354 west 123rd or other harlem 3br rentals

I was going to look at that bldg, but found another. But three weeks ago the broker said it was still showing. Sounds nice.

If you are looking on the west side, Susan's court is brand spaninng new, never lived in, and rent stabalized. So you would lock in today's low rents forever. They had rented all the sub-$2500 2/2s but had some $3000-ish and above 2/2s, one with a large terrace.

The fitzgerald is nice but they did not want longer than 18 month leases, so they think they can eventually sell.

The Soha 118 rentals are nice, but the comps rented for 10% less than the current ask for the 3/2, so it needs to come down more.

Kalahari is nice, but they are mostly broker/fee AND have $2500 in condo fees, so you wuld need many free months to make up for that.

If you can stomach the east side, bridges at 124th/3rd is in a terrible location services wide, but fnatastic location transport wise. 2 minutes to 125th 456 express, 3 minutes to metro north, and there are 4 cross town buses that come literally every 90 seconds on 125th. The bridges units are GIGANTIC and you can get super-nice like new chelsea condo nice 2/2s for $2200-$3000 (asking rents are DEFINITELY negotiable.) We could not deal with lack of food delivery in area but you could bowl in those living rooms.

We settled on looking at the Aspen, Hamton Court, and Hub in East Harlem, all next to each each other, all new-ish (2004, 2005, 2009.) We settled on the Hub - net effective $2600 for a 26 month lease, brand new evverything, washer dryer in unit, chelsea new condo nice, 1000 sf (really) but 1200 SF in broker-ese. So the same size as a "1200" SF one though really 1000. Glenwood's Hampton was our second choice. It was even cheaper net for 2/2s, with free shuttle to 96th/lex and 86th lex, as has Aspen...but no w/d in unit and smaller units (900 in brokerese for Hapton and 1000 inbrokerse for Aspen versus 1200 for Hub.)

My roommate and I both like the fact that dozens of UES restaruants in the 90s (up to 98th) deliver to 101st versus not so much in Harlem where we are now, and such services are a five minute walk versus a train ride in the other places.

101st to 98th is a NOTHING walk, really.

...and we are 120th/121st now, so 101st is much closer to things we like. And both locations have lots of white couples with babies, which is my common sense safety gauge. In fact, both where I live now and all the bdlg we looked at were that sort of demo. Mt Morris Park area is literally MOSTLY white now. Like 60-70%.

Thx Jason -- I need to be on the west side for easier commuting (walking) to work.
Avalon would almost be ideal.
I'll check there and Susan's
There is so much coming up on Fred Doug and on the 97 to 102 blocks on Columbus and Amsterdam that rents should precipitate further and choices should improve.
Renting may make much more sense than buying at this point, except for the fact that you always have the risk that you may need to move -- a transaction cost that the usual financial analysis tends to ignore.
Rent stabilized at Susan's likely requires an income cap?

jason, I've found that when push comes to shove and a crime is being commited, white babies rarely lift a finger to intervene. They don't want to get involved. Kids, as the saying goes, these days!