Saturday, April 16, 2011

Open House

My worry of the week is still about where to live. I really just want to choose a place, so I don't have to think about it for another 5 months. Problem is, I can't sign a lease now just in case I don't get a job. On Thursday I got a call from the property management people asking if they could show my apartment today. That is not something I feel comfortable with. I don't like the idea of strangers in my place. Plus, my apartment is messy and I don't want to clean it all up!

So, I ignored their call. They need our permission, so ignoring them seemed like the easier way to say "No thank you".

Its too bad I'm a hypocrite. They're showing apartments in about 4 or 5 local buildings (that are really only part of three complexes). Some of the studios in those complexes are on my short list of places to live. I know the area, I like the quality of the buildings, they have laundry (a must for me), and they are in my price range. So - I went and looked at those apartments. No one could look at mine, but I could look at theirs. I'm such a bad person!

I have been trying to decide if a one bedroom or a studio is right for me. I want to save money, but truly both are in my price range and I'll be able to set money aside spending $565/mo or $625/mo - the cheapest rates for a studio and one bedroom. I have a lot of furniture - currently I have everything I need for a living room, dining room, kitchen, bathroom and bedroom. Which makes a one bedroom seem perfect! However I spend all my time in my room. I am almost never in the living room. The rare occasion is when I hang out with Rachael, but even then we normally hang out in the kitchen or right near it.

Why would I need a separate living room? Couldn't I just have one, bigger living space?

I only looked at studios today. Technically I could have looked at one bedrooms, but I had a one track mind when I started (one studio in particular) and that let me to look at a few more studios. I liked what I saw. The four studios I saw today ranged from $565 - $595.

Advantages of a studio: Will require me to weed through my belongings, which is healthy and fun. No space will go to waste - I am kind of a hermit and probably won't have more than one or two friends over at once. As for me - I can only be in one place at a time, why not have it be one place? Extra money to save up - I could stash away extra money for more trips, or I could buy extra fruits and veggies, or an extra pair of shoes. The price difference (~$60) would probably pay for electricity and internet each month.

Disadvantages of a studio: Less storage space, less room for couches and chairs (actually, I don't know where a full length couch would fit at all...), I would have to keep everything clean (no hiding away the mess).

So, what do you guys think? Is it lame to rent a place that has been my view for the last two years? Should I try something more adventurous, like living in downtown? This location is not good for going out at night. The prices are way better on this side of campus though, and Bellingham is small enough that with a car, no where in town is far away from anything.

I told myself that this weekend I would develop a no-doubt, fully-researched list of my top three apartments. That way, the instant I get the okay from my job, I could run and rent a place. I think that two of the places I looked at today are on that list. I just looked at the open house schedule again, and really - there are no other places to look at (for this property management company). The only other studios that will be shown are way more expensive than the competition (more expensive than 1 beds) or have no laundry in the apartment (a must!).

I guess the only real turmoil for me was being studio and one bedroom, and writing this post has helped me decide how I feel about that. Oy!

Its hard for me to process "Is this the best deal possible?" ................... How can I know?

I much prefer "Is this big enough? And is it cheap enough?". ................... Yes and yes!

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