34-year-old pays $4,150/month for a 1-bedroom apartment above a mall in Miami—take a look inside

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."

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