Apartment hunting

[TNT]

As I was walking to work the other night, I couldn't help but notice yet again that my neighborhood is really f****d up. "You know," I thought, "I don't make a lot of money, but I don't have to live in 'hood anymore, either."

Aha! Time to begin apartment hunting.

Problem 1: finding a place in this city that's not in the 'hood. I swear, 90% of this place qualifies as misery in the land of nothing.

Problem 2: Taking a woman with me.

Landlords refuse to believe she's just along to provide valuable contrarian input... that is, if she likes it, I'm sure I won't. I'm getting tired of hearing landlords say things to the effect of, "I don't care if you two are shacking up. Just be honest. Don't tell me it's just you moving in if both of you are moving in."

"Trust me. She's not moving in. We're just friends, and not even very good friends much of the time. And besides... well I don't really want to get into it."

Problem 3: Taking a woman with me.

Her: This place is great. I love it. I could be happy living here.
Me: Keeping in mind, of course, that you're not going to be living here.
Her: Yeah... right... sure... um...
Me: Trust me. You're not moving in.
Her: Every guy should have a lesbian roommate.
Me: I'm sure I can't think of a single reason why I would want any roommate.
Her: You'll change your mind.
Me: No, I won't.
Her: You always do.

Problem 4: Old vs new

Some of the apartments in this city manage to be old and filled with the peculiar charms of long-ago days. I like those places. But, they usually come with crappy electric service, old and inefficient heating systems, etc., etc., etc. (There are some that have both charm and updated stuff, but they tend to be somewhat out of my price range.) On the other hand, I can get a totally boring and charmless place that has central air, washer / dryer, dishwasher, etc.

This is going to get a lot worse before it gets better.

[Maevis]

I feel your pain. I moved a few months ago.

I had three requirements:

Must be within XXX price range.
Must allow two large dogs.
Must be within either a mile of a bus stop, or within walking distance to my job.
(walking distance to me is within a 5 mile radius).


I did all the standard apartment searching techniques: Internet searches, Apartment guides, newspaper ads, and the ol' get in the car and drive around in circles looking for "For Rent" signs.

How I ended up getting the place that I am in now (which I love), was through word of mouth. I just started letting people, friends, acquaintences, customers, all the people at the coffee shop I frequented, etc...that I was looking for a new place and did they know of anything open? Turns out one of my regular customers knew a place...and she even went out of her way to get me the phone number of the apartment manager. Three days later I had a signed leased and started prepping to move in.

It's in one of the best/safest/richest neighborhoods of the city...and cheap, cheap, cheap. Of course, it's an old building and in need of some desperate repairs, but that's what makes it fall within my price range. I love the location, the neighbors are quiet AND it has a small yard for the dogs.

The landlord did NOT want any dogs...but one of the tennants has a dog who's lived there for six years...(and I had inside information on this since I was refered to this place). So we were able to negotiate the dogs and a reasonable damage deposit.

[JustAGirl]

Ugh, apt hunting. One of the worst things in the world to do...

In this sorry area, there are tons of income restricted apt complexes, and the ones that aren't are in the ghetto, and the ones who aren't either are over $1,000/month for a one bedroom. AND we had to find someplace that allowed a 41 lb dog and was on the first floor.

It sucked, but thanks to fiancee's parents we now have a house that we are renting (they are moving to FL and letting us pay rent in their house up here YAY).

Good luck on the hunt!

[ditchdj]

Gotta keep in mind that most apartment complexes are magnets for thieves. Imagine you're a thief and you got a huge ass unsupervised lot full of cars with goodies and "free" car stereos for the taking??? Already been through that crap. One car stereo stolen and two shattered car windows later and I was outta there.