke situation?
11
I'm moving to nyc next month and just heard about Insurent. Sounded like a great idea until I read that you need 50x the rent in cash. So, uh, that's a lot. Guess it'll be sublets for a while...
3
I really enjoyed reading this story about a young woman coming to New York and figuring things out for herself. Flexible, resilient, realistic, sticking to her guns of rejecting the system of "net effective rent" and making a living doing what she loves while sharing her digs with a cat named Trouble. What's not to like about this.
Best of luck to both of you!
Best of luck to both of you!
27
I HATE this "net effective" rate scam that has taken over the NYC real estate system. Fortunately Ms. Teo was well-informed and savvy, but many people get scammed.
If you are working with a broker and s/he offers you a "net effective" rate, please remember that after your lease is up your rent will be raised based on the actual rent, not their false advertised rate.
New Yorkers, please fight back against this scam, ask landlords to write leases based on the actual rent, don't let them "give" you a free month.
If you are working with a broker and s/he offers you a "net effective" rate, please remember that after your lease is up your rent will be raised based on the actual rent, not their false advertised rate.
New Yorkers, please fight back against this scam, ask landlords to write leases based on the actual rent, don't let them "give" you a free month.
9
The location of the building is actually within the confines of the area known as Brooklyn Chinatown. I guess gentrification is coming to other parts of Brooklyn. The further one goes down the N or Q lines, the cheaper is the real estate, in general.
2
That building replaced an ancient office building that once housed Borden's milk offices (if I am properly remembering pictures I've seen but can't find now) followed by a succession of other businesses. Anything built new anywhere in the borough is bound to be somewhat expensive. Must everything be labeled "gentrification?"
1
Great cat name!
7
The most encouraging part of this story is that the young lady can make a living doing custom work. Nice to know the market exists!
19
The real point of "net effective rent" is in year two, where the landlord can either get a full twelve months of rent at $2400, not $2200 "without raising the rent" by $200, or can raise the rent, e.g. to $2500 from $2400 and make it seem like a smaller increase.
9
Ms. Teo sounds well-informed, financially savvy, resourceful and resilient. It's important to understand things like "net effective rent" - she seems quite level-headed.
27
Ability to do math is a big advantage. That 3 bedroom at $2200 would cost only $733 each for 3 people to share, or $1100 each if she shared with one roommate. Instead she's paying almost $1900 a month -- out of a freelance income! I wish her the best, but what if she has a slow month? What if she wants to move in with her boyfriend?
Also from the photo: her couch is basically in the kitchen. For almost two grand a month. This is just sad.
Also from the photo: her couch is basically in the kitchen. For almost two grand a month. This is just sad.
11
It's a studio. What do you expect? Also, she was only going to split the 3 bedroom with one other person. Reading comprehension is also a big advantage.
28
Thank you, D.E. When you have a studio, your everything is in the same room. I have seen very large studios advertised in my area (1,500a sq ft) and it's the same thing, just that you can create the illusion of separation more easily when you have a larger space.
1
In 1997 i had a studio where I paid $1200/month for 250 sq ft.
Wanting to move in with my boyfriend I needed to break my lease and attempted to find a new tenant that met the landlord's requirements. I needed to find someone earning at least $80K. People showed up with spouses and dogs and parents and measuring tape and looked in my drawers and commented on my furniture and it was a very NY experience. None of them qualified...none.