Sunday, January 27, 2008

Found an Apartment

So I finally found an apartment after a really long search. I didn't hit all my criteria for finding a place, but I'm really happy with what I got. I looked at literally hundreds of listings and physically went to look at about 20 units. Reviewing my list here is what happened

  1. They must take cats - They do. I have to put a deposit down, but that was to be expected.

  2. Must have a dishwasher - It does. It's even brand new and stainless steel.

  3. Must have a washer/dryer IN UNIT - It does not. This was the big compromise. Just weren't that many apartments that actually had washer and dryer in unit. Those that did, I was compromising a lot more for other things. This was more important to my girlfriend than it was me, but she saw the place and thought the laundry facilities on site were adequate.

  4. I have to be able to get two parking spots - It has it, it is underground (i.e. covered) and they are side by side. Lots of places in the area have tandem parking, so this was excellent

  5. Roomy - One of the bigger places I saw and I have a large amount of terrace space.

  6. Clean and relatively new- Of all the places I saw, this was the nicest inside. It had granite counter tops, stainless steel appliances, and relatively clean everywhere else. I am VERY happy with this part of the criteria. The only drawback is that I will have to buy my own fridge, but that really isn't that big of a deal.

  7. Budget - Given all the above, you would think this was one of the more expensive places as I've only compromised on the washer/dryer. But here is the kicker. Of all the places I actually visited, this was the cheapest place. More on that in a minute.

  8. In Pasadena - I'm in an excellent location, pretty close to things, and in the good part of town.


So given all the above, I have no idea how I got the place for only $1700. This is seriously below budget and much less than I would have expected to spend. I looked at a lot of places, and most of the one bedrooms were going for more than that. There were no two bedrooms going for that low of a price for sure. Add on the fact that there is a pool and a fitness center and I'm pretty happy with the place. So I keep thinking to myself, what am I missing? What detail would account for this place getting such a good deal. Is it one of those cases of it being too good to be true?

1 comment:

  1. [...] my last post has indicated, I have moved.  Unfortunately, I don’t have my internet access setup.  Since [...]

    ReplyDelete