Looking West Moves North

If it seems like I disappeared for a while, it is because the West household was in the process of making some big moves. Literally. A few months ago, Ian and I made the incredibly exciting decision to move from our beloved city of Charlotte to shining New York City. After many late-night talks, thorough budgeting, searching relentlessly on StreetEasy (IYKYK), and a healthy amount of romanticizing, the Wests bit the bullet and signed a lease in the Big Apple.

While the move may have seemed like a shock for some of our friends and family, there was never a doubt that NYC was the beginning of our next chapter. Although we have only lived in our new home for a few weeks, it is genuinely unbelievable how we cannot imagine living anywhere else for the foreseeable future. I should not have expected anything less, considering there were so many instances where the universe was pointing–or more like shoving–us to NYC. Let me explain…

Shoves From the Universe

1. The Apartment

At the start of our search, a friend recommended a building with which we were instantly enamored. I remember when Ian and I first looked through the photos of the apartment, we whispered to each other, “This feels right,” as if saying it too loud would jinx it. The next day, we found out that the apartment was no longer on the market. We should have been quieter.

StreetEasy then became an obsession. I am self-aware enough to know that I am prone to fixation and will exhaust myself in the pursuit of understanding something in its entirety; however, there were new listings every single day, and I did not grow tired of sifting through each one. It became a mission to understand the boroughs, the neighborhoods and associated histories, the entertainment, the monthly rent bands, and the architecture. Of course, the more I learned, the less I felt like I understood (as any investigator can attest), which only made me want to be in the heart of the action all the more.

My enthusiasm waned slightly as I acknowledged the horrendously expensive price patterns. I looked at my husband in true Dorothy fashion and said, “Ian, we are not in Charlotte anymore.” We needed a professional to help us figure out what neighborhoods and buildings were worth the price tag. Enter Doreen Courtright.

Doreen was a realtor that came highly recommended to us by one of Ian’s dear friends from college. We were thankful for the introduction because we knew NOTHING about renting in NYC, and as Ian puts it best: “One of our greatest talents in life is learning from people smarter than us.” We toured a few apartments with her across many neighborhoods during the free evenings of a business trip. We learned so much from Doreen and appreciated her candor and patience through all of our questions. Although we did not find THE apartment in those tours, we fell in love with her admiration of the Upper East Side and are forever grateful to her for leading us to what eventually became our neighborhood.

Interestingly, less than two weeks after getting back from our trip, we found another apartment within our price range, close to the neighborhood we loved. A couple of friends who live in the city agreed to tour it for us to make sure it was all it claimed be (Brad and Morgan, you are THE BEST!). They also scheduled a tour with the original building we liked—you know, the one we didn’t whisper quietly enough about. Turns out, the apartment that “felt right” was about to be put back on the market because it didn’t work out with the other applicant (OMG what?!). Brad and Morgan toured and gave their blessing before we IMMEDIATELY applied. After a grueling approval process, we now live in the coziest 1BR/1BD in the UES with a view of the East River. It clearly felt right for a reason.

2. The Movers

This was probably the most stressful part of the process. I attribute a new gray hair to learning about the myriad of things that could go wrong with an interstate move. Google, Yelp, and the Department of Transportation websites did nothing to ease my mind about the potential horrors associated with the relinquishing of all of your belongings to strangers: stolen or destroyed property, false estimates and outrageous upcharges, horrible customer service, and ignored phone calls.

I reached out to 5-6 moving services without feeling comfortable. Either the estimates were wildly expensive, or the service representatives seemed shady. I almost signed with one company because the price was unbeatable; however, after doing a bit more digging, I saw that although their Google reviews were good, their Yelp reviews were TERRIBLE. When I asked the service representative to speak to the discrepancy, he said all companies have bad reviews on Yelp because no one is perfect, and they couldn’t remove them. Why would you want to remove your reviews? Something in my gut told me this was a mistake, so I replied, “Thank you for your time, but we will not be moving forward with your services. I’m so sorry for the inconvenience.” To my shock, he responded rudely, “Whatever, I am going to go back to my family,” and hung up on me.

His icy dismissal caused a bit of quiet panic in me. How were we going to move our things from Charlotte to New York without having to pay $8-10k for a reputable service? I took a day off from phone calls and virtual estimates to reset and regain composure because no one can make a proper decision while feeling despondent and bitey. During this time, Ian reached out to a few friends in New York to see if they had any recommendations. Piece of Cake was the overwhelming recommendation with a stellar reputation across all review platforms. I did not get my hopes up, though, considering our pickup location was in Charlotte, and a company like this probably charges an arm, leg, and rights to one’s firstborn for such good service.

While crossing my fingers, arms, legs, and toes and making a desperate appeal to the universe, I called Piece of Cake and asked for an estimate. The estimate matched the unbeatable price of the previous company that had been so rude. Hmm… this couldn’t be real. I gave the sales rep more information about our belongings than what was required and brought up many hypothetical scenarios that could potentially increase the price of our estimate. I did not want to be caught off guard by surprise fees at the end of the move. Piece of Cake did not budge. All my muscles relaxed after signing the bright pink contract.

Overall, the move could not have gone any better. Piece of Cake was quick and capable. They picked up our furniture on Sunday morning and dropped it off in New York the following afternoon. That is a superhuman turnaround. I did throw an AirTag in one of the boxes for peace of mind, but by the time we hopped on our flight and arrived at our building the next day, Piece of Cake was already there with all of our belongings in one piece, and I never needed to check where they were. *high fives universe*

The Story Continues…

Check back next week for Looking West Moves North (Part 2) to read about two more shoves and to see our new life unpacked!

Cheers!