Condo-Fishing 3: Dominican Republic around the corner of Siberia

As in wildlife where the animals migrate from one zone to the other, in NY the scenery also changes because of this migration factor, which in turn depends largely on the financial fate of the city. Neighbourhoods that would have been unthinkable of living in a few years ago are now invaded by young professionals. Areas that until a few decades ago were restricted to specific ethnic or religious groups are now invaded also by young professionals of all colors and beliefs. This dissemination was in part caused by prices in certain neighbourhoods of Manhattan skyrocketing in what seemed an endless spiral up, while salaries of some New Yorkers were frozen, cut back, or simply evaporated. Thanks to this reshuffling of neighbourhoods, our map for searching places was quite broad, and there were only a few areas totally blacked out from our fishing.

This flexibility of criteria and openness to accept took us to visit places that I had only seen in movies or music videos: the questionable part of Brooklyn and all of Harlem. Harlem had a strong offer. One place was acceptable in terms of space, but the area was quite depressing: sheer grey, just the opposite of the Spanish place at Columbia. The photos from this flat looked fine, but just as if they were taken with a poor camera or in poor lighting. Have you ever been to an Eastern country post some chemical devastation? I haven’t, but I figured that this is how it would look and feel like. After walking down the Latino area of Harlem, where all you listen is Central American Spanish and regeton booming out from every store and car, we came to visit a very fine modern unit on a decent street of Harlem. It looked like brand new. The only questionable aspect was that it was on the same block as the police station (great protection, but maybe too noisy?). This lady who was showing the place handed in her business card. She was a realtor, and although the rent was within budget, her fee was outrageous. If we do not ask, we would have come to the date of closing and found out on the spot about her hefty fees? Do people really think that they can get away with these games, particularly in a renters’ market, and in the low season?

Karen had sent an email apologizing for her forgetfulness and suggesting rescheduling for the following week.

Lesson 1: If on photos something does not look fantastic, it is probably not because of the photo or the camera technicalities, but just because of the place itself! Lesson 2: If something seems too good to be true, it is probably because it is not true!