Direct to nowhere

So recently I have been going back and forth on my opinion on Rentdirect.com.

According to them, you can sign up and be treated to numerous apartment postings that are no fee and hard to find anywhere else.

Now is this correct? I'm not really sure.

Let me explain - sure, they did have some postings directly from management companies but they were in no way exclusive.

Basically, I paid about $200 to search through the same apartments (for four weeks) that I ended finding by myself on no-fee Websites.

The one posting I was interested in was wrong and off about 300 dollars.

But because I have the tenacity of a 1980s windshield wiper, I found some great Web sites to look for apartments in New York City.

I also highly recommend the small real estate company Cherie Group. They did some tough negotiating and won us a great deal for our apartment with only one month fee.

I'm not saying that you HAVE to do a New York City apartment search with a broker but rather you must have tons of time by yourself. It's a full time job.

Some Web sites I used are found below. I'm 100 percent earnest when I say that these Web sites are amazing and perfect examples of how much porn I could've bought instead of using Rentdirect.


http://www.jakobsonproperties.com/

http://www.no-fee-apartments.com/

http://d1028343.domain.com/review.php (AMAZING list of management companies)

http://members.tripod.com/new_york_ny/index-7.html (This site is UNREAL. Seriously.)


I might have been naive in this, but basically I found that this is what works best.

Frazzled apartment hunter: Hello, Good morning (afternoon/evening/that time in between night and morning because you can't sleep) I'm not a broker, but am looking for an apartment. Do you have any open?

Gruffy manwoman that for some reason sounds like they are mad at you: Yes, one bedroom on West 23rd for five million a month.

Even more Frazzled apartment hunter: (After a gasp followed by a crushed whimper) Ok.. Anything in the $1,200 a month price range?

Gruffy Manwoman: Chewbacca wail laughter phone hangs up

Hysterical apartment hunter cries into the phone


Wipe tears, repeat and lather.