The Hunt: Part 2

I know you’ve all been dying to find out what happened with our apartment hunt, so I won’t keep you waiting any longer…

You may recall the lengths we went to in order to find the perfect place (hours upon hours of searching, websites and drive-bys a plenty), and the things we were looking for (2 bedrooms, dishwasher, close to the beach, natural light, no loud music at 2 a.m. on a Tuesday). Not so much to ask for, right? Let’s look at the facts.

FACT 1 Finding an apartment in Los Angeles takes time, so start early.

This is true, but it is also true that when you find a place, you need to be ready to MOVE on it. As I searched Westsiderentals.com for the fourth time in as many hours, I came across a 2 bedroom, 1 3/4 bath townhouse (2 floors, people!!) in Marina del Rey. Venice Beach was 2 Miles away. Natural light. Wood floors. A fireplace. A gorgeous kitchen/bathroom. When I had stopped hyperventilating, I called the listed number and tried to sound like a reasonable, clean human being without pets, who deserved this kind of unit. The landlady wanted to give the tenants a full 24 hours notice before we burst through the door and rummaged in their cabinets (a good sign, right?), so we scheduled an appointment and I started mentally decorating my new digs.

Fast forward to our appointment with destiny. Patrick and I raced across town after I got out of work, and were horrified to see that we were not the only people at our scheduled walk-through. I flew up the front steps past a 20-something guy in a motorcycle jacket and introduced myself to the landlady and her son, the manager.

HIIMLAURENANDIMVERYINTERESTEDINYOURUNIT. DON’TSELLITTOMRMOTORCYCLE. HELOOKSLIKEHEOWNSFERRETSANDSMOKES.

We took a super-speed tour, made sure it was a) actually 2 bedrooms, and b) not haunted, and BOOM: we were ready.Well, I was ready. Patrick had whiplash (but also a hefty dose of go-for-it-ness). We filled out the applications in the car while the other suckers took theirs home to fill out, then returned them to the lady lady with giant, triumphant, manic smiles on our faces. Two hours later, we had a deal.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is HOW IT IS DONE.

You can save about 70% of the anxiety patients pfizer viagra discount were having the erection problems. Drugs aren’t set to standard prices. order levitra online The natural ingredients in this formula work together to maintain required blood flow in the davidfraymusic.com order levitra online area, and a man won’t be harmed at all. To lessen the danger make sure you have it according to the doctor levitra online http://davidfraymusic.com/buy-8047 s advice. FACT 2 The amount of money you want to pay will never match the type of apartment you want to rent.

Unfortunately, this remains true. In my hurry to claim this place (they had 4 interested parties, and the listing had barely been up 48 hours), I failed to notice a few snags in my master plan. First: the floors were actually carpeted, not wood. When we went through a second, slower, more calm walk through a few days later, Patrick pointed this out to me, and my heart sank. Carpet…was gross. Right? Second, the kitchen was so tiny that you can’t open the dishwasher and access the trash can simultaneously. And we have to have a shower curtain: this probably isn’t an actual problem for most people, but I hate shower curtains. A lot.

But the place is huge. We have two balconies, both facing the ocean (no view, but plenty of breeze and sun). We only have one shared wall, and our neighbors are lovely. It also turns out that we have berber carpet, which is the carpet of the rich and famous. Or so I imagine, because this stuff is GREAT.

Anyway, long story short: we didn’t get EVERYTHING we wanted, but we’re pretty darn close. We even have a few things I didn’t know I wanted, like that magic carpet and two coffee shops within walking distance.

So, without further delay, here’s what I know you’ve all been waiting for. PICTURES.

Moral of the Story: Keep looking. Stick to your guns. Move fast. Don’t trust people in motor cycle jackets.

Lauren

Follow Me! @laurenspieller