u/Ill_Investment_905

Hi all. I'm looking to move in mid November as my boyfriend's lease expired Nov 30th. I've been reaching out about apartments in my budget range (2200 and below) and I'm not getting any replies back. I'm assuming it's bc I am telling them I prefer a mid-Nov move on date and they want someone to move in immediately.

I also tell them that our combined income after tax is about 75000 stable income and my credit score is 800, my partners is prob about 700, and I have family assistance if needed for rent. Maybe that's also what's driving people away. I'm usually sending out messages on Street Easy, my friend recommended FB Marketplace. We've been looking for 1BR in Brooklyn and the ones I'm seeing are usually 1900-2200 for our budget.

My parent can be guarantor but she makes also 7500 annual so we probably have to go with a 3rd party guarantor. His credit score might also be lower bc he is in debt consolidation so I told him today to go double check what it is for real.

Any advice would be much appreciated. Getting a little stressed out.

I just want to preface by saying that I've explained this situation to my friends and they seem to think there is an innocuous explanation for this, but it's been unsettling me. I tend to be paranoid and connect things that aren't really connected due to anxiety, but I just need some other people's opinions to know I'm not crazy and this is something that would creep out most people.

I live in a one-bedroom apartment on my own with my cat. I have a boyfriend but I often go to his apartment instead to see him because he lives closer to my new job. We are planning to move in together by the end of the year when we break our leases, but that's not going to be for several months.

I've lived here for about a year and nothing like this has ever happened before. I am familiar with most of my neighbors and with the people in the building next door, since it is a fairly small walk up (2 apartments per floor, 4 floors), and most of them seem to be long term residents that have been there for 20+ years. The walls are also fairly thin, so I actually do wake up sometimes when I hear someone's door slam or the trash chute slam closed. I dont see many new faces but a lot of delivery people do come in and out, but I'm on the top floor, so my floor should have the least amount of traffic. The front door has an entry code with a camera and delivery people usually have to ring people's apartments to be let in.

For about the past 2 weeks, I've been noticing that almost every day, the mat outside my door is shifted out of place. I didn't notice it at first because I figured I must have been moving it accidentally when I walked in and out of my apartment, but it's never happened before while living there, so I found it strange. The mat has rubber grips on the bottom, so it doesn't slide easily. It's usually only slightly crooked, about an inch or two out of place, like it's being pushed by my foot while walking out the door.

I first noticed it was out of place last week, the morning after I came home from a night of drinking. I remember thinking I must have pushed it because of how askew it was. Then it didn't move until a few nights later and then again the day after. I didn't take much notice to it until last Friday. I came home with groceries after work and noticed it was out of place and fixed it. I remembered this because I had to crane my neck over my grocery bag to look down. The next morning, I opened the door again, and the mat was crooked. I hadn't left the apartment at all that night.

Since last Friday, it keeps happening. Every morning, the mat is out of place. It's come to the point that I'm carefully fixing it every day and noting where it is relative to the door to see how much it moves.

I know it seems ridiculous but something about it is freaking me out. I thought maybe the neighbor across was accidentally kicking it, but their door is far from mine and they're closer to the stairwell, so they don't need to pass my door at all. I haven't received any packages either. I told my boyfriend about this and he suggested there was a draft coming from downstairs, but I've never noticed one before. Furthermore, the cardboard box that's been in the hall hasn't moved, so I don't see how a draft would not move the empty box, but move a rubber mat flat on the floor.

I can't help but feel like I'm being watched or someone is creeping around my apartment. The other night, I heard my cat meowing and I saw him walking around the door and trying to peer into the slats. I crept over to look in the peephole, but I didn't see anything. This creeped me out because my cat usually doesn't even go to the door when delivery people ring the bell or my neighbors are walking in the hall.

I also thought I heard some noises at the door last night and lowered the TV and went over to the door to listen. It sounded like a brushing sound, like someone had on a big winter coat and was rubbing it against the door. I looked into the peep hole again and nothing.

Let me know what you think of this. I feel I'm being paranoid but I can't think of any conceivable reason this could be happening. I doubt anyone is really following me but I feel anxious leaving the apartment and whenever I hear a noise at night, I completely freeze up to listen. And my cat has also been on edge and scaring easily at night and jumping a lot, maybe because I'm scared, but I don't know. I just feel like something bad is going to happen.