As you guys know, I have been able to create a list of possible apartments, but have had difficulty narrowing it down into a first, second and third option. This morning I talked with both Laura and Rachael about my options, and the wonderful people they are - we were able to narrow it down to my top choice. So first, a brief summary:
There are three different categories that were on the table.
1) South side of campus + cheap + small;
2) South side of campus + expensive + big;
3) North side of campus + expensive + small.
I like the idea of living on the north side, but as you can tell, it may not be the best deal for the buck. I thought that cheap was the most important factor, so I have been thinking that option number 1 was what I was going to go with. The only issue was the small factor. I was worried that I just wouldn't be happy there. I have a lot of furniture, and I don't necessary want to get rid of it all. There were two different complexes that were on the table, and they had the same floor plan. It would be awkward to fit in my dining room table, and I would barely, if at all, be able to fit in my couch and TV. I just didn't like the layout. To make it worse, the kitchen did not look aesthetically pleasing.
Does this mean I am willing to pay an extra $120 a month to live in a larger, nicer apartment? That I didn't know. I know that I could afford to do that. But wouldn't I want to save that extra money? This is where the council from Laura and Rachael came in. They pointed out that I should still be able to save a good deal of money even with this rate. Furthermore, it will make me happier to live in this place. I know that I want a "real" place, where I can make it feel like I home. Though I like my current place and I get along well with the roomie, one of the things I am looking forward to most is making my new place feel like a grown-up home. Clean, decorated and fancy. Currently my bedroom is a hodgepodge of old furniture that I don't like and random decorations on the wall that don't please me. Not only could I have fun decorating it, I could also take pictures and post them here!
So, as you can probably guess, I chose nice, big and expensive.
There are downsides as well. I first asked about a particular apartment, however that apartment is currently vacant. That means I can't very well prelease it for August! That was the cheaper place (probably because they want it go get rented), so I had to agree to an extra $20 per month (making it $120 more than the cheapest option instead of $100). The square footage is a great deal larger than the small places, however it still isn't the biggest available. Only $70 less than my current 2 bedroom, it is about 150 less square feet. (I rationalize that I probably don't need that extra square feet, and it will seem bigger if I can see it all at once). The biggest down side is the timing. This place that I applied for is only available 4 days after my current lease ends. This means I would be homeless for a bit!
The employee at the property management place did not, himself, have the power to give me special arrangements -- but he said others do and it is possible something could be arranged. Since I live in one of their apartments currently, they may be able to extend my lease my one week. I don't know if someone plans on moving into my place though, making that impossible! I think that it would be worth it for me to still get this place even if it means I have to rent a storage unit for a week, or call upon Lindsay to use her (possibly unoccupied) apartment for a little bit. I don't know. It sucks, but it may not be a big problem in the end.
So, the only other problem is that nothing is certain yet. This is the only "small" studio in this building left. I asked him if it was still available, and he said yes. That doesn't mean someone else hasn't submitted an application for it and that it could be claimed by someone else! It is possible that even after all of this worry and anxiety, that I still won't get it. I did not submit a cosigner agreement because I do not believe that I need one. I don't have much of a credit history though, so I may not quality even though I have a steady income. If they review my application and determine that I do need a cosigner, they can't process my application until they get it.
So... that is the update. First off, I hope that the place is still available and that I can claim it. Secondly, I hope that we can rearrange the dates a bit so that there is an overlap. Thirdly, I hope I made the right decision.
I should formulate a little back up plan in my head: where should I live if I can't get this place? Once I've decided that I am willing to pay the extra money each month to live in a nicer, bigger place, going back to the smaller place is kind of disappointing. I don't know if I over-think these things, or if decisions really are this big, important, and difficult.
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