Renting a loft, anything I should know?

[pathos]

Hi, I'm thinking of renting a loft just because I keep seeing far more reasonable rates for lofts, offering twice the space. Since I'll be living alone,
I won't need the have all these structured rooms. Anyway, my last apartment was a freaking nightmare, so I'm wondering if there are some obvious drawbacks to loft apartments
that I'm not aware of. I got bitten on my thumb by a mouse at my last apartment (sleeping on the floor, I guess i was asking for it...) and I'm wondering if rats and mice just sort of "go with the territory" when it comes to lofts, considering
that they were previously abandoned buildings? I know legally landlords are responsible for an apartment being healthy, livable and free from disease ridden vermin, but is this possible in a loft? Or should I just bring a bunch of cats and hope for the best?

As I said before, I'll be living alone, so I don't want to move into a new place and then be responsible for killing all the mice myself, mainly because I'd never be able to gather the will power to pick up dead bodies without screaming and possibly fainting ( yeah yeah, I'm bad to the bone, I know)
So that's my main issue... are mice just expected? or can I look at a loft as a large apartment, with the same rights to a disease free establishment? I'm hoping so...

But anything else? are lofts known for having bad pipes, or being drafty, or smelly or weird or anything? I really don't know anything about them except for the space, and of course that's what I'm interested in. Looking to get a place in Williamsburg for under 2000, so it doesn't have to be massive, but I just don't
want to be in manhattan paying 1500 a month for a studio the size of my bathroom.. So any thoughts? Any advice?

I'd love to hear what I can expect if I move into a loft, a finished one, not a raw space.

Thanks for reading!

[MikeW]

Make sure the building has been rezoned for residential use. Also, make sure it meets fire code for a residential building. If not, you may find the city, not you LL, moving to evict you as some point.

[mjr203]

Make sure of gas/fridge/stove availability in whatever place you look at

sometimes there are no existing applicances because of the nature of the commercial space and you might have to buy your own

[Cranky Tenant]

MikeW is right. If it's not zoned for residential use, and is up not to code, the things to watch out for could be endless.

I lived in an illegal loft and we had to supply everything including our own hot water heater. I think we had heat once in four years. There was no garbage pick-up and no exterminator when the mice began to get out of hand. To make matters worse, there was no guarantee the LL would renew the lease, and if she did, there was no cap on increases.

Good luck.

<small>[ July 05, 2002, 01:15 PM: Message edited by: Cranky Tenant ]</small>