I moved to NYC at 22 and lived with a 70-year-old roommate. She had rules, meals, and a busier social life than me.

This as-told-to effort is based connected a speech pinch William Swanson, a 22-year-old moving successful aesculapian income who moved to New York successful June. The speech has been edited for magnitude and clarity.

I had conscionable graduated from assemblage and was moving from Massachusetts to New York for a occupation starting successful June. I planned to get an flat pinch friends, but they wouldn't get successful the metropolis until the extremity of July. Since they didn't want to commencement paying New York rent earlier they needed to, I had to find a short-term spot to enactment successful the meantime.

Finding semipermanent housing successful New York is already difficult, and looking for a short-term lease is moreover harder. I was successful a clip crunch and didn't really cognize wherever to start.

I wanted to unrecorded adjacent to the infirmary wherever I'd beryllium moving because I was caller to the metropolis and unfamiliar pinch nationalist transportation. I was besides conscionable starting out, truthful I wanted thing affordable that was still safe.

There are a bunch of NYC Facebook groups wherever group station things like, "My roommate conscionable left, and we're looking for personification to capable their spot." Those tin beryllium good, but you person to get fortunate pinch the timing and location.

I besides looked connected Airbnb and websites for illustration SpareRoom and Furnished Finder. I reached retired to a fewer people, but immoderate of the situations were weird. It would beryllium like, "My relative is sleeping connected the couch," or, "Someone other mightiness besides beryllium staying successful the room." So I avoided those.

Eventually, I recovered a listing from a 70-year-old female named Aleyda connected SpareRoom. We messaged a little, and I figured she was astir apt a safer bet. It was an different surviving arrangement, but I decided to return a chance.

I took a risk, and it was worthy it

I FaceTimed Aleyda to spot the apartment, but the personification I said pinch wasn't moreover her. It was a younger feline who lived successful the building and was helping construe for her because she said Spanish.

He showed maine astir the apartment, and I liked it. Still, I was a small suspicious because I thought, "I'm not moreover gathering the personification I'm going to beryllium surviving with."

I told my parents. My dad, who's from Boston, was fundamentally like, "Yeah, you'll beryllium fine." My mom was much concerned.

Being a feline made it consciousness a small little scary. So I decided to spell for it and dream the flat really existed. Worst case, I figured I'd get a edifice aliases find thing else.

On move-in day, I yet met Aleyda and was relieved to find retired she was a existent personification and I wasn't getting scammed. My parents helped maine move successful because they wanted to meet her, too.

She was incredibly bully and caring. I retrieve my mom was taken aback by really fortunate I had gotten. I had someway recovered the cleanable roommate.

We had an different but awesome surviving arrangement

I don't cognize excessively overmuch astir Aleyda because I didn't want to inquire her excessively galore questions. What I do cognize is that I was the 11th aliases 12th personification she had rented the room to.

Aleyda's flat has 3 bedrooms, a kitchen, and a mini surviving room. She sleeps successful 1 bedroom, different is utilized for storage, and excavation was adjacent the bath we shared.

I paid astir $1,900 for the period without utilities, which is objectively insane. But short-term rentals are much expensive, and it was still 1 of the amended deals I could find successful a awesome location. I figured I'd eat the costs for a month.

Aleyda speaks Spanish, truthful a batch of the clip we texted, and I deliberation she utilized immoderate benignant of AI to thief pinch translation. I besides person a Colombian friend who speaks Spanish, truthful sometimes I'd FaceTime him to thief america communicate. Other times, the neighbour would help.

It was evidently a nontraditional surviving business — a 22-year-old feline surviving pinch a 70-year-old female — but she was ace laid-back and fto maine do my ain thing.

She had a fewer rules: nary partying, drugs, drinking, aliases having a bunch of group over. Basically, she was like, "Whatever you do extracurricular my apartment, I can't control." I thought that was fair. I was coming into her home, truthful I was going to play by her rules.

Aleyda had a societal life of her own. She was ever retired pinch friends. Sometimes she'd make maine meals, and I'd inquire her to eat pinch me, but she'd beryllium like, "No, I'm busy. I person location to go, but please eat." Some nights, she'd enactment up watching TV measurement later than I did, which was benignant of funny.

The NYC rental marketplace is difficult to navigate

While I was surviving pinch Aleyda, I had boots connected the crushed touring apartments for my early roommates and me.

I was looking for listings connected StreetEasy and Zillow. Local New Yorkers will sometimes make nosy of group for utilizing StreetEasy, but a batch of them look to person connections aliases conscionable cognize really the marketplace works. Some of my friends moreover person rent-stabilized apartments that were passed down to them.

The New York rental market is insane, truthful if you're coming to the metropolis pinch nary connections, it's overmuch harder. You mightiness not cognize which websites to usage aliases which listings to trust.

Sometimes I'd show up to a listing, and location would virtually beryllium 100 group touring it. It decidedly tempted maine to enactment astatine Aleyda's, but she already had personification lined up for the room erstwhile my one-month lease ended.

Eventually, my roommates and I recovered a beautiful decent spot successful the East Village. I salary astir $1,975 earlier utilities — beautiful akin to what I was paying before. We really lucked out. If you find thing for nether $2,000 successful Manhattan, you're lucky.

There are decidedly upsides and downsides to my caller place. I person my ain room, truthful I'm much relaxed, because I don't person to tiptoe astir personification else's home. While it's bully to person that freedom, I don't person an abuelita looking aft maine anymore.

New York benignant of forces you to opportunity yes and effort caller things. Living pinch Aleyda was an awesome experience. She welcomed maine into her location and put a batch of spot successful me. Having that stableness and comfortableness erstwhile I first moved to the metropolis was really nice.