find a new apartment

So I want to leave my parents house and live in my own place in the world, basically it. I think its time to do my own thing I guess.

So – I returned to my hometown and moved into a new place with a former roommate. For the past month I’d been living with her and her sister in a tiny little hide-away with one bathroom, no dishwasher and no central heating and air. It wasn’t quite a nightmare – but it was challenging enough. I knew that she wanted to move – so I really didn’t try to make our tiny little house into a home.

Just two weeks ago we found a new place not far from our old place – and it is a dream come true. Two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a patio and tons of sunlight. It’s just the place that I had been dreaming of while I lived in another tiny little hide-away in the middle of New York City. So we filled out an application, got approved and now we are getting all settled in.

Sigh....

My new place is so spacious and beautiful – I’m just so grateful that I live here now!

A friend at work and I were talking about how I needed to move. He suggested several apartment buildings that were great for students and close to campus. Seeing as all I will be doing during break is going to be working, I will make time to start looking around for places to rent.

I want my place to be really nice, with great structure, and not run down. I also want it to be affordable. Some people think that’s asking a lot but I think it a reasonable expectation.

The challenge with moving is really going to be timing. I have to time moving out and finding someone to take my spot in prefect synchronization so that I am not paying 2 rents. Its a work in progress.

I just put down the deposit today and got the keys!!! So I can start moving stuff in basically anytime. It’s exciting. I’ll actually have the chance to clean up the place and take care of details before I move in. Maybe arrange the furniture so my cats are a little less freaked out by the move – that way they won’t have to get used to a new apartment AND deal with lots of furniture re-arranging.

Oh, and I can get utilities and such set up also. I’m pretty dang stoked!

While I’d love to hem and haw and keep searching until I find the ‘perfect’ place, the truth is that I don’t have the luxury of doing so. Also, I am tired of apartment hunting. I am ready to shift into the next phase, which is adapting to my new place and setting it up the way that I choose.

I think I am going to rent the dark-but-character-full studio I looked at most recently. It has the right mix of privacy, affordability, and location. While it does lack light and off-street parking, I am confident that I can adapt to both of these factors. After all, my current bedroom has one window that faces the wall of the next house (about 4 feet away) and is quite dark – but I spend a great deal of my time here and have become comfortable with it. I’ll simply need to invest in some quality lighting and get used to moving my car daily. Oh and…my current roommate is going to be my neighbor! She’s going to be, at most, 2 blocks away from me. Pretty cool, I think.

I filled out the rental app (no application fee, yay!) and turned it in today – the landlord just called me an hour ago to tell me that the credit check went through fine (thankfully), and that I can drop off the deposit + cat deposit whenever. My parents (bless them) told me that they would put their personal loan to me in the mail today, so I should have it mid-week this week. Once I do that, I’ll mark this goal ‘done’.

I am hoping that he will start letting me move some things in this weekend.

At least the place for now. I know I keep saying that, but this time I think I might be right.

It’s in a different neighborhood I hadn’t really considered before. Apparently this is Syracuse’s “gay neighborhood”? I had no idea that this town had one; it’s not Chelsea or the Castro or anything, but there is definitely a small but prominent contingent of rainbow flags. It’s a neighborhood with lots of historic houses that has been kind of run down for awhile but that folks are actively trying to improve. Close to my morning job, not as close to my afternoon job, but within reasonable distance of both and also closer to downtown.

I actually called the landlord a few weeks ago about this same place; at that point he said he had someone lined up already. Turns out that this person gave him a bogus check (!), so it’s free after all. My roommate went to look at it (turns out she might be moving out as well – it’s a long story), and couldn’t take it (they didn’t want her piano there)...but it could work for me.

Here are the details: it’s an interior studio apt. in a 40 apt. building. The owner lives on site. It has high ceilings, wood floors, a ceiling fan, a full kitchen (with a full-sized oven, very important!), quite a bit of closet space, and a fair number of windows. The bad part is that it doesn’t get a lot of light and the view is not good. Not an airshaft view – I’d get morning sun – but not an ideal situation.

However. The rent is right. Heat and water is included (I’d pay cooking gas and electric). The building is pretty cool (awesome 80-year-old tiling in the hallways) and the landlord seems pretty relaxed while definitely taking the upkeep and quality of life at the building seriously. No off-street parking (ick) which sucks. But maybe it’s time I got rid of the car or learned to parallel park better. AND…I may not have to sign a lease, which is good. That means if this place doesn’t work out, or I get a better job, or if a better apt. in the building opens up…I might be able to move again if needed.

Oh…a weird aside. The owner/landlord was a school librarian for 10 years before going into real estate…and he’s an alumnus of my program (albeit 20 years ago). Kinda cool!

So. I really, really want to try having a place to myself, and see if I like it. And I’m excited about the possibility of exploring a new neighborhood and patronizing a bunch more local businesses. I’ll crunch a few more numbers, but I have a good feeling about this place (bad view and light notwithstanding).

I think I should know by the end of this week where I’ll be living. Just saw a new option today (so far the BEST I’ve seen yet), and will go to look at one more tomorrow.

Here are my options so far:

1. $505 – 1 bedroom apt. in not-so-great complex. Probably safe, just dingy and possibly loud. Farther away than I would like.

2. $600 – larger 1 bedroom in much nicer complex.

3. $350 – shared apt. I looked at today. My future potential roommate is a guy about my age in the MFA creative writing program here. Seems like a really nice guy, and he was definitely open to me moving in – happy to have the cats around too. The apartment is quirky and SWEET. Porch. Free laundry. Off-street parking. Chill landlord. Lots of light. Hardwood floors. Fireplace! Breakfast nook! Guy barely cooks so I would have the kitchen largely to myself woooooooohooooo!

Can you tell that I’m excited about this last option? Only trouble would be heating bills, but that’s manageable especially if they are split 50-50.

Cool. I was excited about the prospect of living alone, but in all honesty I really would prefer to live with someone else – especially someone who is used to living with other people as this guy obviously is. I have a feeling we have similar lifestyles, at least in terms of quietness, chillness and independence.

its not perfect but its got great transport.
signed a six month lease so all is good.

Several things. First, got a reject message from the house share I investigated earlier in the week. While that sucked just a bit, it was also OK. I was pretty sure it was not the best fit anyhow, and it’s kind of nice to cross another option off my list.

I talked a lot about my situation today, first to my boss (hey, he asked me!), and then to my parents. It was kind of a relief, as I’ve had this matter roiling around in my own head for about 1 week straight. No offense to you lovely 43Thingers, but sometimes it’s extra helpful to vent out loud. :)

It was nice of my boss to listen to me and to appreciate the fact that so much in my life is up in the air right now. And it was SO HELPFUL to run my thinking by my mom and have her affirm that what I want to do makes sense.

So. I’m pretty sure I’m going to rent the nicer but more expensive apartment that I saw today. It’s only about $30 more expensive than the first studio I looked at, but much cleaner, nicer, and with much more storage space. The truth is, I am probably going to be hanging out at home a lot no matter which one-bedroom I rent…partly because that’s what I do, partly because hey, I’m too poor to entertain myself elsewhere. It is worth it to me to pay extra in order to be someplace I actually like going home to.

I love that my mom did not make me ask them for money, but offered to help me out with a loan first. I have already planned $50 monthly payments into my monthly budget. They have loaned me…not tons, but plenty…of money over the years, as well as helping with my education. I really think that I need to be financially responsible with this loan and make a plan to pay it back promptly.

Once I have put down the deposit on the place, I will feel a lot better I think. Sure, I’ll still be stressed about the money for the next month (until I make October rent), but at least I be assured of where I will go next.

Now I don’t know WHAT to do.

I went to go look at the other complex apartment this morning – the one that is a bit more than I want to pay (but just within what I can afford). Ummm…you get what you pay for. Much smaller (in terms of the complex; the apartment itself was bigger). A patio/balcony. Tons and tons of storage space. 95% grad students (so…very quiet). Much nicer overall (tidy, well-lit parking; actual landscaping).

Then I walked over to the other complex to drop off my rental application, and was struck by the difference. When I entered the office, a tenant was complaining about a problem. There were tons of kids running around outside. And I was struck by how much less homey the place seemed in general.

I realized that either way, I’m gonna be stuck with a 1 year lease. The second complex makes more sense given my current budget. However, what if I get a better job (and I’m planning to, I need to, within three months, even if it’s not in a library)? Then I’ll be stuck someplace not as nice when I can definitely afford better.

I really need to think hard about what I’m going to do.