Summer Sublet Trouble Already?

Tonight, I headed out to NYC to view an apartment. I would have preferred to wait until I had several appointments lined up, but this one sounded too good to be true. $1100, Upper East Side (not too far up, though), own bathroom, penthouse with spectacular views of the city, etc. I thought, "I'll check it out; and, if it's as good as it seems, I'll write a check on the spot."

I get there and the place is GORGEOUS! But before the woman who is subletting her room has finished giving me the tour, she says, "How would you feel about paying $1400? I'm asking because this is a really great place, but it's rent controlled. And the rent may go up." I explain that $1100 is as high as I can go. She then says, "I understand. It's just that it's rent controlled. But it won't go up to $1400 over the summer."

So, is the price increase related to rent-control or not?

Later, during our conversation in the living room, she says, "You're great. The only thing that might be a problem is that I really want $1400 for the apartment. I'm just thinking that it's a great place, and why not try to come out a little ahead on the deal?" Before I could even respond, she changes the subject. Five minutes later, she pushes me out the door.

I'm not surprised. This is clearly the first time she's ever done anything like this. (She's twenty-two years old.) And I'm not sure I really mind. I didn't know for certain that the apartment was rent-controlled before agreeing to see it, but subletting a rent-controlled apartment is illegal and I would hate for this to become an issue half-way through the summer. Besides, her current roommate - and the guy I would be living with over the summer - seems to lack social graces. The thing that upsets me is that I travelled all the way to New York and back to see the place. I wouldn't have done this had I known that she had decided to raise the price! So I wasted both time and money ($10 cab to train station + $28 roundtrip off-peak ticket + $4 subway fare to and from apartment = $42).

Another inquiry about a sublet returned an email that seemed as if the person were barking at me: "When do you need apt- What Date? When will you be in Manhattan to see apt. on West 10th street? How Many people? Is that May thru August? Please reply ASAP ---not enough info...." This place was super expensive, and she sounds a little agressive, so I'll be sending her a TBNT email.

*Sigh* I was hoping that finding a place to live in NY over the summer would be easy. I suspect that it may wind up being even more difficult than landing the internship itself.