The Adventures of Spider-Man

[Tin]

while searching for apartments...

So the gf and I have been together for a few years now and are starting to look for a place together for next school year. We have been saving and purchasing things here and there (got a nice big Vizio from the roadtrip fund :-/ ). We have been looking on Craigslist and personals for places locally and have found a few that looked promising. Today we went to visit one of them and meet with the land lord.

We have been in contact with her for the past week or so and she has sent us pictures of the apartment and it appeared to be a steal. It is a one bedroom, the bathroom was newly remodeled along with the kitchen and appliances and the entire place was just repainted. It is going for $650 a month with heat and hot water included, has central air for in the summer. So between the rent, electricity, and cable/Internet we are looking at around $750 or so a month. We have agreed on spending at most $1100 a month maximum on rent and utilities and were really looking forward to the place.

So we go meet with the land lord around 4pm (she was half an hour late) and see the place where the apartment is located. Upstairs from a deli that runs 11am to 7pm and across the street from a Dunkin Donuts... = SWEET!

She leads us around the back and there is stuff every where that should be inside and a very muddy dirt lot, About a 150' behind the place is the river that flooded half the county a couple weeks ago. :

Oh great here we go, So she brings us to a pre-WWI set of stairs that go up to the second floor. She takes a step and goes through the dam stair! It was like something out of a movie, and insists the carpenters will be fixing them soon. She then trips up the stairs  a few further up, but we made it up fine. Then she opens the door to the place, I stuck my head in and saw enough right away.

The stove had about a half inch of pasta sauce burned on most of it, there were millions of screw holes and cracks in the wall, and it had a horrible odor as soon as the door opened. I actually started laughing and began walking back down the stairs with the gf right behind me. As the land lord yelled out from the kitchen, "There is an application on the front seat and I will also need a $150 non-refundable check with the application!"

More to come, checking another place out Weds. The worst part was you could see the place was redone recently (there were still paint cans outside) the people just trashed the place and the landlord was clearly out of her tree. No, thanks.

[ArcticCat500]

thas a long ars winding road your on there my friend, good luck and hope it ends soon and you 2 find yourselves a good 1.

[Dan:]

If it sounds too good to be true...

good luck dude.

[Tin]

If it sounds too good to be true...

There are lots of them in that $600 to $700 range in good areas. It seems as soon as you want to get into a complex that price goes up to $800+ a month. Any tips?

[SPEEDBEAD.]

If it sounds too good to be true...

There are lots of them in that $600 to $700 range in good areas. It seems as soon as you want to get into a complex that price goes up to $800+ a month. Any tips?

Yeah.  Save your money and buy a townhouse.

[Tin]

They are getting crazy expensive up here. My step-brother and sister in laws was 130k. It is almost easier to buy a small 2 bed one bath ranch or something that those rich Brits or Floridians use as summer homes.

[bmadd]

I don't get it. Why not choose the fixer-upper while trying to finish your senior year of college?

[Tin]

I don't get it. Why not choose the fixer-upper while trying to finish your senior year of college?

Finally get time to fix it, fix it, throw celebration that apartment is fixed, next morning it is trashed, finally get time to fix it, fix it, throw celebration that apartment is fixed, next morning it is trashed. (repeat)

[burleytog]

A few years?  I thought you crazy kids had only been together for a little while.

[Tin]

Crazy how time flies

She was making my coffee four years ago.

And it was my first time looking firefightin, I will learn. It made for a good story.  ;D

[firefightn15]

I dunno man, I think I would have been walking after she busted thru the steps.........or were you just that curious?

[SPEEDBEAD.]

I dunno man, I think I would have been walking after she busted thru the steps.........or were you just that curious?

Pretty sure it's "bi-curious," but that is a whole other thread...

;D

[FishingBuds]

That reminds me of my first house I was wanting to rent, It was the opposite, sweet place, cleaned well kept lawn very nice on the inside carpets and all, I keep mentioning how well the place is kept, so then as we sat down to do the contract.  i find out the LandLord lives next door and he does all the up keeping-cuts grass every saturday morning, ALL repairs(down to changing light bulbs) and cleans the carpet every two months!!

I politely told him I'll think about it Wierdo :

[firefightn15]

I dunno man, I think I would have been walking after she busted thru the steps.........or were you just that curious?

Pretty sure it's "bi-curious," but that is a whole other thread...

;D

I should have known  ;D

[=Matt 5.0=]

You should have used your web to swing up the stairs.

I'll rent you the basement. You just need to learn how to change diapers... and I don't mean mine.

[NewAngler]

If it sounds too good to be true...

There are lots of them in that $600 to $700 range in good areas. It seems as soon as you want to get into a complex that price goes up to $800+ a month. Any tips?

I work in the apartment (service) industry, and there are a ton of perks of living in a managed community.

1) Maintenance- you typically won't see any rotting stairs in an apartment complex.

2) Maintenance- your stove breaks (or anything really), you know it will get fixed in 24 hours. If it doesn't, more than likely you will get a rent reimbursement for the time it took, you kick and scream long enough, you could probably get another couple days or a gift card for not being able to cook at home. With a land lord you have to wait for them to schedule it up, and it could be a couple of days. Another thing that might happen is that you may have been responsible for the broken stove and the land lord woud either have you pay for it, partial pay, or he will reimburese you for the work that was done.

3) Amentites- Gym, pool, business center, party room, etc.

4) Security- SOME places have a security company come by and do a parmeter sweep of the property to check for vandals, tresspassers, etc. Property might have a parking garage where a key card to get in.

5) Key fob entry pass- most mid to high rises have a key fob system where only residents can get into and out of the building.

6) Otis Spunkmeyer cookies- most proprerties have money cookies for people in the leasing office.

oh, and you know that before you move in the apartment has been freshly painted, nail holes and cracks repaired, a FULL THOROUGH cleaning, and the carpet has been either cleaned or replaced.

Check out www.bozzuto.com My company does a lot of work for them, and they have properties all over the US. Great management company.

[Dan:]

who can say no to perk 6!! lol

[NewAngler]

who can say no to perk 6!! lol

No kidding. Last summer I promise you I ate no more than 12 cookies a day while doing Quarterly QC. Gained massive poundage.

[ArcticCat500]

Dude,  I know it may a lil to far from school but check out the condo apts in the Centre of NE, those are real sweet Bro,  my girls sister rents one..very nice.

[Tin]

The problem with condo places right now is that because of some many people loosing their homes they have the market by the coconuts. Most are hard to find openings and they can charge whatever they want.

[ArcticCat500]

True, makes alot of sense,  I know she has a 2bdrm and its under 2k, might be worth a phone call or a trip by.  Next time your at WalMart restocking your tackle box stop by   and check m out.

[=Matt 5.0=]

Ah the good old days, when I had my mint four bedroom on the Hill for 500 a month.