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February 10, 2009
changes
Well, we have had quite a busy month here, which culminated in a topsy turvy weekend and an even crazier month to come. Allow me to recount with a timeline of sorts:
Tuesday, November 11th (2008)
It's Veterans Day, and I have the day off, so I head up to the NW quarter of town to have lunch with a friend. It takes me close to an hour to get there on the bus, and when I get off the bus and start walking, I realize how much I miss being mobile on foot, and having shops, restaurants, coffee places, etc in close proximity. I walk into a Starbucks and realize that I haven't stepped into a Starbucks in months. Not that I'm a huge Starbucks goer, but the option was always there. It's not where we live currently.
That night, I ask Brian if he's happy here. He says he's not as happy as he was at home. This strikes me as alarming, because if neither of us are as happy now as we were back east, and the only reason we're here is each other, then something needs to be fixed. After we discuss what we'd like in a living situation to be happier, it's clear to me that we need to be closer to, if not on, the west side - which is where the downtown area as well as a huge stretch of parks is. We decide that we are going to move in the summer of '09 when our lease is up.
Wednesday, February 4th (also my birthday!! Haha)
Brian comes home and says, 'I think we need to get out of this house.'
'What?' I say. 'You mean now? Or... a VACATION?!'
'No,' he says. 'We need to move.'
Work has been slow for him lately, and although my monthly salary is the same, I'm still finding it difficult to justify how much I spend per month to live where I do. Our relationship is strained because of our financial concerns, and I'm feeling increasingly isolated and immobile. We sit down and evaluate the worth of breaking our lease, and decide to scout around and see what we can get for less money before coming to any final decisions.
Friday, February 6th
Work is a bit slow, so I get on Craigslist and do a little search. I find quite a number of places that look promising, so I ask Brian if he can pick me up from work and take us to see a few places. Thus begins a whirlwind search that overtakes most of our free time in an already busy weekend.
Sunday, February 8th
10:30am - I find an ad on Craigslist for a luxury building in close-in NE - the Lloyd District. It looks pretty amazing and the amenities include a fitness center and dishwasher, washer & dryer in each unit, and it's safely in our price range. I set us up for an appointment at 12:00pm.
12:00pm - We show up at The Merrick for our appointment. We see the apartment, with its open kitchen with breakfast bar, new appliances, double sink, dishwasher... stacked washer/dryer, full counter bathroom sink, walk-in closet... the only drawback is the carpeted floors, but Brian and I have reconciled ourselves with that for now. Then we see the fitness center, the rooftop terrace w/ community barbecue grill and year-round hot tub. It's all gorgeous and fantastic, but I know that we can't take it if they want us to move in now. We can't move until, I'm thinking, April 1.
We go back down to the office to talk about logistics, and here is the breakdown of what they are offering:
- six weeks free rent if we apply now, to be taken upfront OR pro-rated over 12 months (would save $100/mo off rent)
- free parking for 1 year ($100/mo value)
- free shared storage cage for 1 year ($25/mo value)
They have two apartments coming available on March 10, but we wouldn't get the six weeks free rent on those.
So we leave, minds spinning with calculations, priorities, decisions. My head is a literal cloud of stress.
1:15pm - I get a call from the property manager at The Merrick. She's just talked to her regional manager and they are prepared to offer the six weeks free even if we decide to wait for the March 10 apartment! I tell her I will add it to my list of things to think about and let her know.
4:00pm - Brian and I get home from an afternoon of me wandering around the east side and him playing kickball. I tell him about the six weeks thing, and he says that before we make any further decisions we should call our current landlord and find out what breaking the lease will entail.
Meanwhile, I get back on Craigslist and find another potentially great deal, this time at The Cornerstone which is literally three blocks from the Merrick, but away from a major road and in a quieter setting. I call up and we set an appointment right away. Back in the truck...
4:40pm - We see the place at The Cornerstone. It's a beautiful apartment, same open kitchen, washer/dryer, dishwasher, large bathroom, carpets, etc. There's a 24-hour fitness center and central courtyard. It feels much more tranquil, and is kind of tucked away from busier streets. But there's no deal other than 7 days free if we apply now, and we leave feeling like as much as we love the place, it's a little higher than we had wanted.
7:30pm - I get an email from the property manager at The Merrick saying that if we were to apply by 6:00pm tomorrow (Monday), we would additionally get $500 off move-in costs. WHAT! We are floored. Brian calls up landlord to tell him the situation...
Landlord says he needs to read over the lease and think about it overnight, so will call Brian back before noon on Monday. Meanwhile, I email The Merrick back and set an appointment for 5:00pm to do application paperwork, knowing that if we need to, we can always cancel.
11:30pm - I barely sleep because I'm so stressed out about all of the super hasty decision making that's going to have to happen.
Monday, February 9th
12:00pm - Brian calls. Our landlord has decided that he will not charge us for March, but keep our deposit and last month's rent and ask that we be out by March 15th. I ask if we can pay for an extra week to be out by the 22nd, but when Brian suggests this, landlord flips out and threatens to call his attorneys. So... the 15th it is. Was just a suggestion...
3:00pm - I get a call from The Cornerstone, seeing if we're still interested in the place. I tell her that unfortunately, it's coming just above our budget so we'll have to pass... and she asks me where else we're considering, and what they're offering us, and says that she will talk to her supervisor and see what they can do to match the offer. So I tell her, and she says she'll get back to me when she hears from her supervisor.
4:45pm - We have to be at The Merrick in 15 minutes to do our application paperwork, but we stop at The Cornerstone because I haven't gotten a call back and we want to see if there are any updates. No updates, but the property manager says she'll still call us when she hears because after an application you have 72 hours to withdraw.
5:00pm - We put in our applications at the Merrick, and see the floor plan that we would be in. I make Brian take pictures:
Please excuse my horrendous appearance. I'm actually sick right now and was extremely tired by that point in the day.
Tuesday, February 10th
11:00am - I get a call from the property manager at The Cornerstone. She's prepared to offer us exactly half of everything that The Merrick is offering (although she didn't mention the storage):
- three weeks free rent (would save $50/mo off rent)
- free parking for 6 mos ($85/mo value)
- $250 off move-in costs
I tell her that I'm going to do the math and talk to Brian and get back to her. I do the math, and it's obviously higher than going with The Merrick, but I wonder if it's worth a slightly higher price for the place I like better... especially because it's still significantly lower than living here right now.
12:00pm - Brian and I talk and we decide that we need to go see The Cornerstone again, and then drive a hard bargain and ask for just a little more concession. So he needs to find out if he can get out of work early enough to get there...
Which brings us to now, 1:00pm. I am home sick from work, drinking tea and wearing tons of clothing, waiting for him to call so I can call The Cornerstone and ask if we can come in. We're down to the wire in making a huge decision and it's almost laughable how much has happened in just a week!
Hope you enjoy this cliffhanger... I didn't mean for it to be, because I started writing this before 11:00am. But here we are! Welcome to a window in our lives...
posted by karel at 1:08 PM
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3 Comments:
It sounds like renters can play one landlord over the other and that will be to your advantage. Make sure you present landlord gives you something in writing right away. It seems like he is the type to say one thing and do another.
wow! what a crazy story! good luck with the moving process...and i definitely agree, get it in writing.
you're all lucky, I have to look at her much more!
sincerely brian
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