The Hunt - Leaving Behind an Arduous Commute - NYTimes.com FOR her internship in the fashion field last summer, Kate Kelly commuted to New York from Philadelphia. By fall, the internship had turned into a full-time job, and she was commuting five or six days a week. Ms. Kelly found herself rushing to catch the BoltBus to get home; her unpredictable hours made it tough to reserve ahead. When the bus was sold out, she took the New Jersey Transit train, switching in Trenton. It was often late at night by the time she got home to the studio loft in Society Hill that she shared with her boyfriend, Nick Sabean. The commute was "taking a pretty heavy toll," said Mr. Sabean, who works in business development for technology startups and moonlights as a bartender. The two, who are both 30, seldom saw each other. The couple decided to hunt for an apartment in New York. They had been paying $800 a month in Philadelphia, but in New York, their budget for a one-bedroom in a central location, or at least with good subway access, topped out at $1,800. Ms. Kelly, who graduated from Temple University and received a graduate degree in fashion apparel studies from Philadelphia University, wasn't sure where to begin. Friends warned her what not to do - not to use a broker, not to use Craigslist - but offered no good alternatives. Craigslist, however, "was my only vehicle to get an idea of what was out there," she said. She pounded the pavement at lunch and after work. If a listing sounded reasonable, she was often shown "a completely different apartment at a different price," she said. Places were tiny, run-down or far from the subway. On the occasions she saw someplace nice, "I wasn't prepared for the spontaneous decision and all the paperwork that was required," she said. "Nobody told me, "You are going to need six months of bank statements." " Back in Philadelphia, Mr. Sabean, a graduate of Delaware Valley College in Doylestown, Pa., was picking up extra bartending shifts to save for the move. He sometimes sent Ms. Kelly information she didn't have at hand. "I could go through our files, copy it, scan it and send it to her phone," he said. Technology played a huge role. Between Ms. Kelly's new job and outstanding school loans, the two weren't ideal applicants. Ms. Kelly was even asked for proof she had never bounced a rent check. On several occasions, the couple rented a car and drove around neighborhoods of interest. "On Google or Google Earth, you can take a visual tour of places and see what the neighborhood looks like," Mr. Sabean said. Still, "you see some outdated pictures. You can't really get a feel until you're there. It was good to be able to put two and two together and stand at those places. They ventured to Hoboken, which both found "awesome and beautiful," Ms. Kelly said. But the apartments they saw there were nearly half an hour from the PATH train to New York. "We walked and walked," Ms. Kelly said. What if it's raining, it's snowing, it's dark? Back in Manhattan, $1,795 a month bought a small, closet-free room with a bay window on West 103rd Street. "I was aghast," Ms. Kelly said. We thought a one-bedroom would be attainable, and we realized we were more in the studio section. Prices were more affordable farther uptown. Ms. Kelly was hopeful about 3333 Broadway, the five-building complex on Broadway near 135th Street, "the biggest apartment building I have ever seen," she said. It has nearly 1,200 units. A large renovated studio, with great Hudson River views, was $1,395. The listing mentioned an easy approval process. Still, their paperwork didn't pass muster. Growing frantic, Ms. Kelly found the Hotel Alexander on West 94th Street, an extended-stay hotel. That was "something I had never heard of," she said, "but it made sense to me."