Thirty-three year old programmer Paul Dix does a little bit of everything around his mastery of Ruby on Rails: he’s a coveted speaker on the subject, a soon-to-be-published author, and he’s most-recently founded a company built on the programming language. However, his computer background alone could not help him move from his 4th-floor walk-up in Brooklyn Heights to an elevator-building in Williamsburg. Paul talks to us about the stresses of moving and the advice he has for anyone currently in a house hunt.
So, what spurred the inter-borough move?
A break-up. I shared a studio with my girlfriend for the past year and a half in Brooklyn Heights. I needed to get my own place.
And you found it in Williamsburg?
Yes, I had three choices for potential neighborhoods. I wanted to live in either East Village, West Village, or Williamsburg. I had different criteria and must-haves for each neighborhood. For Willamsburg the building had to be new. There are so many new buildings there and the market is still kinda bad, so I knew I could get some sweet deals.
Tell me about it.
I ended up at 34 Berry. They just started renting it out in April, so it’s about as new as you can can get. It has in-apartment washer and dryer, gym, roof top, free coffee and Wi-Fi in the coffee lounge, and cold storage for when Fresh Direct comes. I had a budget of $2000 and this studio was $1880, and it’s exactly what I was looking for. I’m the very first person to live in it.
You found it on Craigslist?
Yeah. I only used Craiglist for my apartment hunt. I found this place, signed the lease, and moved in within a week.
And you knew in advance you liked the neighborhood?
Yeah, I know a lot of people who live here. Now that I’m here, I feel like I’m required to get a fixed-gear bike, grow a beard, and be ironic all the time [to fit in with the hipsters.]. But I love it.
How did you do the physical moving of your stuff?
It was easy, I had most of my stuff and furniture already in storage from the last time I moved. I used Moishe’s moving company to get them from Extra Space Storage to Williamsburg. And then I had a friend with a car to get my clothes and personal effects out of the apartment. I recommend Extra Space Storage to anyone who needs storage space, by the way.
Overall, would you say the move was expensive?
I got a quote for $789 from Moishe’s when I first called as they told me it would take 5 hours to move. I knew that was crazy. Getting stuff from a storage unit near Park Slope to an elevator building in Williamsburg would be about a 20 minute drive and should not take 5 hours. They then told me they had a 3 hour minimum and gave me a quote for that. I told them I refused to pay for labor that I was not actually using and that I would only pay for the actual time used. They finally came around. It ended up costing me $389. Regardless, I would recommend watching movers like a hawk!
What happened?
They left my bed’s headboard and footboard at the storage unit. It had closed by the time we went back to get it so I had to wait another day to put my bed together. Also, my desk chair was missing a wheel and they claimed it was missing before they got there. I think they probably left it when they originally left the headboard at the storage unit, but they ended up replacing the wheel.
Any other advice for people moving within NYC besides keeping tabs on the movers?
Yes, first don’t go cheap on where you choose to live. If it’s only an extra $100 a month for a better view, it’s worth it. You want to be happy with where you live. Second, give yourself a day after the move to get settled. I moved in and realized I didn’t have bedsheets, shower curtain, a trashcan and things like that and it was at night and everything was closed. I had to take a day off work the next day to just get officially moved in.
OUR SUMMARY -WHAT YOU CAN LEARN FROM DIX:
1.) If you buckle down, you can do the whole moving life-cycle in just one week
2.) Have different housing criteria for different neighborhoods
3.) Negotiate with moving companies for great discounts
4.) Storage is always an option if you can’t fit all your stuff into an apartment
5.) Plan to be busy buying must-haves the day after a move
