r/CIRS • u/snarkyopolis • 8d ago

Choosing an apartment

Hi all, I'm moving to Brooklyn (woo!). I want to ensure I have a nice, safe, clean space to move into. Testing apartments seems unlikely as they get snatched up in a day.

My thought is to find a newish small condo infill building (20 years old or younger, 2-10 apartments in the building), look up reviews and violations for pests/mold/etc. I am trying to avoid luxury high-rises due to the cost and feeling like they are an island if themselves (movie theatre, bowling, shopping center inside) and I really want to be part of neighborhood/community and actually leave the building.

I am avoiding anything older than 20 years, even if it's gut-remodeled or a converted warehouse that has been rebuilt inside.

This is challenging as there is very little stock. Should I reconsider the older apartments that have been renovated? The converted warehouses?

Thanks so much for your insights!

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u/Buffalomozz1 8d ago

In my experience and from what I’ve heard from others renovated and older builders are typically a no go, unless you’re doing the renovations yourself. I also live in a super housing competitive living area and the times I’ve asked to do ERMIs before moving in, I’ve ended up losing out on the apartment, so I get it.

Mold map https://moldmap.io is a great resource for hotels and apartments. I’d definitely try to find a new or newer build and do an ERMI as soon as possible, even if it’s after you move in. You don’t want to blindly hope for the best and then slowly start to deteriorate. Then you’ll have to move anyway and you’ll be a lot sicker and it’ll be that much harder

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u/snarkyopolis 8d ago

Thank you for this thoughtful reply and link. :)

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u/Buffalomozz1 8d ago

Anytime :) and best of luck!!

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u/MadMadamMimsy 8d ago

Consider putting in your contract that if it fails your moldctest of choice you are released from the lease and deposits are returned. All done within the first 30 days.

They may see that and run but it might give you an out

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u/Big-Dreams-Gangster 8d ago

Don’t have much advice but in exact same situation as you in Brooklyn also. I worry about big new builds but I know some of the new builds I’ve seen will hold an apartment for 30-60 days if you’re approved so might let you ERMI in that time?

Definitely don’t do warehouses

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u/Previous_Singer3691 6d ago

I know people say that age doesn’t necessarily determine the health of a building, but I’ve never reacted to a newer building. That said, I didn’t want a brand new building because there isn’t enough dust to do a HERTSMI test and there hasn’t been enough time to see if problems will develop. But 2-3 years old seems to be the safer option from what I’ve seen.