In 2021, Rachel Koggan decided she was ready to leave New York City and head south to Miami, Florida.
Koggan, a 34-year-old VP of Media Relations at M Booth, tells CNBC Make It she was ready for a change and wanted to be closer to her parents, who live about an hour from Miami.
“I just love Florida. I love the weather, I love the vibes, I love the people and the culture. And I thought that it would be a really fun adventure,” she says.
Koggan hired a realtor down in Florida to get her apartment hunt started, while she also searched for places online. That’s how she discovered a one-bedroom and a one-and-a-half-bathroom above the Brickell City Centre, a shopping mall in Miami.
“When I saw this apartment, I immediately jumped on it,” Koggan says. “I actually didn’t even get to tour or see this property in person before I made an offer. I’d done a lot of research on the building and I felt confident that it would be something that I liked but I just had to go off the photos, basically.”
Koggan’s Miami unit is a one-bedroom, 1,200-square-foot apartment with one and a half bathrooms.
Andres Rivera for CNBC Make It
The apartment was originally listed for $3,100 a month, but since there were a number of other applications submitted, Koggan offered $3,350 a month in hopes of securing the space. The move worked.
Her first year in the unit, Koggan’s rent was $3,350 but increased to $4,200 for her second year. Koggan was able to negotiate her monthly rent for year three back down to $4,150.
“The rent I pay now is more expensive than I was paying in New York City, but in NYC, I lived in a studio, and it was only about 400 square feet, and here I have about 1,200 square feet, so I understand that it is more expensive for a reason,” she says.
Koggan’s upfront costs included two security deposits of $3,350 and one month’s rent, totaling $10,050. She also paid a $500 pet fee when she moved in. She added this incentive to her original offer to make her application more enticing to the building’s management and the apartment owner.
When she renewed her lease in 2022, Koggan also had to pay an additional security deposit of $1700. Koggan spends $114 a month on utilities.
The one-bedroom apartment has a balcony, washer and dryer in-unit and a master bathroom with a dual-basin sink. Koggan’s luxury building includes amenities like a spa, gym, multiple pools and shared outdoor space.
Koggan’s apartment also has a walk-in closet.
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One perk that came as a complete surprise to Koggan is that as a resident of Brickell City Centre, she has direct access from her building to the mall.
“It was the best discovery in the entire world. It is now my absolute favorite feature of my apartment, and whenever anyone comes to visit, it’s sort of my party trick to show them what my backyard is… It honestly gives me so much entertainment and joy every single day,” she says.
Additional perks for residents of the Brickell City Centre building are invitations to events like happy hours, workout classes, and the opportunity to try new restaurants in the mall before they open.
Koggan admits that when she first moved in, she was shopping a lot. That habit has tapered off now that she’s been in her building for several years.
“I had a little bit of a transition period where I sort of had to ease into what my spending limits could be since everything was so accessible to me but now I feel like I’ve lived off,” Koggan says.
“I understand my limits and I have a pretty good relationship with my shopping right now, but I still do love it and it still does bring me a lot of joy.”
Brickell City Centre in Miami is home to a five-floor shopping mall, office space and two luxury residential buildings, including Koggan’s.
Andres Rivera for CNBC Make It
Koggan plans to stay in Brickell City Centre when her lease is renewed: “I’m going to make sure I check the comps in my building to see if my current price is still fair,” she says.
The most Koggan is willing to pay to stay in her current unit is around $4,300. If the cost has gone up too much, she says she will consider moving out of her building but staying put in Miami.
“I am so much happier living in Miami than I was in New York… Half the people are on vacation, half the people live here and are just as happy as I am,” she says.
“So I find that I pick up on that energy of people, and I feel like I live on vacation every single day.”
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