How to find Estate Condition rentals?

95th and park--northeast crnr--negotiate

the large rental building on the corner of 85th and CPW might be worth a look.

As a LL, I try and renovate to get a higher rent when and wherever I can. However, 2 years ago, I would have loved to find people who wanted things the way they were, so we didn't have to spend any $, as we would not have been able to rent it anyway....

Best of luck!

Mav is right--most landlords renovate (tax write-off) to try to destabilize estate-condition apartments. Even if the unit is already destabilized, a cheapo quickie reno will bump the market rate significantly. There is really not much incentive for a LL to offer a unit as-is.

Let me clarify--when I say 'as is' I mean original condition.

then there's the little kicker where the LL pays his bro in law (or shell corp, if it's a big LL)thrice what the reno should cost, so as to enable a really big escalation

btwn tenants they can escalate monthly rent based on renavation at a rate of 1/48th of reno "cost"

Huh -I hadn't thought of the rent stab implications. Good advice.

Thanks, too , for the building recommendations.

Another reason original/estate/fixer-upper apartments that appeal to me, besides "character": we have alotta art which means we need alotta wall space . Moreover, it means ALOTTA nail holes. Nail holes in pretty new walls = bad.

Helen - do you actually use nails, or the picture hangars with the really tiny "nails"

>>Nail holes in pretty new walls = bad.<<

I'm assuming you're concerned about your deposit. Unless you're planning to gouge large chunks out of the the walls you should not worry. Nail holes for picture hanging count as normal wear and tear (even on 'pretty new walls') and should NOT cause money to be withheld from your deposit.

I don't think "estate condition" is what you mean here. Estate condition generally means things do not really work well. The bathroom will be disgusting and falling apart, the kitchen cabinets a wreck with grossly outdated barely functioning appliances, the floors will be desperately in need of attention and may require replacement, wiring will be a hodge podge of cables running all over, outlets will be inadequate to modern demands, walls may be a wreck but will also have 1000 coats of paint and all light fixtures may be in need of replacing. What I read you describing is an apt that needs cosmetic reno: paint, lighting upgrades, refinish floors, maybe put on some fresh doorknobs or new cabinet doors in kitchen--perhaps even replacing some leaky faucets. But an estate condition place usually means one could not move in even if they wanted to without very very substantial renovations/updating. If someone died there, chances are they were old and were there forever; most old people stop taking care of upkeep 20 years before they pass--a place that hasn't been tended to properly for decades will need much more than superficial fixes.

Yeah, Kyle, I sometimes think about that. I'm a major neat-freak now, but what will happen in 30 or 40 years when my mind and body are no longer as agile? Will I be one of those ladies who owns multiple cats and stops bothering to clean or put things away? Or the lady who brings home injured pigeons to live in a box in her bathtub? The thought makes me shudder...

I think what happens is as we age, our focus changes, we don't see as well, we don't notice what's fallen apart as quickly because it has happened so slowly. Then there is the fixed income aspect of it. Upkeep can be expensive and things that could use updating but still function are not tended to. And someone who is 90 probably views the way to live in an apartment just as they did when they were 70. The technological developments and trends of the last 20 years are irrelevant to many elderly people. They are oblivious to and don't care about current color trends or design trends. Those avocado green appliances and formica counters and lime green bathroom walls and pink toilet look just fine to them--they loved them in 1974 and still think they're very appealing. Forget the fact that the counter has burn marks and the laminate is peeling, the toilet leaks and needs a pan under the tank all the time, 2 burners and the broiler don't work on the stove, ...

I don't know what it will be like to be 70 or 90, but I hope I get to find out. Then I'll come back and search this thread and offer personal insight into why basically nice a place in a nice building gets so run down it is called "estate condition".

"I don't know what it will be like to be 70 or 90, but I hope I get to find out. Then I'll come back and search this thread and offer personal insight into why basically nice a place in a nice building gets so run down it is called "estate condition"."

How quaint, you'll still be firing up the ol' "WiFi" on your iPhone and be connecting to the Internet...

Bramstar, thank you for the mind-easing comment about nail holes. My ol' man frets and frets about that subject. He sees every new picture hook in means $$ out of our deposit!
PH41 -haha. I mean actual picture-hanging hooks and nails. I really like the ones from Ikea - they are quite strong but leave the daintiest lil holes.
Thanks folks!

helenwaite: Those little nails won't do any damage to the walls that you can't fix-up, and paint-over.

Display your art. You're an artist. Then, take it with you whenever and wherever you move to next.

Good luck, helen.

Truth - you are so nice! Thank you.