clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

In Which The Apartment Search Spans the Village

New, 8 comments

If reading The Hunt stokes your deepest hopes that someday everything in life could work out, then you, too, are obsessed with the New York Times Sunday Real Estate section. Join us as we venture into the depths of this weekend's installment.

Michael Igyarto and Mangesh Kulkarni were classmates at NYU Law School, and by their third year they'd just about had enough of life in the dorms. Looking to find a 3 bedroom with another classmate, they set out looking for places in the East Village. When the hunt went a little too far east, the third roomie bailed and it became a two man search. They kept their budget between $2,800 and $3,200 per month depending on the broker fee and finally found a spot on East 10th and Avenue D. Considering the Law School is on the westerly side of of Washington Square, it's either a really short cab ride or a pretty long walk.

The plan was for them and a friend from law school to share a three-bedroom rental in the East Village, the only nearby neighborhood that seemed affordable. Miron Properties showed up as having a nearby location in the East Village. Mr. Igyarto enlisted Julia Perez, an agent there, to help. He told her he was interested in a three-bedroom for $4,200 or $4,300 a month.

For that price, most places had small living rooms. The only one that seemed reasonable was on East Second Street between Avenues C and D, but the third roommate felt it was too far from school.

So the third roommate dropped out, eventually finding a room in a more central Greenwich Village location.

This time, they had a limit of $2,800 a month if they had to pay a broker’s fee, and $3,200 if they didn’t.

She showed him an apartment on 14th Street, between Avenues A and B, not far from the L train. Mr. Igyarto didn’t mind being on a commercial cross street, but the apartment, at $2,700 a month, was small.

At a new building on Third Street between Avenues A and B, $3,000 a month would secure only a one-bedroom that could be converted to two. But doing so would eliminate much of the living room.

Finally, on 10th Street between Avenues C and D, Mr. Igyarto saw the first and only place that excited him. In a new midrise building with an elevator and a laundry room, it had two bedrooms and a living room. At $2,895 a month plus a broker’s fee, the cost was on the high side, but “we decided we would adjust up,” Mr. Igyarto said.


·