in medias res

The Decisionator Makes a Hasty Retreat (and Considers a Name Change)

For those of you following my adventures - on Saturday, I found an apartment. I gave an enthusiastic "I'll take it", even after I saw her checking out my FSU license tag and then tell me that I needed to give her, up front, $485 x 3 ($1,455 - first and last month's rent and a security deposit). It's funny the little warning signs that you don't take into consideration.

Fortunately, there was Someone looking out for me with this little deal. I happened to stop by the house on my way back from the gym yesterday, and I ran into the previous tenants as they were clearing out their stuff. I asked one little question, "What do I need to know about the apartment?" They showed me the mildew on the baseboards, windowsills, and in the backs of the closets; the faucet that only turns off with pliers and pressure or the one that gives no hot water; the broken door that they were also told would be replaced before they moved in...they gave me strict instructions to have someone look at the plumbing, and they told me that their electric bill averages $150 because of the in-the-window AC unit that gobbles electricity. They had never heard of her asking for that much money up front. She hates college students.

By the time I left an hour later, I had already seen the woman's scar from where she had half of her liver removed, I knew the location of each of their seven children and how bored she gets at her mother-in-law's house, and I heard about how their relationship with the landlords (husband and wife) went sour when the wife-landlord decided to try to run the show. (They gave me the husband-landlord's cell phone number. Told me not to deal with her anymore.) I think they were happy that I stopped by because the wife-landlord tried to make them sound ignorant and irresponsible. I saw the other side of the story when I talked to them. They felt like they were trying to always do the honorable thing with these people - to be fair and to answer to God with their actions - and everything was playing against them. That being said, we agreed to not discuss the fact that we had our little meeting when I talk to the landlord again. They are in enough trouble, and I don't want to start off on a bad foot.

I feel a little foolish for not researching what I need to look for, such as the telling details of decay and neglect, before I made a decision. I won't make that mistake twice. (Another red flag: she wanted me to go ahead and turn the electricity on in my name on Monday [today] so the guys can have electricity when they go to replace the floor in the bathroom. I had already decided that I would only do this if the electricity they used is deducted from my rent.)

This doesn't mean this is definitely a "no" - i like the apartment. But, once you add in the utilities, I could get a really nice studio apartment (FROG) that includes EVERYTHING + amenities in Southwood! (see -->)

But I plan to walk through the apartment with her before I give her a single penny, get a list of things she plans on fixing before I will move in, and then only giving her the rest of the money once those things are done. And I will take pictures before I arrive, read the lease with a careful eye, and then keep a record of when I make complaints and how long it takes before they arrive to fix them. Actually, that might be a good general strategy full stop.

sigh...I feel like I'm back at square one. And I'm still feeling like an ogre for breaking up the blissful roommate/Bruiser relationship if I move, and it is becoming very difficult to find a decent place that allows pets, so...

Stay tuned - The Decisionator might just be changing her name to The Deliberator.

That might be my best transformation to date.

posted by tara @ 11:01 AM