For the last few weeks, I've been in a bit of exile. After about 4 years, I finally broke up with the boyfriend and moved out. My original plan was to find a job while living with him there and move out into my own apartment. However, if you've been reading my blog regularly, you would know he's a raging alcoholic, so after he made several threats to yoke me up, I felt I had to leave immediately for my safety. I packed my shit up and left the Bronx expeditiously. I am now out of state temporarily living with my Mom.
I did find a job while up there, but now the problem is finding an apartment. Anyone who has gone apartment hunting in NY knows it's a nightmare, which is mainly why I didn't want to leave the Bronx and tried to just endure the boyfriend. But the violent drinking habits reached peak, which put a monkey wrench in my plans. Now I'm stuck 400 miles away from NY, away from my school, away from my job, and now trying to look for an apartment in there. The thought of driving back and forth in an attempt to find a place is not going to be easy. There are scams, hotels are expensive, and you can apply to multiple apartments before being approved to stay in a closet. Due to the amount of crooked landlords, you have to do your due diligence before accepting an apartment. For the last 10 years I've been living in NY, and I've been lucky and have come out unscathed. But every time I have to go apartment hunting, the vulnerability returns. There have been countless people who have put down thousands on their apartment only for it to be a scam and lose all their money. Even though I am smart about these things, which is why I've never fallen for a scam, over the years, they have gotten more complex in their scams, and I feel like one day, I will get catfished.
I am looking for a true 1-bedroom that I can stay in for at least 5 years. And when I say true 1-bedroom, I mean an actual one with walls that was built as a 1-bedroom apartment and not one that some weirdlord has finagled into a 1-bedroom just to charge higher rent. Such as giving you a place with a bedroom with no goddamn closet when legally, they know an apartment can't be sold as a 1-bedroom if the bedroom doesn't have a closet. Or like the weird one I saw on Craigslist the other day with a stove, fridge, toilet, and standup shower, but with no sink in the entire place. So I guess you'd have to wash your dishes in the stand-up shower. Yes, that's the kind of bullshit you'll run into when hunting for an apartment in N,Y and that's the least of the offenses because I've seen far, far worse, such as illegal basement apartments with no windows.
At any rate, my hunting begins next week. I'm only hoping I can plan a list of places to see and come out successful in one trip.
Originally published on ΞVΞ🌸CODΞS
