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28th May 2011

updatish

updatish

From my facebook two days ago (I thought I was being terribly clever):

“Unbeknowst to most, the urban apartment is one of the planet’s most elusive prey. Quick to disappear, it lurks in shadows and is easily scared off by threats of habitation. The predator must possess fine-honed skills of experience, patience and speed. Our hunter has found its desirable prey and the timeless dance of pursuit and retreat are underway. Will the exhausted and frustrated hunter be successful in capturing the apt or will it flee the jaws once again? Tune in later (after the hunter has a nap) to find out!”

I have found an apartment that I am really interested in. A med student is subletting her place while she leaves for a year and it sounds good: fantastic location, just 2 blocks from the school and from the Golden Gate Park and easy transportation to downtown. There’s an included covered parking space for free (unheard of) and in-facility laundry (also rarer than rare) and the price is reasonable, especially since it’s two bedrooms, so I’d have space for all of my friends when they come to visit (hint, hint). It’s not perfect – it’s furnished, which means that I’ll be getting rid of all of my stuff (I love my couch!), and she won’t be moving out until the end of August, but she’s willing to let me move in early and split rent for 2 months.

Unfortunately, I have competition. Of course. It’s between me and two med students, although I think it’s really going to come down to whether or not she wants a roommate who is pretty flexible with her move out date, or not. We’ll see. She’s supposed to call at the end of the weekend to let me know. There are some other potential roommate situations as well, so things feel less dire than they did a week ago.

I’ve decided to take the weekend off apartment hunting, because it combined with everything else has been stressing me out to the point that I was developing bulimic eating patterns and wasn’t getting anything else done, as I obsessively clicked on craigslist – I’ve only completely about 2 hours of cardiology studying this past week, not good.  So I made a spontaneous trip down to central Illinois to see my friend Susan and her little family for the last time before I leave. We’re going to have a fantastic weekend. As the baby wakes up at 7, I’d probably better get some sleep. 🙂

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24th May 2011

Like a vacuum

This apartment hunt thing continues to be a nightmare. I’ve emailed dozens of people about apartments. I contacted one person about potentially becoming a roommate, who emailed and stated that she would call – she hasn’t. Today I found a place that sounded, well, not ideal, but the apartment was large (3 bedrooms) to be shared with just one person. It was a 15 minute walk from the hospital or a 6 min direct bus ride that has service all night long. All good things. Until my potential roommate wrote back, saying that she had a medical marijuana card and smokes in the apartment to wind down. Um no. I won’t comment on the pros and cons about medical marijuana, but as far as I’m concerned, smoking is smoking and I don’t want to live in a smoky/stinky apartment. So that’s another dead-end.

[info]captainsblog‘s friend and my Laura G sent me an apartment listing for an apartment complex close to the hospital – just down the hill. I called – they won’t send me any information, pictures, anything because they don’t rent except in person.

I also emailed a bunch of women who were listed on a housing list to see if somebody wanted to be my roommate. I think I could do one roommate; any more than that would be too much potential for badness. So far, I’ve heard from 2, but they were really wanting to live in a different area than what I want. I’ll be exploring that more.

In other news. I refinanced my home. And can’t find a renter. I’ve shown it to 3 people now who have called my place “cute” and selected a different place. I’ve got somebody from my ward coming to look at it on Thursday, so all hope is not lost. But. I can’t really advertise on craigslist since my refinancing specifically states that I will reside there and I’m already stretching that definition.

Oh, and my “bored” studying sucks right now. And did I mention that my car is now stalling at stop signs and lights?

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19th May 2011

Help

Guys, I need advice.

You may all remember that I’m moving to San Francisco to do fellowship. In about 5 weeks. 5 weeks. Back in March, when I was browsing for housing, I stumbled on options for on-campus housing that was right above the hospital. Beautiful apartment buildings overlooking the valley with free parking spaces. It sounded perfect for a transplant like me – I’m still sort of petrified at the idea of living in one of the “densest metropolis in the country”. I applied right away and thought that since I had applied early (the website recommended applying about 2 months early, this was almost 3.5), I thought my housing problems were solved. It’s been hectically busy and I haven’t had the time to browse for apartments nor the time to fly out there, etc. I know, I know, putting all of your eggs in a basket before they hatch – stupid. But honestly, as a person who does believe in prayer, this felt like an answer to prayer and that things would work out.

Sum up: this week, after many unanswered emails and unhelpful conversations with desk clerks, I finally got in contact with the housing supervisor who stated that “we have a very limited number of apartments in July and a lengthy waitlist” and that there was a “slim chance” that I would be offered an apartment. Cue the freakout. I’ve poured over craigslist postings and other websites, got on the church housing mailing list, and have been emailing like mad. I’ve heard back from 3 people: there’s a shoebox available, a 1 bedroom “in-law” apartment that is about the size of my living room now, or a room with a single mother and her 6 year old child or a room in a house with 3 other women (but I’d only have to share the bathroom with one other person) that’s a ways from the hospital.

I’m just… I’ve been constantly nauseated for the last 2 days. I didn’t sleep last night. I am truly worried about this. It’s not just finding an apartment, it’s finding an apartment long distance. Because if I thought I didn’t have time before, I definitely don’t have time now.

So my question: 1 – who lives in SF and is willing to go apartment shopping for me. I jest. Not really. 2 – who has done the long distance apartment hunt and how did you do it? 3 – Has anybody used a realtor/property manager before? Recommendations? I’m really starting to lean this way, because renting an apartment without seeing it sounds horrifying. I remember college and looking for apartments and some of the death traps that were billed as “charming.” But from what I’m seeing, using a realtor is expensive. 10-15% of the “yearly rent” and since the monthly rents are more than my mortgage here, that’s costly. I’ll pay it if I need to, but ouch. This moving thing is going to drain me of every penny in my savings.

I’ve contacted the program coordinator and hope to get some assistance from her. But any advice you all can offer would be great too.

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