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How To Find an Apartment in New York City - YouTube
Channel: Carolina Rizzotto
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this is one of the bedrooms it's really
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small if you put a full bed here that's
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all you're gonna get you're facing
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absolutely nothing
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hey guys carolina risotto here welcome
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back to my youtube channel today i'm
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gonna be giving you amazing tips about
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how to apartment hunt in new york city
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i'm even gonna give you tips that i wish
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you didn't know because it's gonna make
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my life harder when i need to find an
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apartment again so remember to watch
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this video all the way to the end
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because every single tip is from pure
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experience of visiting all kinds of
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apartments the best to the worst before
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we get started remember to give this
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video a thumbs up and to subscribe to my
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youtube channel for more content about
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getting out of your comfort zone in
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different cultures and many many tips
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about new york city
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even though apartment hunting in new
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york city can be quite competitive
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there's no reason for you to settle i
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always start with is writing down my
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dream list okay when writing down that
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list i recommend putting things into
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categories kind of like what are your
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deal breakers you know the things that
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you must have otherwise you will not
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rent that apartment then write the
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things that you would really like for
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the apartment to have but perhaps you
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will settle for those things will really
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help guide you when choosing apartments
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that you're going to visit i mean even
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draw with the apartment would look like
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if you want that's what i did for me it
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was a must having a two-bedroom
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apartment which i was sharing with my
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roommate which did not face a brick wall
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and this is something very common in new
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york city like so many apartments have
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at least one of the bedrooms that face
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another wall which is of another
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building that little bit of light that's
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the light that's hitting here
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this is your amazing view but i was like
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my bedroom in the living room cannot
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face a brick wall and therefore i would
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not visit any apartments that did not
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include that feature after you put your
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list together start studying in the
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market you know i recommend you doing
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that about two months in advance see the
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prices per neighborhood and which would
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be your favorite neighborhoods to live
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in and then you can narrow your search
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to those places i know it can be
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tempting at times to want to visit all
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of the apartments in all of the
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different neighborhoods in the city but
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understand that if you move into a spot
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that you don't like you're going to have
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to go through this process all over
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again very soon so i always say do it
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once but do it right so once you've
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decided everything that you need to have
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in your apartment the things that you
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want in the neighborhoods you want to
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live in based off of your research it is
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time to start apartment hunting for real
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i recommend that you do that at least
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four to two weeks before your move-in
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date because that will give you time to
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explore new listings that will become
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available during your search and that's
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important because sometimes during your
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research there might be moments where
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there are no apartments you like at all
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and you just have to wait for something
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nice to come in it's like day six of
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apartment hunting
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so far not many new listings today but
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who knows something can pop up in the
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afternoon that's what happened yesterday
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so
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the first thing you need to know are all
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the documents that you need in order to
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apply for an apartment you will need to
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fill out an application with your
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contact information have your latest tax
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forms have a copy of your id a high
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credit score usually of at least 700
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prove that you make at least 40 times
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the rent otherwise you would need a
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guarantor and that guarantor needs to
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make at least 80 times the rent you will
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also need an offer letter from your
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employer and some sort of proof of
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income so it can be most recent bank
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statements or even like how much you
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have in your checking account you want
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to have all of these documents with you
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printed out when you're visiting
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apartments sometimes they will ask you
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for a physical copy or they will just
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ask for you to email it but it's nice to
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be prepared and even like to review your
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documentation with a broker once you're
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visiting the unit the best time to
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apartment hunt is definitely in the
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spring or the fall in the winter you're
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going to get less competition especially
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if you're looking during the holidays
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but there's really not going to be that
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many options because people don't
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usually move out
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in december that's what i did i had to
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find an apartment in december to move in
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in january and i totally pulled it off
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but i gotta admit there were many points
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during my research where i was like
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there is absolutely nothing available
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that i would move into the main website
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that's used for apartment hunting in new
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york city is street easy but i'm gonna
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give you guys at the end of this video
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some secret websites that barely anybody
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knows so stay tuned until the end of the
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video so you don't miss out on those
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tips new listings are usually posted at
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the end of the day so make sure to reach
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out to the broker via the online system
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but also find their phone number and
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text them most brokers work under
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commission so they want to get that
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apartment rented fast just text them
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book that appointment and try to be the
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first one to visit the apartment that a
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lot of people apply to apartments online
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before even visiting the unit that's
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because the market is so competitive and
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good apartments usually don't last more
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than 24 hours so if you see something
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that you really like it might be worth
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applying before you visit the apartment
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most apartments have a broker's fee it's
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basically a fee that pays the broker
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that is showing you the apartment and
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that fee is usually between 10 to 15
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of the annual rent think of it this way
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you want to rent an apartment that's 3
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000 per month the requirements to rent
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is to have a 3 000 security deposit that
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stays with the building until you move
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out and to pay the first month of rent
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another three thousand dollars so that's
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six thousand dollars you're putting in
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when you're moving in in addition to
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that if there's a broker's fee that's
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about 15
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then you have to pay 15
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of the annual amount of that rent to the
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broker and that money never comes back
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to you so your rent is three thousand
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dollars a month and you have a 12 month
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lease so that means you're paying 36 000
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of rent per year
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times 15
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that's another fifty four hundred
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dollars just on a broker's fee broker
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fees can be pretty aggressive and unless
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you wanna stay at an apartment for a
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very long time
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it's just not worth it so i recommend
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that if you don't wanna pay your
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broker's fee to only look for units that
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have no fee it doesn't mean that the fee
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doesn't exist it's just that the
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landlord is paying for it instead of the
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tenant but remember that you can always
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negotiate that fee i've seen it as
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expensive as 15 of the annual rent to as
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cheap as one month of rent square
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footage is something that's never super
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clear when looking for an apartment in
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new york city so don't be attached to
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that you know don't look for specific
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square footage on your search you're
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just going to have to visit the
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apartment and fill out the space just be
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prepared for a smaller apartment than
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what you're used to this is new york
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city living but just think of it this
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way the city is your playground you're
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not supposed to be home that often
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anyway go out and explore some listings
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have pictures but they're not of the
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actual unit you're visiting you know
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they're usually of a nicer one or one
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with more natural light so ask the
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leasing agent if that's the actual unit
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you're going to be visiting so there are
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no unpleasant surprises sometimes
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apartments don't have a microwave an
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oven a fridge even so if you don't see
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these items on the pictures on the
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listing they probably don't exist
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curiously some new york city apartments
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don't have a private bathroom and it's
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like shared by a whole floor i'd say
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this can be more common in like small
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studios in new york city if you want a
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parking spot in your building it's going
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to be hard to find you're going to have
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to do more research on like luxurious
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buildings which will feature that
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but worst case what i would say is find
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a local parking lot in the neighborhood
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and you can negotiate a monthly fee to
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park your car there because parking in
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new york city is like impossible
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but you already knew that come on if an
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apartment has a really great price and
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is in a really nice neighborhood and
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you're like what the hell is wrong with
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it it's probably a fifth floor walk-up
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for me personally it's not worth it
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though the higher units they're a little
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more quiet and they usually get a lot
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more natural light so that's a benefit
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of a fifth floor walk-up other
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apartments that might be cheaper than
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they're supposed to are those right by
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hospitals and fire departments so
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i've lived by that before and it's
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really loud and very annoying and if you
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need to work in a quiet environment to
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concentrate or to record content even
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you're gonna be very frustrated living
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in an apartment like that that's so
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funny i just talked about sirens and
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here we go
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if you're hoping for an elevator you're
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gonna be able to get that on more
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luxurious buildings but i live in a
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pre-war building and it has an elevator
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but i did hear that it was broken for
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like six months and there were people
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living on like the eighth floor taking
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the stairs every single day so if it has
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an elevator there's no guarantees it's
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gonna be working the whole time you're
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living there so just be aware of that if
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the building you wanna live in does not
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have laundry then make sure that there's
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something walking distant in your
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neighborhood and laundromats and dry
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cleaners are different things okay and i
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think this is something that i didn't
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understand for a while as an immigrant
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but laundromats are the spots where you
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can actually do your laundry and dry
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cleaners is where they do it for you so
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they're more expensive if you're
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visiting a unit that's currently under
[520]
renovation ask the leasing agent if
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there's another unit similar to it in
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the building that you can check out it's
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really important for you to see the
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apartment in its final state so you
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avoid any unpleasant surprises when
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visiting an apartment check out as well
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their trash area and the laundry room if
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any this will show you how well
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management takes care of the building i
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remember i visited this apartment that
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had a lot of natural light it was very
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nice but when i went to the trash room
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there was a massive amount of flies like
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insane and so to me that was a
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representation of how well they're gonna
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take care of me as a tenant goodbye when
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visiting the apartment write down and
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take pictures of everything that's
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broken so you can report that to
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management before moving in this helps
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avoiding you being charged to fix things
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that you never broke and it also can be
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part of your negotiation you know you're
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like i want to rent this apartment but
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this needs to get fixed before but
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here's the thing if the market is really
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competitive you might not have the
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negotiating power and you're just gonna
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have to count on good management to fix
[580]
those things intercoms are pretty
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important if your apartment doesn't have
[584]
it you're gonna have to go downstairs
[585]
every time you need to pick someone up
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and that's hella inconvenient especially
[589]
on a fifth floor walk-up make sure that
[591]
the intercom actually works as well
[594]
older buildings have thicker walls which
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means you can throw loud parties i blast
[599]
the speaker in my apartment and i don't
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have any issues that's because it's a
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pre-war building i can't hear any of my
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neighbors conversation not even
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footsteps from the apartment upstairs
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it's amazing there's a thing called flex
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wall and what that is is kind of like a
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temporary wall that you can put up in
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the apartment which adds another room
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into it the benefit of that is that you
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can get like a nicer one bedroom and
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still share it with the roommate and
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have like a two bedroom experience the
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thing is not every flex bedroom has a
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wall that goes all the way to the
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ceiling that's because if that
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additional bedroom has no windows it's
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illegal to completely lock it so then
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the wall kind of stops about 12 inches
[642]
before reaching the ceiling in terms of
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privacy that really sucks i'm putting a
[647]
link down below with more information
[649]
about these flex walls the regulations
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but usually they cost between a thousand
[654]
to thirty five hundred dollars to put up
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but some apartments especially in luxury
[659]
buildings they already come with that
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flex wall so you don't have to pay for
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that at all okay so it's 6 55 and i
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actually am about to visit an apartment
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so we're gonna have to continue the rest
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of the video from a different location
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so don't be surprised by the sudden
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change of environment
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so we're back now from the lincoln
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center you can see this beautiful view
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behind me
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and we're actually right across from
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juilliard fun fact which is a really
[682]
popular school of music and the arts ask
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the broker about apartments that are not
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currently listed so if you have a
[688]
flexible move-in date remember to
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mention that to the broker and to ask
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about other units when checking out an
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apartment open up all the cabinets and
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closets you want to look for holes or
[697]
anything sketchy trust me on this one
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okay so they maybe remove my camera from
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my little gorillapod
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because they say i can't use it here
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but anyway back to our list lots of
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interruptions today guys sorry about
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that
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avoid visiting apartments too much
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towards the end of the day because then
[714]
you don't get a real sense of how much
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natural light you're getting but if
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you're looking for an apartment that has
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a lot of light you want a south facing
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unit because then you're going to get a
[723]
lot of direct sunlight if you're looking
[724]
for a dark apartment north facing unit
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for sure and west and east facing it has
[730]
light during different times of the day
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and it's definitely a good option don't
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forget to ask if the apartment includes
[735]
any utilities usually the landlord pays
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for heat and water sometimes they pay
[740]
for gas and pay for electricity is very
[742]
unheard of here in new york city
[744]
remember to check if there's a working
[745]
ac and heater heaters are required by
[748]
law in new york city and the landlord
[750]
has to pay for it but ac is uh they're
[752]
unfortunately not as common my current
[754]
apartment does not have an ac when
[756]
you're visiting an apartment the best
[757]
way for you to know what that experience
[758]
is like is by asking other tenants if
[761]
you see someone leaving the building or
[762]
if you're visiting an apartment where
[764]
the tenant lives there ask them about it
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is it clean how is management that's how
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you're going to get the most honest
[770]
reviews if you visit apartments that are
[771]
more modern owned by big companies
[773]
you're gonna get less room for
[775]
negotiation for more flexible deals or
[777]
like potentially even month to month
[779]
after a year lease which is uncommon in
[781]
new york city you probably want to live
[783]
in a building that's like owned by a
[785]
small family under the latest new york
[787]
city laws the application fee to apply
[789]
for an apartment cannot be more
[791]
expensive than twenty dollars so people
[793]
are trying to charge you fifty dollars
[794]
to apply for an apartment they're
[796]
breaking the law it's really common when
[797]
you're applying to an apartment for
[799]
there to be like a good faith deposit
[801]
that's usually around 500 to a thousand
[803]
dollars and it's basically some money to
[806]
lock down that apartment and kind of
[807]
like take it off the market while you're
[809]
negotiating or applying for it sometimes
[812]
that fee is not refundable so be careful
[815]
if you do decide to sign a lease at that
[817]
apartment though they take that money
[819]
and it goes into your security deposit
[821]
even if your lease starts on the first
[822]
of the month you might still be able to
[824]
move in before that date of the
[825]
apartment is available just ask the
[827]
leasing agent you know it doesn't hurt
[829]
the same also happened quite often when
[831]
i lived in la and i actually have an
[833]
entire video about how to apartment hunt
[835]
in la so you can go check it out if you
[837]
want more tips some of those tips are
[839]
also super valid if you're looking for
[841]
apartment in new york city and i break
[843]
down through many different points so
[844]
don't forget to check it out if you're
[846]
interested more in like a sublet
[848]
facebook groups or the roomy app or this
[851]
website called lease break they're great
[853]
options for you to do that just know
[855]
that facebook it gets really competitive
[857]
people post there quite often and there
[858]
are some really amazing deals especially
[861]
if you don't know anybody to share an
[862]
apartment with and you need a roommate
[864]
there's so many people there looking for
[865]
roommates but you have to really be on
[867]
top of it and join many groups because
[869]
as soon as someone posts something you
[870]
want to be the first to comment the
[872]
first one to reach out but i always say
[875]
be careful living with people you don't
[876]
know you know
[878]
make sure you're putting yourself in a
[880]
safe situation so even if the apartment
[881]
is amazing and the deal is amazing meet
[884]
the roommates before moving in you know
[886]
get a little scope of who they are also
[889]
be careful with scammers because there
[890]
are a lot of those on facebook okay
[893]
if something seems way too good to be
[895]
true kind of like a luxurious
[897]
two-bedroom in soho for like 2 800
[900]
that's probably a scam you know and you
[902]
can call them out on it as you study the
[904]
market you're gonna get a better
[905]
understanding of that so don't worry you
[908]
got this but always be a little bit
[910]
skeptical when you're not working
[912]
directly with a broker from like a
[914]
certified website finally remember to
[917]
act fast you don't want to waste time
[919]
when you're looking for an apartment in
[920]
new york city you want to be quick you
[922]
want to have all of your documents
[924]
together and also be patient you know if
[926]
an apartment didn't work out then it
[927]
wasn't meant for you keep looking
[930]
don't lose the
[932]
good energy and optimism because that's
[935]
the only thing that's going to get you
[936]
to your destination you know that
[938]
positivity and good attitude which
[940]
actually reminds me you know it's really
[941]
important for you to be very nice to
[943]
your leasing agent because they will put
[944]
in a good word for you they will help
[946]
you find a great apartment and if it
[947]
doesn't feel right and you're like i
[949]
just don't think this apartment is going
[950]
to be good for me remember
[952]
do it once but do it right
[958]
sounds good thank you have a good one
[960]
bye
[968]
oh my god i did it no no broker's feet
[975]
[Music]
[985]
okay as promised down below are all of
[988]
the secret websites that i've used to
[990]
apartment hunt i have to admit at the
[992]
end of the day i rented my current
[993]
apartment from street easy but these
[995]
websites will give you more options or
[997]
also options that you do see on street
[999]
easy but sometimes listings are posted
[1001]
there before you know just take a look
[1003]
let me know what you guys think if you
[1004]
guys enjoyed this video and all of these
[1006]
tips remember to give this video a
[1008]
thumbs up and subscribe to my youtube
[1010]
channel for more content about new york
[1012]
city culture and getting out of your
[1013]
comfort zone remember to follow me on
[1015]
social media for more content and
[1017]
comment down below what was your
[1019]
favorite tip about this video what
[1020]
surprised you okay i wanna know thank
[1023]
you guys so much for watching i'm
[1024]
carolina risotto and i will see you next
[1027]
week
[1029]
all right we finished but look at this
[1031]
spectacular view that you missed out on
[1033]
because they didn't let me use a tripod
[1034]
so this is the thing in new york you
[1036]
know
[1037]
and it's a tiny little tripod i mean
[1038]
come on it was even like like this so
[1041]
i don't know how he even noticed that
[1043]
but i have a light on my camera so that
[1044]
probably called a little bit too much
[1046]
attention ah note to self for the future
[1049]
anyway i'm heading out
[1051]
i'll talk to you later
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