The Hunt: From Perth to the Upper East Side

The Hunt: From Perth to the Upper East Side

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Ricardo Stansfield, a software sales consultant, wrapped up his life in Perth, Australia, and moved to New York.

Credit
David Handschuh for The New York Times

Ricardo Stansfield was glad to land a job transfer to New York.

Last spring, Mr. Stansfield, a software sales consultant, wrapped up his life in Perth, Australia, and moved temporarily into a Battery Park City sublet.

His rental budget was around $3,500 a month — equivalent to what he had paid in Perth for a two-bedroom in a contemporary building — though he was willing to pay more if necessary.

Having never been to the United States, he knew he would need help finding a rental. “It’s best to pay for professional advice,” he said. “It’s the same concept as an accountant or a lawyer. I am going to pay for someone to be my sherpa.”

A colleague referred him to Rodica L. Balan, a saleswoman at Halstead Property. He told her he preferred a new building with plenty of amenities. His apartment should have a washer-dryer, he said, so that doing the laundry would not be “a day out of your life.”

Mr. Stansfield, 38, also wanted to be near a good food market. “Being able to get decent produce close was important to me,” he said. “That sounds a bit silly, but I wanted stuff to be convenient. It is the everyday things that will annoy you.”

Ricardo Stansfield liked the idea of a doorman so much he decided against a one bedroom in a walk-up building on East 61st Street in Lenox Hill.

Credit
David Handschuh for The New York Times

He mentioned Greenwich Village, one of the few neighborhoods he had heard of. “That is not doable,” Ms. Balan said. In that part of town, for his budget, he could get no more than a one-bedroom in a no-frills walk-up building.

So Ms. Balan suggested the Upper East and Upper West Sides. And she warned Mr. Stansfield that, as a foreigner, he should expect to pay four to six months of rent in advance. She focused on buildings she knew had flexible rental policies and on condominium units being rented out.

Their first Upper East Side stop was in the East 90s in Yorkville at a 1987 building recently converted to a condo. Mr. Stansfield was impressed by the doormen.

“There is no such thing as doorman buildings in Australia,” he said. “That seemed very posh.”

The one-bedroom he saw was large, sunny, partly furnished and with a washer-dryer. He left thinking: “It’s going to be hard to beat this one.”

A triplex in a condo building on East 86th Street in Yorkville was rundown inside.

Credit
David Handschuh for The New York Times

But he was eager to continue the hunt. “I wanted education,” he said. “It was a guided tour. I wasn’t going to say no.”

He saw a one-bedroom with a balcony in a postwar condo building on East 65th Street in Lenox Hill. The rent was $3,400 a month. The place was surprisingly noisy. “I expected to see a whole heap of traffic right beneath us, but there wasn’t,” Mr. Stansfield said. “It wasn’t even that busy a time of day.” The halls reeked of cigarette smoke.

He thought he was open to walk-up buildings, and one was on his itinerary, a one-bedroom for $3,000 a month on East 61st Street in Lenox Hill. But now that he knew about doorman buildings, he bypassed it altogether. “In Australia,” he said, “you don’t have staff that will question everybody who comes in or keep a security register or anything like that.”

A triplex condominium with a doorman was available in Yorkville on East 86th Street for $3,200 a month. The interior seemed worn. The place was another no.

“It was very much a quick assessment,” Mr. Stansfield said.

He then spent a day hunting on the Upper West Side. The new buildings on Riverside Boulevard met his requirements, but left him cold.

The find proved to be a sunny one-bedroom in a full-service building in the East 90s. It not only had a doorman, but a gym and a pool.

Credit
David Handschuh for The New York Times

“This was purely a vibe thing,” he said. “This wasn’t a feature-function list.”

By now he knew there would be decent food shopping no matter where he lived. And nothing compared with the first place he had seen. He decided to go for it.

“As someone without a credit history,” he said, “I wanted to give Rodica a big bat to swing with, and I said, ‘Let’s pay 12 months ahead.’”

Ms. Balan negotiated the $3,500-a-month rent to $3,300 for one year, with an option for a second year at $3,400. Mr. Stansfield paid the broker fee of 15 percent, or around $6,000.

The market has since softened, Ms. Balan said, and she would now negotiate for a month or two of free rent, as well as to have the landlord pay the fee.

“I couldn’t be happier here,” said Mr. Stansfield, who arrived late last spring. He uses the building’s gym daily. In its pool, he’s often the only swimmer, besides some children on weekends. “It is surprising that more people don’t use the amenities,” he said.

He loves having doormen, as he knew he would. “I can ask them: ‘Where’s a great steak?’” he said. “They are always very helpful for advice. It’s almost like a concierge — it’s that kind of service.”

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