But the really frustrating part is that none of the real estate agents bother to measure the spaces they advertise. It’s common to only have 60-70% of the space that’s advertised. I’ve seen two spaces that were advertised at 1,000 square feet. When I pulled out my laser/sonic measuring device the first place (in East Harlem) was 999 square feet, the second was about 600 square feet (weird shape - still not quite sure how big it was exactly).

So now I ask the agents what the actual, usable space is, but I’m finding no one can tell me the real dimensions… They have a listing and haven’t even bothered to measure it - so it’s impossible to compare advertisements. You have to show up and measure it yourself, which is a complete waste of our time and the agents’ time.

So now we have to figure out whether we want a small space with no view in midtown west, or a larger space in a place like Gowanus (Brooklyn) or East Harlem where the space and view will be nicer/larger, but the location isn’t as good…