Apartment hunting was a soul-sucking and angst-ridden activity that left me with an even worse distaste for real estate brokers (I already damned them all to Hell the last time I had to move.) Skaht and I agree that you have to be a complete asshole to want to be one of these people. A slimy, sleazy piece of crap.
Oh yeah, and most landlords suck too.
Searching for an apartment right now is difficult. Rents have gone up and apartment quality has gone way, way down. We’re talking major fire-trap, hasn’t been maintained in about 25 years bad. And the owners of those shit holes wanted way more than we pay for an ill maintained 1 bedroom right now.
Besides the inflated rents and shitty apartments, we were inconvenienced by the larger number of renters out there who were also looking. Since mortgages are more difficult to attain lately, a lot of people who would buy are renting instead. So we had to deal with the fact that if we found a place, we would have to make a quick decision about whether we should take it. On more than a few occasions, apartments that we were inquiring about were snatched up during the day before we could even leave work to view them.
I felt like I was going to crack after a while. One thing I learned from this process is that I need to learn more about patience from Skaht, because he kept us both sane during our search. He also stopped me from making a big mistake on a one bedroom in Davis Square that would have cost us the dreaded “Finder’s Fee” (even though I “found” the place on Craigslist…but, whatever.)
Anyway, this new place is a two bedroom, so it has a lot of space. The kitchen is all renovated with stainless steel and granite countertops. The bathroom was recently remodeled as well. The owner will accept Monkey, so at least we don’t have to put him in the dumpster on moving day (although we always could change our minds.)
I’m looking forward to living in a place that is somewhat new and nice. Hopefully we can get movers who will move us this weekend. Yay.
