William Collins
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This eBook first published in Great Britain by William Collins in 2016
First published in the United States by Henry Holt and Company, LLC in 2016
Copyright © 2016 by Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths
Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths assert the moral right to be identified as the authors of this work
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Cover design by Jonathan Pelham
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Source ISBN: 9780007547999
Ebook Edition © April 2016 ISBN: 9780007547982
Version: 2018-09-27
For our families
Contents
Imagine you’re searching for an apartment in San Francisco—arguably the most harrowing American city in which to do so. The booming tech sector and tight zoning laws limiting new construction have conspired to make the city just as expensive as New York, and by many accounts more competitive. New listings go up and come down within minutes, open houses are mobbed, and often the keys end up in the hands of whoever can physically foist a deposit check on the landlord first.
Such a savage market leaves little room for the kind of fact-finding and deliberation that is theoretically supposed to characterize the doings of the rational consumer. Unlike, say, a mall patron or an online shopper, who can compare options before making a decision, the would-be San Franciscan has to decide instantly either way: you can take the apartment you are currently looking at, forsaking all others, or you can walk away, never to return.
Let’s assume for a moment, for the sake of simplicity, that you care only about maximizing your chance of getting the very best apartment available. Your goal is reducing the twin, Scylla-and-Charybdis regrets of the “one that got away” and the “stone left unturned”