fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #3224 ]

[ SECRET POST #3224 ]

⌈ Secret Post #3224 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.

__________________________________________________

02.

__________________________________________________

03.

__________________________________________________

04.

__________________________________________________

05.

__________________________________________________

06.

__________________________________________________

07.

__________________________________________________

08.

Notes:

Sorry about early, have stuff to do!

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 042 secrets from Secret Submission Post #461.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I'm writing a story where 2 characters are apartment hunting (in NJ/NY area). Most of the places they are looking at are very low-end. One character is a hacker-type, college aged. The other is a retired guy, not tech-savvy but handy around the house.

What sort of things would they see or look for while apartment hunting (especially inside the apartments themselves)? What do you guys look at when checking out a new apartment?
Anything the hacker in particular would want for his computer operation?
Anyone have any tips for things to include or consider for the NJ/NY area? Anything unique to the area? Or areas where seedy apartments would be? How about housing close to colleges?
Any general horror stories for apartment hunting?

Really anything you know about apartment hunting would be great. I've never looked for an apartment before.

I'm in NJ but haven't really apartment hunted in low end areas.

Housing close to colleges? What school are you looking at?

I can help with the NJ side of it because I know people here, but I avoid apartment hunting in the city, not worth the headache for me. In this area, you're not going to find apartments at a low end budget with a lot of amenities, they're going to be basic and tiny. You'll find that pretty much any new construction is going to be high end, so you'll find a lot of older apartments.

For mass transit, they'll be in either Newark or Jersey City if they're in NJ.

I don't have any schools in mind but I was thinking that they might find some affordable apartments close to a college. The apartment's for the college-aged kid but he's not actually at a college. I just thought he might feel at home at an apartment complex with people about his age, and it's possible (depending on the school) that there might be more security to make the old guy feel better about the kid living in a college-connected apartment complex.

(In the movie, the kid was living in Camden but I don't think he really has any attachment to anywhere. He works from home so it can be anywhere he can do that. He's dirt poor and so the tiny/basic/old building was what I was thinking, so that's good to know. The old guy lives in NY.)

Do you have a price range for the area? I'm not sure Zillow would list the dumps that they're going to look at. Are there any glaring mistakes people make about the NJ area that you see in fics?

Around here, you're not going to find really cheap apartments just because they're near a college because most of the big schools happen to also be in nice areas (Rutgers-New Brunswick, Stevens-Hoboken, Montclair)

Camden is a shithole and about two hours from NY. No one who wants to be in NY will be anywhere near Camden. You're better off looking Camden/Philly than NYC/NJ.

Are you looking for two bedroom? One bedroom? Studio? Those are the major apartment options in the area. College town (young hipsters) would be Hoboken, but rents are expensive. A little bit further out would be Harrison and reasonable rents.

Shithole cities in Northern NJ? Newark or Irvington.

Thanks! Looks like the college-thing won't work (that's what's around where I live so that's good to know).

I think Studio or one bedroom would probably work best. The kid in the story doesn't have much money and is probably fine living in a shitty place since he seemed fine in Camden in the beginning of the movie (he's an off-the-grid type and probably not a hipster). The older guy would want him to move somewhere safe so if I were to have the kid looking in Camden, Newark, Irvington, and the old guy suggesting Hoboken/Harrison, would that get that across? Or are the rents too different and the old guy would come off as tone deaf to the kid's poorness?

(Thanks for the perspective, this is really helpful.)

I think the old guy might be better off suggesting Harrison/Jersey City. Hoboken is probably priced out of their range a bit. Jersey City varies considerably in neighborhoods, some are expensive and some are cheap and dangerous.

Can I ask what movie this is? Now I'm curious what movie features Camden in any light. Again, Camden is far from NYC, relative to the other areas, so that might another point between the two of them.

I'm assuming you're looking more city/walkable areas as opposed to just surburban towns that might often garden apartments.

Die Hard 4
The kid's apartment in Camden is blown up in the opening action scene. The old guy is a NY police detective but they don't say where exactly (at least I don't remember it) so I'm wondering where to put his house too.

I'm basically looking for shitty apartments that they end up rejecting. They end up only finding one apartment in the end but the story is about the host of crappy ones they they have to look at first. I was thinking of apartments like the one in the movie, which looked very urban and shitty.

Check Queens or the Bronx for NYC.

If you want something realistc, have them check out an apartment in Newark or Irvington and then find out there was a shooting nearby the next day for a reason to reject that apartment. Mostly Newark. Or Jersey City even. Very believable. Irvington is more either project apartments or typical two family three story homes.

A person I know learned a few years ago that apparently expecting the apartment to have non-oil based lighting, or even better a ceiling, is not something you take for granted.

By the way anything under $800/mo in that region is going to be a hellhole.

You have to think about what your characters prioritise. Like when I got my current apartment I was somewhat torn between one apartment with large bathroom/tiny kitchen and one with tiny bathroom/large kitchen. I figured a large kitchen was more important for me than a large bathroom.

Are your characters comfortable with either sharing one bedroom or have one crash one the couch, or do they prefer to have seperate bedrooms. Or heck maybe they're cool about sharing one bed. (I realise now that I think of your characters as friends, but if they are lovers this is less of an issue)

Other than that, check out areas, talk to neighbours if possible. Is there a place nearby you can get a coffee at 3AM? It really just comes down to what your needs are.

For the story, what I need is mild conflict between the characters. They're not actually going to get an apartment in the end, so I need a lot of reject-apartments and an assortment of reasons for rejecting from two guys who have very minimal requirements. The only must-have from a character POV is whatever hackers need for their setup (so outlets that work . . . can't really think of anything else).

(For clarification, it's akin to a college kid going with his dad to look at places.)

Thanks for the suggestions!

re: hacking:

privacy. they probably don't want windows facing into somewhere where someone could spy on them, balconies that can be climbed into easily,

or maybe a good emergency escape route?

they want neighbors that aren't nosy, too

Having now successfully rented my own suite, I have found that generally people look for the following:

1. Close to school or work
2. If not walking distance to the above close to amenities (food, shopping, bus route, subway, etc)
3. Price of rent/utils isn't extravagant
4. Allows pets (if pet owner)
5. Actual condition of the apartment itself (no infestation, rooms look okay, no mold, working appliances, bathroom large enough, etc.)

People tend to mostly look through craigslist or some other popular classified ad site (kijiji etc) these days, and will skip ads with no photos attached unless the rent and location are incredibly competitive.

I'm from Boston, but I might be able to help. Probably look for what appliances the apartment offers - most low-end won't have dishwasher or laundry, but they might have communal, coin-op laundry in the basement for the whole building. The appliances most likely aren't in great shape, either, like some burners won't work, multiple outlets don't function. No AC is likely, and heat would probably be via radiators if it's an old place. They'd expect to see a good amount of damage, more likely, and signs of pest traps. One really bad place I rented had sticky paper with a long-dead mouse stuck to it in plain sight when we moved in.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ SECRET POST #3224 ]

Apartment Help

Re: Apartment Help

Re: Apartment Help

Re: Apartment Help

Re: Apartment Help

Re: Apartment Help

Re: Apartment Help

Re: Apartment Help

Re: Apartment Help

Re: Apartment Help

Re: Apartment Help

Re: Apartment Help

Re: Apartment Help

Re: Apartment Help