A school counselor spends $1,800 on rent? Her and what trust fund???

'The Hunt' usually features happy, storybook endings so I'm surprised they're complaining about their view, noise, and amenities.

Wire: New York Times (NYT) Date: Apr 14 2016 5:00:15
The Hunt: Nonnegotiable: A Jersey City Address

By JOYCE COHEN

(New York Times) -- There was no question where Craig Vagell would live. As an
applicant for a firefighting job in Jersey City, he had a residency
requirement to fulfill.

Mr. Vagell had been a volunteer firefighter in his hometown of Cedar Knolls,
N.J., since his high school graduation. When he met Katie Guenther nearly two
years ago, he was renting a studio in the Hamilton Park section of Jersey City
for $1,275 a month.

His apartment, in a brownstone, had both a washer-dryer and a dishwasher,
unusual for that type of building.

Mr. Vagell, now 33, commuted to Manhattan for his job in broadcast operations
at a television network while he waited for his name to reach the top of the
firefighters? list.

Ms. Guenther, now 32, is a school counselor. She and Mr. Vagell were set up by
his mother, a teacher who is now retired and who worked with Ms. Guenther at
an elementary school in East Hanover, N.J.

?She had her eye on me,? Ms. Guenther said. ?She talked about Craig to me and
I was, like, ?No way.? ? Dating a colleague?s son ?would be a disaster.? She
changed her mind, and the two are now planning to marry in summer 2017.

Around the time they met, Ms. Guenther, who is from Lawrenceville, N.J.,
rented a one-bedroom in a large apartment complex in Randolph, N.J., paying
around $1,800 a month.

Late last summer, the couple went on the hunt in Jersey City for a one-bedroom
to share. ?I had never really gone over to Jersey City except for maybe some
auto shop to get my car fixed,? Ms. Guenther said. But as she spent more time
there, she concluded that ?this is better than Hoboken,? where she had lived
for a time before she moved to Randolph, with more diversity and ?a more
mature scene.?

The couple loved Jersey City?s handsome brownstone neighborhoods. One-bedroom
rents there were on the low end of their price range of $2,200 to $2,800 a
month. They browsed brownstones briefly, looking for ?for rent? signs, but
were always led to an agent who charged a fee. They felt broker fees were high
and unnecessary.

Furthermore, ?it was really hard to find a brownstone with a washer-dryer,?
which was essential, Mr. Vagell said. Few had much closet space, either.

They preferred one of the city?s new rental buildings, which typically have a
convenient gym ? something Mr. Vagell wanted, ?to make sure all the firehouse
food wasn?t going straight to my belly.?

At Avalon Cove on Washington Boulevard, built in 1999 on the waterfront, the
monthly rent for one-bedrooms was in the mid-$2,000s. The couple liked the
outside, but inside ?it was blah and there was carpeting that looked old,? Ms.
Guenther said.

Mr. Vagell noted the apartments had little overhead lighting. ?You had to
bring in lamps,? he said. ?You are tying up a lot more of your outlets,
leaving fewer for other electronic items needing plugs.? As a firefighter, he
is always careful to make sure ?you are not overloading power strips and are
managing the electrical load as safely as possible.?

They crossed the street to see Marbella, built in 2004. At that point, no
one-bedrooms were available. They visited a staged two-bedroom, but the
monthly rents for one, starting in the low $3,000s, were well over budget.

Its connected sister tower, M2, was rising. Mr. Vagell was concerned about
construction noise. (It is now about to open.)

As for the pool, it would serve both towers. ?I wasn?t sure if, amenity-wise,
that was going to accommodate two high-rise towers without being overcrowded,?
Mr. Vagell said. ?Katie wanted a pool, but I was indifferent, really.?

On Morgan Street in the Powerhouse Arts District, a new Toll Brothers rental
tower, the Morgan, was under construction. There, the couple saw assorted
floor plans and renderings. Wearing hard hats, they toured some unfinished
units. ?We walked into an apartment that didn?t even have a refrigerator
installed, and it was dusty, but even so, we loved it,? Ms. Guenther said. It
included a walk-in closet and a stacked washer-dryer. The lighting was fine.

The couple selected a one-bedroom on a lower floor for $2,780 a month. After
each paid the $75 application fee, they signed a two-year lease. The many
amenities, available for an annual fee of $500 per unit, include a 24-hour
concierge, an unstaffed pub and an outdoor pool and barbecue area. Garage
parking is $225 a month.

In the fall, almost three months later, they were among the first tenants to
arrive. Meanwhile, Mr. Vagell was hired by the Jersey City Fire Department,
and is now a probationary firefighter. He continues to work part time in
television.

?We got to know the door staff ? they call us the Originals,? he said. The
couple met some of their neighbors at building-sponsored gatherings.

They don?t much mind that their view is mostly of a parking lot. ?We would
have had a view of the Statue of Liberty, but they built something there,? Ms.
Guenther said.

They have invited friends to join them in the grilling area. The building?s
common spaces close at 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and at 11 p.m. on
Friday and Saturday, which seems early to them. ?If you have company over and
you want to hang out, I don?t see why the pub can?t stay open till 12 or 1
a.m.,? Mr. Vagell said. The gym, however, is open 24 hours.

In the hallway they can hear talking and television from other apartments, but
?the minute you go into your apartment, the noise goes away,? Mr. Vagell said.
A guitar, however, is audible on weekend mornings, but they can live with it.

Despite the location near a boulevard, ?when the windows are shut, you?re not
hearing too much street noise,? he said. ?We hear the fire trucks.?

Email: thehunt@nytimes.com