How to Find a Sublease in NYC (with less than a week’s notice)

I knew I wanted to be in New York, but figured that it would be better to spend my time living at home and saving money while I applied for jobs up north. “The job is the hard part,” I told myself. “Once I have a job, finding an apartment will be a cinch.”

That was absolutely not true.

In case you’re not familiar with applying to jobs and internships in a city other than the one you’re living in, here’s the deal: a lot of the time, if they know you’re not already in the area, they won’t even give you a second look, much less an interview. If you do get an interview, the only correct answer to “how soon are you planning to move up here?” is “as soon as you need me to.” While often interns get a break because they find out at least a month in advance, I was pretty similar to other entry-level jobs in that I had a two-week period between the offer and the start date.

That was compounded by the fact that I had to work around my parents’ schedule if I wanted someone to go with me to look at apartments so I didn’t get killed by someone on Craigslist and if I wanted help lugging my giant suitcase into my apartment. They were planning on driving up north already to visit my grandparents in Canada, so a week before my internship started, I was in a car on my way up to the city.

Here’s my advice for how to find a place to live on the fly:

Work those connections. Remember all the people you networked with to get that job? How about those classmates of yours who are already living in New York? And what about that friend (or distant acquaintance) you have in the city? Email them all and let them know you got it and are moving up to the city! There’s an off-chance they’ll know someone who’s looking for a roommate or trying to sublease their apartment over the summer. This didn’t work for me. While I was offered a sublease opportunity in April, I didn’t get an offer till June and that was long gone by then.

Social media it up. Now’s the time to announce that you’re on the hunt for housing. I tend to use Facebook statuses sparingly, but I posted a status when I accepted the internship and then another telling people I was looking for a roommate/sublease. I also tweeted about it. Plus, I posted about my hunt for an apartment in a “Tar Heels in NYC” Facebook group. I got mixed results from this. A few people commented on my status, letting me know of people they knew who were looking for roommates, Facebook groups to find housing and other advice. And a New York roommate finder app called Roomi responded to my tweet. I checked it out and found that there was limited activity, although the app was a great idea. I made one connection through the “Tar Heels in NYC” group, but it wasn’t the right fit. Social media was helpful, but didn’t ultimately pan out. 

Find an organization in the city. I connected with a few different churches in the city to ask if they knew of anyone looking for a roommate and was directed to the Redeemer Classifieds (by several different people; I gather it’s the biggest source of connections for Christians looking for housing in NYC) and the Apostles NYC Google group, both of which I read through and emailed anyone remotely within my time frame or price range as well as posting my own ad about what I was looking for. Although I don’t really fit into this category, I was told to check out Gypsy Housing, a Facebook group for people in performing arts vocations to look for subleasers while they’re traveling for work. From there, I also found one for actors in New York. Again, mixed results. I got the most responses from Redeemer Classifieds, mostly from people responding to my ad, but none of them turned out to be the right place. Gypsy Housing was so popular that I almost never hit the jackpot of being the first person to respond to a post. I really liked this avenue, however, because I was able to put a Facebook profile with the person renting the apartment out on Gypsy Housing and narrowed my search with Redeemer & Apostles posts. 

Craigslist. I know, I know, Craigslist is creepy and scary and haven’t you heard of the Craigslist Killer? I put off searching on Craigslist for an apartment for the longest time because I simply refused to open that can of worms. But I kept hearing that in New York, people actually use Craigslist to find housing, so I finally checked it out. Success! I sent about sixty emails and got about twenty responses, thirteen of which were someone trying to scam me, but all I needed was one to be a real person with a real apartment I could rent, and I found it. 

If there’s one thing you need to know about looking for an apartment in New York, it’s this: the housing market moves ridiculously fast.

How fast, you ask? I spent most of the week before driving up emailing people about open apartments and telling them that I would be in the city on Monday to look at it. I had two appointments made for Monday when I was packing my bags Saturday night, and I knew I needed more options. This was when I got desperate, started searching Craigslist and sent out about thirty different emails. I spent the entire ride up to New York on my phone sending more frantic responses to Craigslist ads and by that night, had a total of seven appointments for the next day. My dad and I went to the first one, and then the next three in a row canceled on me because they had found subleasers before my appointment. So there I was, standing in line at Shake Shack sending MORE emails to Craigslist posts when I finally got a response that panned out.

This is how fast the housing market moves: my new landlady posted the Craigslist ad about her apartment at 12 noon and I emailed her at 12:30. We met at 1:30 to see the apartment, and by 2:15, I had the keys in my hand. That’s about a 2.5 hour turnaround on an open apartment and from my experience with canceled appointments, that’s not unusual.

So here are my tips:

• Send a ton of emails because only a fraction will respond to you.
• Be ready to see the apartment ASAP.
• Watch out for scams – if someone wants you to give them money or personal information before you even see the apartment, they’re trying to trick you.
• Sometimes realtors will post apartments on Craigslist pretending to not charge a brokers fee but will throw that new piece of info in when they email you. Keep an eye out for that.
• Craigslist is great if you need something fast, but connections are always more trustworthy. I recommend talking to people you know in the city and using social media first.

100 happy days

I know, I know, it’s the biggest trend to hit social media this year and everyone’s sick of seeing that #100happydays hashtag. Because I’m independent (stubborn) and don’t like to do something if everyone else is doing it, I let the first big wave of 100 Happy Days popularity pass me by. Now, however, I’m jumping in.

Last year I read a book called The Happiness Project. While you may look at the title of that book or at 100 Happy Days and think that it’s shallow or self-centered to do something that focuses so much on how you feel, I really enjoyed The Happiness Project because I found that how the author ultimately defined happiness was actually noticing all the wonderful things that were already in her life and maximizing those feelings of happiness not just for herself, but for everyone around her.

That’s what I like about 100 Happy Days too – it’s not about making yourself more happy, but noticing the things that are already in your life that make you happy, whether that’s opportunities, people, places, memories or even food (because who can resist Instagramming that particularly delicious-looking brunch.)

So that’s going to be my next challenge: noticing something that makes me happy for the next 100 days. Chances are pretty high that my life will change a lot over the next 100 days and I have no idea where I’ll be at the end of it (though I’m hoping employed and still in New York.) Regardless, I’m going to try to stick to the challenge.

Want to follow along? I made a Tumblr just for this project so I can keep it all organized. Check out www.lauren100happydays.tumblr.com!

empire state of mind

So much for taking my time to figure out what’s next – three short weeks after posting about my goals for the summer, I’m living in my very own apartment in the heart of New York City with an internship that starts Monday. Since my last post, I flew up to the city to interview for a few different positions and barely a week after coming home, was offered a children’s book marketing internship at HarperCollins.

If you know me at all, you know that I absolutely love books. While I don’t discriminate and will read books across genres, I really do love children’s books and even took a children’s literature class during my senior year of college just for fun. I dreamed about working at a big New York publishing company as a child (seriously, nerd from a young age) and words can’t describe how thrilled I am to be working for one of the big 5 publishing companies, even though it’s just for an internship (for now – fingers crossed!)

Moving up to New York happened pretty quickly as I was offered the internship less than two weeks before it started, even though the application to interview to offer process all happened within a couple weeks. I also had to work around my parents’ schedule if I wanted someone to go with me to look at apartments so I didn’t get killed by someone on Craigslist and if I wanted help lugging my giant suitcase into my apartment, so less than a week after receiving my offer, I was in a car on the way up to New York. Side note: NEVER drive in New York, it will make you hate the city. Just don’t do it. Finding housing was a slight nightmare but I luckily found a great apartment right in upper midtown east for the next couple months which is conveniently located close to a Barnes & Noble (living the dream y’all), Bloomingdales (Rachel from Friends would be so jealous), and the Buzzfeed famous cupcake ATM.

This is just a quick update as I still don’t have wifi in my apartment after a week of waiting and five hours on the phone with tech support (thanks Verizon) but I’m hoping to do a series of posts about things I learned while job hunting and moving to New York on the fly. I’m hoping that I can share answers to questions I asked people and figured out the answers to myself that I would have loved to know at the beginning of my search all the way back in fall semester. So what am I going to write about? Here are a couple of the questions I had while looking for employment and housing: how helpful is networking really? What do I ask in an informational interview? If my resume is so great, why is no one hiring me? How can I stand out from other candidates? What can I do to make my resume and cover letter the best? Can I really get a job in New York from another city? How do I find an apartment with less than a week’s notice? Why do New Yorkers use Craigslist and how do you figure out who’s scamming you?

It may take a little while to get internet finally set up in my apartment and to start writing, but stay tuned – I’m excited to write about all the things I’ve learned and about my journey as a brand new New Yorker!

update

This past semester has been a whirlwind of blogging in order to finish my bucket list before graduation, but if you’ve been reading my blog regularly, you’ll have noticed that my blog-a-day mentality slowed earlier in May and completely stopped about a month ago. So, what have I been up to during that time?

I graduated!

One of the biggest things that happened recently was my graduation from college! May 11th was a long, hot day with two graduation ceremonies: the big one in Kenan Stadium and the J-school’s commencement for its 310 graduates in Carmichael Arena. The day was full of goodbyes to Carolina blue-clad friends and celebrations of all the memories we made and things we learned while at UNC. It’s surreal to think that 16 years of schooling is over and I’m no longer a student. I would be lying if I said I didn’t blast Carolina in My Mind on repeat and cry all the way home from Chapel Hill that night. I’ll miss my time as a student, but as Brooke Baldwin of CNN, our speaker at the J-school graduation and a UNC alum told us, I’m a Tarheel for life.

I traveled to Greece!

I spent the last two weeks of May traveling around Greece with my two junior year roommates and best friends. We spent a day seeing the sights in Athens and then traveled by ferry to the Greek islands of Mykonos, Santorini and Crete before ending up in Athens again before our flight home. The islands were absolutely gorgeous, and we ate lots of delicious Greek food. Some of my favorite memories from the trip include riding a donkey, climbing an (active!) volcano, seeing the sunset over Santorini from a boat, wine-tasting in a Greek vineyard, watching a movie in an outdoor movie theater with a view of the Parthenon, swimming in the clear water of the beaches of Mykonos and seeing the birthplace of democracy in the Agora of Athens. I loved taking on Greece with two of my favorite people and making so many amazing memories with them.

I was in a wedding!

I’ve known plenty of people who have gotten married over the past few years (sometimes I wonder how I know any single people from back home as I’m constantly seeing engagement rings on my news feed), but this wedding was special to me. Amanda was one of my best friends in high school and we’ve stayed in touch through college, even though I’ve been in Chapel Hill while she’s been in Wake Forest. She and her new husband, Justin, complement each other so well. They’re both kind and hard-working, and her cheerful, spontaneous outlook on life is evenly balanced with his organized, schedule-loving personality. I was so excited when Justin proposed to her and this weekend, it was heartwarming to look back over Amanda’s life and see what had led to this happy day. I’m so glad I got to share in her joy and be a bridesmaid in her wedding, even if I was wearing a Duke blue dress.

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People keep asking me the question you ask all college graduates: what’s next? For me, the answer is that I’m still figuring that out. Like many of my fellow graduates, I’m still on the hunt for a job or internship that’s the right fit for me. I’ve been spending lots of time submitting applications, writing cover letters and interviewing with HR. I’m trying to strike a balance between not planning too far ahead so I’ll be available to start a job at a moment’s notice, but also staying productive and having fun! Here’s a couple of the items on my summer bucket list:

• Complete the UNC Business Essentials certificate program.

I’ve had a few friends who have done the UNC Business Essentials program, which is an online graduate certificate program from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC. I’ve been a college grad for less than a month and I already miss learning, so I’m excited to jump back in and learn about the basics of business.

• Write more.

One of my favorite things about my classes this past semester was that it gave me a reason to write. I’ve always wanted to blog about the things I find interesting – current events, public relations, books I’m reading, social media, technology – but haven’t been able to justify spending the time writing when I should be studying for classes. My goal is to take advantage of some of my free time and write! I’ll mostly be posting on this blog, but if you’re looking for content, I’d love to write for you too!

• Watch the Bachelorette.

I’m a shameless fan of the Bachelor/Bachelorette, and the best part is the running commentary that my friend Caitlin and I have going during the show – in person during the Bachelor over the school year, and through text during the Bachelorette over the summer. I was a huge fan of Andi last season, especially after her sassy and honest takedown of Juan Pablo, and I’m so excited for this season of the Bachelorette!

• Read!

I’m not going to pretend that being busy ever keeps me from reading because I read obsessively, even if I’m so busy that I only have time to read for half an hour before bed. But there are several books coming out this summer that I’m really excited about (Landline by Rainbow Rowell is one of them) and chances are pretty high that I’ll spend some time in Barnes and Noble finding great books to read on the beach or airplane. (Need some recommendations? Check out this Buzzfeed post from Crown Publishing of the top 100 books you should read this summer. I’ve read and loved about half these books and am adding the rest to my summer reading list!)

• Figure out what’s next.

Although I would have loved to jump right into the next stage of my life with a summer internship, I’m enjoying the fact that I can spend my time writing cover letters and applying for jobs in the sun. However, I love being busy and am ready to figure out what I’ll be doing next. I’m excited to be interviewing and hope to find a job soon!

How I Think Social Media Will Influence the Future of Public Relations – Guest Post

Will social media influence or change the future of public relations? I wrote a guest blog post for Wojdylo Social Media explaining the ways I’ve seen social media change throughout my four years in college, and how I think social media could influence how traditional public relations tactics and campaigns are run in the future.  Check it out to see my thoughts on how social media will continue to change the public relations profession!

http://wojdylosocialmedia.com/think-social-media-will-influence-future-public-relations/

#2: Play in the fountain at Bynum Circle

Every year after sunset serenade, I’ve jumped in the fountain at Bynum Circle. We started the tradition sophomore year while walking back towards Granville carrying the towels we’d sat on while listening to accappella groups and realized how convenient it was that we already had towels. It didn’t hurt that we were really hot from sitting outside for the past hour and were really feeling a dip in the cool water of the fountain. Junior year it was a little chilly, but we had to continue the tradition so we decided to jump in anyway. The people who jump in the fountain with me have changed from year to year, but it’s always been me and Melissa, my roommate, and our other roommate Rachel has always taken the pictures. This year, sunset serenade was rained out and we couldn’t fit in the rain location, so we skipped the serenade and decided it was too cold for fountain jumping – and it remained pretty chilly, so we hadn’t jumped in the fountain all year. Last night, I was heading back to my apartment with my friend Caitlin and we decided to take advantage of the hot weather and the fact that Caitlin had never jumped in the fountain and took a spontaneous dip!

Old Well Ranking: (6 out of 10) 

Recommendations:

• Some people like to put soap in the water before they jump in the fountain, but it turns into a big block of foam and ends up sticking to your legs, so I don’t recommend it.

 

#37 & #40: See a movie hosted by CUAB at the Union/at the Varsity Theater

When you can drag yourself away from Netflix in your bed, there’s an abundance of cheap or free movie options in Chapel Hill. The two most popular are on the bucket list: the free movie series that CUAB hosts, normally in the auditorium at the Union, and at the Varsity Theater on Franklin Street for about $3 a ticket. Check out these two options and as a bonus, my favorite summer place to watch movies!

CUAB at the Union:

The Carolina Union Activities Board shows two different movies each weekend during that awkward period between when they’re in theaters and when they’re available on DVD. My sophomore year, they showed them in Hamilton 100, but now they’re back in the Union auditorium. I’ve been to see a few movies there because who would turn down a free movie? Most notably, I saw Pitch Perfect for the third time surrounded by fellow Carolina students, and it was great! You have to bring your OneCard, if I’m remembering correctly, and they show each movie at different times on Friday and Saturday – one early and one late. My biggest recommendation is that you follow CUAB on Twitter. They tweet each weekend about what movies they’re showing and the times they’ll be showed. CUAB has posters of the movies they’ll be showing in dorms sometimes, but especially if you live off-campus or just want timely reminders, CUAB’s Twitter account is the easiest way to keep up with what movie they’re playing.

Old Well Ranking: (6 out of 10) 

At the Varsity Theater on Franklin:

The Varsity is a small movie theater on Franklin that shows movies that are, like the CUAB movies, in the period between theaters and DVD. They show more movies at more times, not just on the weekend, and it costs about $3 for a ticket. While I often don’t have the time or money to go see a movie right when it comes out in theaters at Southpoint, the Varsity is an easy walk away and is cheap enough that I went to see Frozen twice in one week when it was in the Varsity just because it was so cheap (and also because I loved Frozen that much.) You can see what movies they have playing online or in the old-fashioned marquee as you walk down Franklin Street. Going to see a movie at the Varsity is a really fun and cheap activity in Chapel Hill, and it’s definitely something UNC students should check out.

Old Well Ranking: (7 out of 10) 

Summer outdoor movies at the Lumina:

I spent the first half of the summer after my sophomore year in Chapel Hill, living in an apartment with my roomie for life Melissa, babysitting and working at the DTH before I studied abroad. One of my favorite memories from that summer was going to see an outdoor movie. At the Lumina Theater in Southern Village, which is just down the road from Chapel Hill, they have a giant screen outside and all summer, they show movies on the screen in the evening. I gathered a bunch of people who were in Chapel Hill for the summer and we got Chinese takeout and ate it while watching the movie. They don’t start showing movies until the end of May, when almost everyone is gone for the summer, but they continue to show them until the end of August. You can catch a movie at the beginning of school, or check out the full summer’s options if you’re staying for summer school.

Old Well Ranking: (6 out of 10) 

#66: Swim in the Eno Rock Quarry

There’s always a few weeks right after school starts in August when it’s unbearably hot, and walking to and from class feels like walking in a brick oven. During the first few weeks of senior year, it was so hot that my friends and I decided that we needed to go swimming. We’d heard great things about the Eno Rock Quarry in Durham from friends, and Google gave us some pretty great results (for some reason, the photo in that article makes my roommate Laura laugh uncontrollably for five minutes every time she sees it,) so we decided to check it out.

The rock quarry is about a 20-minute drive from Chapel Hill, and there’s a gravel parking lot where you can park your car. The trek to the rock quarry is long – about a mile or a mile and a half, and it’s not a casual walk along a paved walkway. It’s a hike uphill and through tree roots and over giant mud puddles and across fields of weeds. By the time you make it there, the combination of the long journey and the oppressive humidity will have you sweating and exhausted. But that’s perfect, because you’re about to jump in some cool, refreshing water!

The quarry is deep – there’s no bottom for you to put your feet on, and treading water can get exhausting.There was a giant branch in the water that floated to the top while we were there, but not all seven of us could hold on to it. Luckily, our friend John brought some swimming noodles that we took turns floating around on. The water was cold, but that was refreshing in the late summer heat.

When we finally climbed out of the water and wrapped our towels around us, we walked around the lake to the other side, where people jump off protruding rocks into the water. It’s a little terrifying because how do you know where to jump where there aren’t any rocks underwater? Luckily, there were other people jumping in before us so we followed their lead. I only jumped once, but my roommate Melissa dove in a few times.

 

Old Well Ranking: (6 out of 10) 

Recommendations:

• Wear old plastic flip-flops for hiking there – even though you’ll be climbing hills and walking over roots, your feet will be wet the whole way back and sneakers will get completely ruined.
• Bring pool noodles or something to float with in the water. It’s already a workout even with something to hold on to.
• Go to Cookout for dinner afterward. Why pass up a combo tray when you’re already in Durham?

#36: Have a drink and listen to some bluegrass at Fridays on the Front Porch at the Carolina Inn

It’s my second-to-last Friday before graduation, so time’s running out. I can’t believe that graduation is only a week from tomorrow. It’s in single-digit days, when 2014 used to sound so far in the future it was like a sci-fi movie. I’m living the senior lifestyle and only have one final and a portfolio due this week, so my roommates and I decided we wanted to check out Fridays on the Front Porch!

The front lawn of the Carolina Inn was absolutely packed with people. There were couples sitting on blankets on the grass and small children running around and dancing to the music of the bluegrass band. When you walk up the stairs, you can buy a ticket for a beer or glass of wine, along with a burger or other outdoor food. When you have your ticket you can head to the back, where you can redeem your ticket for your food or drink. There are people milling around, just talking and laughing and enjoying the nice weather. It was a little chilly today and would have been nicer with more sun, but there were plenty of people in sundresses or little girls in shorts.

I enjoyed hanging out, but the atmosphere was definitely more grown-up than your typical college hangout. It was at least 50% young families and while I ran into one friend there, it was someone who had graduated already. A lot of people brought their dogs and my friend Michelle, who’s going to vet school next year, was in heaven.

Old Well Ranking: (4 out of 10) 

Recommendations:

• Fridays on the Front Porch is really fun and relaxing – but it’s not necessarily for college students. Want to do something classy and mingle with people who have already graduated and work real jobs or are in graduate school? Want to see really cute puppies and little kids dancing around? Then Fridays on the Front Porch is for you. I enjoyed it, but I don’t think it’s something that every Carolina student needs to check off their bucket list.

#63: Explore the Ehringhaus tunnels

I’ve explored UNC from above by climbing on the roof of buildings on campus and climbing the bell tower, but something I added to the traditional UNC bucket list is exploring it from below. I’ve heard rumors of the tunnels behind Ehringhaus, but I haven’t explored them until my roommate needed to take photos for her film photography class and decided the tunnels would be a cool place to photograph.

We walked through the K lot beside Ehringhaus and started down the trail behind Ehringhaus. If you head to your left, down towards the creek winding its way through the woods, you’re heading in the right direction.

It takes a lot of jumping on rocks and wading through ankle-deep water, but eventually you’ll make it to the tunnels. They’re more of a giant cement cylinder – like a giant pipe sitting there in the woods. When you hear the word tunnel, you expect something that goes into the ground or a building, but most of what you can see is a big circle sitting outside.

There’s not much down the tunnel – it really is just a giant pipe, with a small stream of water down the middle. If you go down far enough that you leave the light behind you and need a flashlight, you’ll see some cool graffiti and a ladder heading up towards the sunlight. Despite the fact that there’s not much going on down there, it’s peaceful and cool to see an area of UNC that not many people explore.

Old Well Ranking: (6 out of 10) 

Recommendations:

• There’s a lot of water involved in exploring the tunnels, from wading through the creek to the stream of water on the bottom of the pipe. I suggest wearing rainboots, or cheap flip-flops if it’s hot outside.
• Definitely bring a flashlight if you want to go more than 10 feet inside the tunnel. Or if you have an iPhone, just use the flashlight app on your phone.