I walked into our new apartment and my heart sank. Two guys were in the process of moving out. Two dirty mattresses were on the ground. Brown sheets were hanging "curtains" over French-windowed doors. There were some weird lamps and not enough closet space. 

I was a senior in college and my roommate and I had just signed a lease for our first real NYC apartment. I hadn't seen the apartment before we signed our credit scores + college savings accounts away to a dodgy-looking real estate agent in the East Village. Were these keys really going to work...?