Thursday, October 24 Claremont Apartment

[soid]

 I stayed home so we could check out the apartment at noon, ignoring the anchor day at office (the night before, I messaged everyone in Slack that I had "to run errands" and would work from home). The apartment was Claremont Ave; it had 3 bedrooms and is very spacious, but it looked it badly needed remodeling. 

At 11:30 Ryan ran a meeting for "Roadmap," rescheduling it an hour before the start. Turned out they overhauled the subway logical map and we were gonna use mapbox for the subway with all the streets, etc. I disliked it at first. I regretted I didn't go to the office. Later I saw messages at 12:20, but I had to disconnect at 12, after walking to the apartment and listening from the phone to the meeting. What a mess! – I thought, – and why it couldn't be communicated better. Not much changes for my backend though.

The apartment viewing went well: it was exactly as in the pictures; spacious, and badly in need of remodeling – the parquet was in so bad condition that they just put linoleum on top of it. The only discovery was the neighbor upstairs that we could hear how they walked. The ceilings were very high, so maybe we could soundproof it later? The building was constructed in 1926; the agent showed us two antiques of the time: "dumbwaiter" - a small elevator in the kitchen that lets you move stuff between floors (maybe grocery deliveries), no longer functioning. And an antique "fridge" in the kitchen: with a compartment for ice; ice was a big industry back then, delivered from Iceland on boats. I also remember an "Ice factory" from the nineteenth century in Brooklyn. The agent could tell we liked it. The only thing is the price: 600K. She said we can start with offering 515K and probably converge somewhere around 550K. A similar apartment on the fourth floor was sold for 555 earlier this year.

Then we had lunch, talked about the apartment, and returned home to work. I was wrapping up my beacon detection algorithm, something I planned to finish two weeks before. (Each train has a Bluetooth beacon on it; we detect the train approaching, then when it stops, based on the signal strength and acceleration; and when it departs)

Jill asked if we wanted to view the apartment at 148 Street in the evening. We said sure; it was twice already when this one was canceled. I was skeptical of it: too small; with only two small bedrooms and the living room included a kitchen. The apartment turned out newly built, in 2018, by Columbia housing. Everything was new and nice; it left a good impression. Then, on the eleventh floor, it had a great view of the East. Everything in the hood is 8 stories max of hundred years old building, so it had a great view above the old city. And the price: 360K, practically nothing for NYC. It made me think about what I want. Do I really want all the mess of remodeling the huge three-bedroom apartment, or just move into a nice new building with everything ready? The only thing is the location. 148 Street; I wish it was closer.

Back walked back home discussing all those variants of our future.

Comments

[juan_gandhi]

I’d go for the 360. The price will jump up in a couple of years, I believe. As to the old one, it’s not an investment, it’s a home - with unknowns you may not like at all. Good luck anyway!

[soid]

Old pre-war apartments are quite nice actually. High ceilings, thick walls, etc. Also simply beautiful. The build years to avoid are 1960-1980s in my opinion; nowadays they build well too, it seems. Thanks!