Naiveté

Lots of people live in the city without a budget, and I am totally jealous of them. Of course, lots of people like me live in the city on a budget. And lots of people try to take advantage of those of us on a budget.

They are the rent direct style services. Since I am new to this whole renting New York City style thing, I cannot say how long these services have been around. Nor can I say with confidence whether the rise of the Internets I so love has contributed. They are the services that shout NO FEE in loud bold letter...No Fee Rentals, Rent-Direct.com, Broker Revolt, No Fee Apartments, NYC Rent No Fee...just to name a few. The pitch is simple - you're hungry to move here, but you can't afford a broker. So for just a portion of what a broker would charge ($40-$250 from what I have seen), you can get access to the same real estate database brokers see for a period of 1-2 months.

Certainly, I'm sure you have to be devoted to make those things work - checking like a madman every hour, contacting management companies, etc. before the brokers do, and that's only if the listings on these sites are real. I do know a couple of people who have had success with these types of services, but the feedback has been 85% no way to 15% go for it.

Oh, and here's how they getcha: you go to the site, and by providing your contact information, you can see sample listings. And the sample listings are pretty terrific. Maybe if you buy in the listings are pretty terrific too. I think I will pass for now - a fool and her money are soon parted, and I'd rather be parted with mine by way of a nice Diane von Furstenburg dress.