Everyone at my boyfriend's house walks around on tip-toe to avoid upsetting his dad. The oils from your feet will ruin the carpet, so wear shoes or socks at all times in the house. Nobody's coming in or out of the front door anymore (he randomly changes the password to the garage entry and doesn't tell anybody). Somebody's been stealing food from the pantry (what?) so now it's locked. Lounging on the couch (leaning against the arm with your feet up on the couch) ruins the furniture, don't do it. Don't rest your socked feet against the coffee table that there's nothing on. Sitting on the furniture is ruining it, so now there's boards underneath the cushions to keep the sofa from being comfortable. No eating anywhere in the house besides the kitchen, not even a box of mike and ikes or a roll of mentos (unless you spill the box and don't clean it up, it's not even possible to make a mess with those). Buy milk, but only in gallons; The half-gallon I bought to take to my dorm and forgot in the fridge was unacceptable.
I draw the line right about the point where this being his house permits him to start yelling at me when I tell him that I was talking to Justin, not him, while he was in the other room. I'm out. Peace. Also I find it unacceptable to make fun of me for being intimidated by his volume (om nom Oklahoma stories) and that he ignores requests, polite or otherwise, for him to calm down. It's his house, he'll rage whenever he wants about whatever he wants. Actually that's not how it works. Having your name on the mortgage for a house that you're renting a portion of does NOT entitle you to verbally harass the renter.
So, today I went apartment hunting with Justin and our friend Franco. Two bedrooms, one bathroom. We figure that's all we need. And a decent enough area that Franco won't have to worry about his prized Mustang being looted. Unfortunately, it's Sunday, and a lot of places are closed.
The first place we visited was new and beautiful. A drive around the property revealed that several of the buildings were in the final stages of being built, and that the roads weren't finished yet either. The buildings were all circled around a crystal-clear pool, and the cars in the lot were all reasonably nice. The three-bedroom model was exactly what the brochure said, "Big and Bright." Unfortunately we learned rather quickly that it was a 55+ community. The receptionist said that occasionally senior communities will allow a margin of about 10% young people, but she wasn't sure that would be the case with this one. What a shame too, because none of us have a problem being quiet and respectful toward our neighbors. I'm sure it's out of our price range either way. We'll wait for a call back from the lady that may or may not come, and may or may not be good news regarding Fountainview.
We drove through a few complexes whose offices were closed, and a few that had outrageous speed bumps. The mustang actually scraped against one of the really high speed bumps, and we left that complex immediately without going in. The next place we went inside was Pine Brook, with a friendly receptionist and nice grounds. There were tons of bikes everywhere, probably indicating a lot of undergrads, a sure sign of loud parties, but the model units were good. It was on the upper end of our price range with a 15 month lease, and no dishwasher. It would be $20 extra per month to have the kitchen upgraded before we moved in. This was a concern for me, but not for the boys, who expressed content at using paper plates and bowls (*rolls eyes*). We could move in at the end of November, and Franco could bring his German Shepherd, Dozer (short for Bulldozer). Two spacious bedrooms, a bathroom and a half, and a UD bus picks up and drops off on the property. The lady assured me that we would be able to see the actual unit before signing the lease, which was comforting.
The last place we saw today was a more casual experience, we walked into the lease office and the lady told us they were having a special on their last 2 bed/1 bath unit with a 12 month lease. She took down my information and handed us the key to let us explore the actual unit that was up for rent on our own. It was half underground, with the bottom of the windowsills flush with the grass. Even from down there, the view was nice enough. The grass was maintained and at the other end there was a fence, so there would be no neighbors peering into our apartment. The first thing we really saw was the common laundry room. The sinks inside were dirty, not like "just been used" dirty, but the type of dirt that accumulates because there's something wrong with the sink and nobody's tried or been able to fix it. The washers operate on coins that you have to purchase at the rental office in rolls, and the dryers are free. For me, this wasn't a big deal. If the washer/dryer doesn't work, we can go down the road to a laundromat. Inside, the carpet was obviously freshly steamed, the living room was a little small, but that's pretty much what I had in mind. Space won't be the issue for me, price will. There was a small dining area with a really low hanging chandelier in one corner where a table was obviously intended to go. The fridge looked brand new, and the oven was clean, but the dishwasher scraped against the adjacent cabinet door. There was a ton of cabinet space. A ton. And while there was no pantry, there was a reasonably wide indention in the wall where we could put shelves of our own. The one bathroom was wide enough that two people could stand at the sink and get ready in the morning, and the faucet didn't leak when I turned it on. The first bedroom across the hall from the bathroom had a nice view out onto the eye-level lawn with a small shrub planted right in front of the window. Somebody didn't realize that shrub is going to grow to obscure all light from that window some day, but that would be Franco's room. The closet was big enough to walk into, but not quite big enough to call a walk-in closet. The master bedroom was plenty big, and the closet was HUGE. Justin and I could literally put a desk in there with a tv and a stand for the xbox/wii/PS2 and use it as a small gaming room. We half seriously dubbed it "Harry's room." You could fit a twin bed in there just fine. And most importantly, the price was right. It's a little bit below the lower end of what we were expecting per month for a 12 month lease, with heat and hot water included. I'm sold on this one, and so is Justin.
I know we need to do a little more shopping around before we dive right into something, but right now this is my top pick. I'll entertain Franco's wish to find a cheap house, and hopefully we'll tag this one before the special ends or the unit is leased to someone else.
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