the things i have seen and done and moved to

Okay so yes it's been five months since I posted, but in my defense:

1.) Spring Semester got intense (4.0 for two classes!)
2.) Summer Semester was an eight week hellscape (3.5 for two classes, almost learned to hate databases)
3.) Fall Semester is my first semester of three classes (nine hours) and there's been some adjustment.
4.) ...I moved.

Wait, what?

The last time I posted in April, I was really only thinking seriously about it but without commitment. then Child got a tech support job, and he really wanted to move pretty much anywhere else, which--this being Austin--is not cheap; worse, the areas he wanted to move to were really not cheap and stuffed full of new, shiny, very trendy new complexes which were really really not cheap...none of which either of us could possibly afford on our own, which is when he said we'd split the rent down the middle.

That made it surprisingly doable. For those who know Austin, our final area choices (that at least were vaguely possible, was the North Lamar area south of 290 where a lot of new complexes had and still are popping up and south of the River (South Austin). Downtown was not doable without selling some key organs that don't have backups and cant' be replaced. We also checked a few other areas, but North Lamar was our first choice for a.) the center of everything, b.) buses everywhere and access to the train, and c.) it's just super cool, okay?

The total rent we could afford was $2200: go.


Apartment Hunting

I'll spare you the horrifying details but note: not as easy as one might think and not just for budget reasons.

Out of the four I toured (and one Child toured), oddly enough, we liked three, which fulfilled the criteria of a.) we could probably afford it, b.) near bus lines/North Lamar, and c.) allowed German Shepherds, and you'd be surprised to know how many places sort of forgot to put that on their website or used the cryptic 'breed restrictions' so I had to call and be annoyed.

Third choice was in the middle of remodeling, so there wasn't a lot of certainty when a two bedroom would pop up (best guess: January), so we made appointments to tour other complexes while waiting for First and Second Choice to post openings on the off chance that those two didn't work out and me really hating the words 'breed restrictions' like so very fucking much (just SAY WHICH BREEDS ON THE SITE HOLY SHIT).

Fortunately, we were spared more tours (and more phone calls).


The Two Contenders

From the outside and as far as amenities go, first and second choice were really alike, and so was the architecture, which is a semi-generic Austin Hip that makes me feel very trendy and cool and I'm not ashamed to admit it. They also had a lot of overlap in both complex layout and in available floorplans. Both were comprised of two very large connecting (or semi-connecting) four story buildings; in First Choice, one building surrounded a zen garden (Second choice: bocce court/sitting area) and the other building surrounded a pool.

Both had: a very nice clubhouse/gathering place (full kitchen, billiards, etc), computer room (called Library at Second Choice). First Choice also had a dramatic stair entrance to it, since the leasing office was first floor on street side but built on a hill so most of the complex was a about a floor below that. Second Choice, however, had a Theatre Room, and it really is a miniature theatre with a 100+ inch movie screen, two rows of movie-quality recliners with lights, and a long bar with stools that you can reserve and watch Netflix (complex's account apparently), a variety of movies they own, or bring your own.

All apartments had internal entrances, which is very new to me (most apartment complexes I was familiar with were external entrance and external stairs). Some--the work/live apartments, a couple of the lofts, and a very few of the first floor apartments that faced a street--could also be entered from the street by their porch doors.

(This felt super-fancy to me, btw.)

Both offered storage rooms (that you paid for monthly).

Both offered mandatory amenities packages you paid for in addition to rent that included trash pickup three times weekly, which I never knew I wanted more than anything in the world. Second choice's package also included cable and internet, while First Choice left you on your own for those. Utilities were not included in either, and you were billed for water by the complex.

Location

First choice was about a mile and change farther south than second choice and in a quiet neighborhood and on a bus line, right down the road from a bookstore sand Kentucky Fried Chicken (yes, that was an inducement), but it was also farther east from Lamar; second choice was only one block off Lamar, had several buses stopping literally right outside the door, and nearer some other popular Austin complexes where Child could have play dates with kids his own age.

(...yes, he's twenty-four, but I don't see how that's relevant.)

Floorplans

First choice had more variety: studio, one, two, and three bedrooms, one bedroom + loft, two bedroom + loft, three bedroom + loft, and live/work; all had multiple variations in floorplans (total: 40 floorplans); square footage was ~500 to ~1400. Using historical prices, one of the one bedroom + loft (some of which had a second bathroom), two bedroom, two bedroom plus loft, and three bedroom (no loft) were all potentially doable, and square footage would be from ~800 square feet to around ~1000.

Second choice had studio, one, and two bedrooms with about two variations for studio, about three to five variations for one bedroom, and only two variations for two bedroom/two bath. Of the two bedrooms, one around 850 square feet, one 1235 square feet. I was betting on the smaller one; the larger one, I assumed, would be way outside my budget according to what I read.

As my last was in the upper 700s square feet, all of them were going to be an upgrade, and also, I cannot say this enough, valet trash. That shit is fancy.

Cost

First choice skewed slightly more expensive than second choice--it is very much a place people move into and don't leave until they're ready to buy a house--but during the tour when I told them my wants and budget (two bedroom minimum, $2200 max), they assured me that was doable. Second choice said the same.

First choice...either didn't know that the company would raise rents surprisingly or thought I was so infatuated I'd pay well over $2200, which admittedly as I loved the place, I might have been tempted and learned to subsist on two meals a day, one of Ramen. After listing three floorplans that were supposed to be in my budget but weren't by an order of one meal a day of dry Ramen.

(For context, I got worried when several one bedrooms went up and half were over my budget and really lacking in square footage. It was--stressing.)

Second choice called me around seven one night and said that the largest two bedroom floorplan was available and for $200 below budget and I should go fill out the leasing application right now.

I stared at First Choice's website, then applied at Second Choice on a Thursday. I was approved on Monday morning.


You Would Not Believe How Relieved I Am For This Turn of Events

For reasons, we're going to skip why while my official move-in date was 8/23, I didn't actually physically sleep here until 8/25 and we weren't finished moving until 8/31 (technically, five in the morning on 9/1). I started class on the 23rd as well, so you might say my stress levels were--unpleasant and also, we're just going to forget those nine days even happened.

Moving on.

So being infatuated with First Choice, though I did like Second Choice enough to have it second, I also missed some incredibly persuasive reasons My Complex (was: Second Choice) should have been First Choice all along.

The Complex

My Complex (was: Second Choice) is newer than Other Choice (was: First Choice); my building (Building 2) is really new (I think less than 5 years and maybe less than three) and a hilarious example of real estate prices and people just dead refusing to move. Building 1 and Building 2 are diagonal to each other in the same block (northeast and southwest corners); the northwest side of the block is a pre-existing (and expensive) two story condominium complex; the southeast side of the block is, in this order from north to south from Building 1: a private two story home with a separate and inhabited and very, very shiny airstream with porch in the backyard beneath the trees; a tiny two story single building apartment complex; a small and probably hideously expensive empty lot, and another house (or lot, I can't remember). From building two going east: a set of about five town houses and the aforementioned another house/empty lot on the corner.

The two buildings are roughly twenty feet apart (or less) at their closet point, and it's basically taken up by the walkway in front of the porches on building two and a wheelchair ramp. For Building 2, there's a second very long, very gradual wheelchair ramp on the east side of the building that leads to the underground parking (two levels) that has a gate that only opens when you frantically press your key fob like twenty times when you're in range but hopefully not too close, as they didn't bother to paint a line on where you should stop so the gate won't gently nudge your car and make you have to back up to get inside (it won't even scratch your paint when it nudges you but it's super disconcerting).

(Also: of all the complexes I visited personally, this was the only one where they talked about--unprompted, as part of their speech--about disability accommodations through the complex, which apartments were accessible, and encouraged us to ask if we'd like more information. I'm not disabled and neither is my mother, so I really appreciated a.) it seemed to be standard in their tour and b.) they didn't think they disability could be decided just by looking at us. Their website used to have a more information as well but it was just redesigned and they're still adding back in missing content so I assume they'll bring that back.)

As I said earlier, each building surrounds a courtyard: Building 1 only has three sides (C shape) with the fourth side a partial brick wall that symbolically separates Building 1 from Building 2; the courtyard is a variety of outdoor tables and chairs, outdoor sections, barbecue pits, a firepit, and sitting areas, which must be awesome when there are complex-wide gatherings. All three sides have courtyard-facing apartments and street-facing apartments on all four floors.

Building 2 has four sides and surrounds a pool, a set of single person pyramid like structures you can sit in (I guess?) a grill/barbecue area and firepit, and a lot lot lot of lounging areas. There are pool-facing apartments on all four sides; on the outside, Partial Brick Wall Separating Us From Building 1 Facing Apartments (with nice patios on the first floor) to the north; apartments facing the private home/empty lot/etc to the west (first floor has patios; 2-4 have balconies); to the east, there are no first floor apartments (outside is the Dog Park 2; inside is garbage and maintenance rooms); and to the south facing the driveway (that goes down to parking), there are no apartments on the first and second floor but several with surprisingly long or large balconies on the third and fourth.

Both buildings have at least two doors (Building 1, since it has the leasing office and mail room, has about four or five) that open to the street (or driveway to underground parking), and one to two that open into the complex; each dog park (2!) has at least one door that opens directly into it as well as an external gate with a code lock. Both buildings have two elevators that go from Underground Parking Level 2 to the fourth floor, and at least three sets of stairs, two of which also go down to both parking levels. My building has five sets of stairs but for reasons, I'm not sure exactly where two of them are (I still get--off course coming and going). Each floor has room where there are two trash chutes (recycle and not) where you can also leave your broken down boxes, thank God.

(I really need my complex map; I'll find it and correct later, I just moved in so it's still kind of a blur on where everything is.)

Location

1.) Being only one block off Lamar is incredibly convenient; it's very walkable to get anywhere and buses stop literally at the door of Building 1.

2.) There's a small park only a block away but to get to it, you have to circle that entire block.

3.) There is one local coffee shop and a vape store half a block toward Lamar.

4.) There is an awesome shopping center with a bakery and Asian grocery store and dollar store on the other side of the fence that separates it from Building 2. You just walk through the open gate in the fence. I can literally spend my entire check on baked goods, random groceries, and about a dozen restaurants and dollar items. God bless.

Amenities

The combined cable/internet cost in the mandatory amenities package is half the price I paid for internet at my old apartment, and I forgot that on cable, Law and Order is always on somewhere. So I am happy and did anyone know Eliot was coming back?????


My Apartment

I'm going to gush, you can skip, but I am so. In. Love.

My apartment is their largest floor plan at 1226 square feet; there are only sixteen of them, all pool-facing, set at the four corners of Building 2, with ten foot ceilings (at least) with either huge patios or balconies. This balcony is bigger than my bedroom at my old apartment and is shaped in a vague diamond; honestly, it may be the biggest room in this apartment.

The kitchen/dining/living room are open to each other with a large and gorgeous island in the kitchen; the bedrooms are on either side; Child's bedroom is at the end of a very short (five-six feet long) hall that serves the bathroom and water heater room and for some reason,has it's own door. My hall is open with a door to the small room for the washer and dryer and my bedroom, and my bathroom is reached through my room.

The closets are enormous, like, I don't have enough clothes and with rails and shelves, so many many shelves. There are only two windows that look out on the balcony but we actually get more sun now than at the other apartment. I can get plants that aren't only ones that do well with very little indirect sunlight. Unfortunately the bedrooms have carpet, but it's nice carpet, and both are big enough for a queen size bed, dresser, a tv on a buffet cabinet, a chest, and if desired, maybe a lovseat. I love my room is what I'm saying, and the ceiling is high enough I can put up the posts and railing between them and not worry about the ceiling fan.

For those who remember my fixation on light (and the lack in the old apartment like whoa) the kitchen has three medium sunken lights plus the light over the front door entrance and the one in the presumed dining area along with two pendants directly over the island; lots of light. Bathrooms are great; both bedrooms and the living room have overhead lights as well as ceiling fans. And as there's now room--like room for more than just a couch and a coffee table squeezed together--I can stop rewiring pendant lights (and doing sketchy shit with plugs and electricity) and just get lamps and floor lamps like a normal person for areas that I want bright. Also, the walls are a much lighter and more reflective beige-ish so yeah, much better.

The kitchen is massive and has more cabinets and drawers than I knew could exist, plus a built in desk with more cabinets and drawers and just. So. Many. Places. To. Put. Things.

I will cut myself off now with an effort but I suspect another post like this one will show up eventually so I can sing the praises of the stove or something I LOVE MY APARTMENT.


I still live in a Box Jungle but I'm sitting on my porch doing homework at night overlooking the pool right now. I've been imagining being here and doing this for months and honestly? It's even better than I thought.

Comments

[lilysea]

I'm glad you have found a place you like, and can afford! ^_^

Looking for a rental property is so stressful!

Is $2200 per month?

In Australia, we tend to cite the rent per week, so I thought I'd check...

[seperis]

I'm glad you have found a place you like, and can afford! ^_^

Looking for a rental property is so stressful!

God yes.

Is $2200 per month?

Yes; this apartment is only 2055, which honestly, for this location and square footage is reallllly good.

In Australia, we tend to cite the rent per week, so I thought I'd check...

In general, apartments are calculated by month when you're talking about your home residence. The exception is complexes that are built for long-term stay business travelers who are only temporarily staying in a location (sort of a halfway point between apartments and hotels when it comes to amenities like usually a kitchen/kitchenette but also regular housekeeping); those will generally give a weekly rate and a monthly rate depending on how long you want to stay.

The range of expense for those depends basically on how nice the place is; the more it resembles a hotel (no kitchen or kitchenette) the less it costs, and the more it resembles an apartment or home (kitchen, multiple rooms) the more expensive it is. Most if not all have daily housekeeping like a hotel as well as more daily maintenance stuff that usually an apartment resident would take care of themselves (like getting lightbulbs).

This is because most apartment complexes--not all, but most--base rent on a twelve-month lease or greater (I think one place you can sign for up to two years), and while some will lease for three, six, nine, etc months, if the lease is under a year, the monthly is rate is way more expensive. Which makes sense: apartments are considered residential homes and use a business model assuming this will be your home, so outside of high-end apartments with concierge service and housekeeping, the resident basically is responsible for their own lightbulbs, dish soap, coffee, etc; the long-term complexes for business travelers use a business model that is based on short term stays with people treating the place as something between a temporary home and hotel.

With apartments, it takes two weeks to a month to do post-move-out repairs, cleaning up, get a new tenant, do all the paperwork, etc at minimum so it's just not worth losing money on short term leases where you lose a month of rent multiple times a year. The long-term business traveller places, on the other hand, can get their apartments back on the market in just a few days (most offer daily housekeeping, rarely have pets/kids to do damage, and again, people treat their homes differently than they do a place they're only staying temporarily that they don't consider a home).

Example: my unit used to have caseworkers from all over the state come to Austin to work in testing for six months to a year and they would stay in one of those. Even if they were here longer than that, the state generally paid for those instead of an apartment even if it was technically more expensive per week/month, as that way, a.) they wouldn't have to futz around with security deposits for each worker and b.) they could negotiate contracts for x number of state employees or for x number of years for x range of possible employees staying there.

...sorry, that got away from me! There are places in teh US where regular apartments--not just long-term stay traveller places--do it by week or biweekly but I"d guess it's more a thing in older cities like New York and Chicago when rent used to always be paid weekly/biweekly due to how people were usually paid back in the day.

[lilysea]

Yes, most Australians get paid fortnightly [every 14 days] and most rent is paid fortnightly - altho ads still state the rent per week.

[seperis]

You made me curious so I'm googling. I suspect the US changed the standard to monthly with the rise of the middle class where many jobs moved to monthly pay. The only jobs I ever worked that didn't pay monthly were fast food and retail, but when Child got the tech support job at Dell, they're paid biweekly (aka fortnightly, every fourteen days), which really threw me. I tend to associate weekly/biweekly/bimonthly pay with jobs paid by the hour (aka jobs without a set salary), temp jobs, seasonal jobs, and jobs that companies frequently cut when they do budget cuts (customer service, etc).

Thank you for that bit of Australian pay trivia.

[dine]

I'm glad you survived the move! your new place sounds terrific - have a great time settling in, and exploring the area. from your report, it offers a ton of cool things

[seperis]

It's wonderful. But still a massive boxy mess, but just--yes.

[lilacsigil]

That sounds great, even worth the hell that is moving!

[seperis]

I am seriously never moving again. I am going to live here until I am a hundred. When Child moves out, I'll get a roommate, but moving? NOPE.

[goss]

Congrats on your new apartment! And YAY for space! :D

[seperis]

Thank you!

[aurumcalendula]

The apartment sounds awesome!

[seperis]

It is! Thank you!

[out_there]

Im so gladyou love the new place. It sounds great.

[seperis]

Thank you! I really am in a deep honeymoon phase right now. I like it.

[swingandswirl]

Yay your intial second choice winding up being perfect! It does sound lovely and seeing your obvious joy is wonderful.

[seperis]

Honestly, this is the best of all worlds. I got very lucky. Now looking at Other Place, I can really see the issues when it comes to location; it's in a very pretty neighborhood and quiet and has a lot of buses, it's not nearly as walkable when it's about half a mile from Lamar, which is where all the stores and everything are.

As far as quality of the apartments, they're equal and truthfully, they look ridiculously alike (Liliane visited Other Choice with me and my Mom went with me to visit My Complex; when I was describing it to Liliane, she was like '...are you sure you're not talking about the one we visited?'). The other one mostly just has a much larger range of apartment types and floorplans. And also,it doesn't have the internet/cable package.

At first I was ambivalent about it--I wanted to get my own internet and didn't really want cable--but here, it costs half what I was paying individually for internet for both internet and cable..

Even more interesting to me, I was paying for about two and a half times the speed here (Old Apartment: 1 GB; new apartment; 400 Mbps) but it's both faster and way more reliable here. Each building is a separate network; they don't pay for each apartment to have an individual internet connection so everyone shares the building internet and built into every single apartment a router that has honestly incredibly good range and there's a server room down the hall where I can see how they have the LAN set up.

This worried me, because I work for the state and Child works tech support and both of us access a lot of confidential information (for really sensitive stuff I VPN in, but my work laptop has stuff on it that really needs to be kept private), and also, I didn't want everyone in the building to have access to my home automation stuff, media server, etc. As it turns out, in each living room there's also an ethernet port built in, so you can hook up your router to that and create your own subnetwork inside the building network and connect everything through my router. Effectively, it's the same as having your own individual account with the ISP; in this case, I'm treating the building's internet as my ISP. No one else in the building can access my network, so me and CHild can share movies and folders between our personal computers and the X-Box without worrying someone else will wander in.

[digitalwave]

Congratulations on your new place! The thing that grabbed my brain is that Child is 24 now! I can still remember when play dates would have actually been play dates. 😊

[seperis]

I knoowwwwwww, it freaks me out too!

Thank you!

[princessofgeeks]

Congratulations!

[seperis]

Thank you!

[grammarwoman]

Huzzah for your new place and peace of mind! Good luck with the semester as well.

[seperis]

Thanks!

[amalthia]

congratulations on the new place!

[seperis]

Thank you!

[ivyfic]

I am not a dog person, but my family had a German Shepherd when I was little and I've never understood the breed restriction for them? Like, they're really freaking smart. Sure, you can train them to attack, but you can train them to do pretty much anything. Ours just always wanted to herd us into the same room.

[seperis]

I kind of get it due to breed characteristics, but ever since breed restrictions have become a thing (pit bulls, rottweilers, etc), I'm coming down on the side of being against them, and I say this as someone who is in fact scared of pit bulls, rottweilers, dobermans, etc. But I'm also aware the reason I'm scared of them is that most of those I've come in contact with had shitty owners, not because of the dogs themselves. The few times I've been around them leashed with an owner who obviously knew their dog and kept control of it, I was comfortable babytalking them while being licked within an inch of my life.

I do understand size restrictions and agree with those--in general, the bigger the dog, the more capacity for damage to the apartment or serious injury to a person (aka liability) if the owner loses control of their dog, which can happen with literally any dog from a Maltese to a St. Bernard to a wolf-hybrid. But when I read the breed restriction list--and most places are using literally the same goddamn list, like they photocopied teh thing, and not just those that have the same management company--I couldn't help but wonder if classism and possibly racism was a factor (aka, who was most likely to own said dogs, in what income range and neighborhood). Like, I have no idea what breeds are popular by race but if we're talking low-income to working class....yeah, there's some serious, serious overlap.

It makes me think of when I was casually considering home ownership and being baffled how the price of the house was reasonable but the HOA fees would be ridiculous (like, $400 a month for what seemed to me no real justification; the pool and yardwork are not that fancy, people) and a friend told me historically, it was a way to price undesirable populations out of homes/neighborhoods they could have otherwise been able to afford to get a mortgage on a home.

Which has really, really changed how I look at real estate listings now; any mention of HOA fees no matter how much, I carefully read what HOA fees are supposed to cover, and I'm immediately on guard when it goes over $200 unless they explicitly say they're covering things like water, electricity, internet, cable, concierges, housekeeping, etc. If all they say is 'property maintenance', that's a hard no; this is not the medieval Holland and the economic crash caused by overpriced tulips.

[musesfool]

Congrats! Moving is hell but being in a new space is great and it sounds like your new place is worth it.

[seperis]

Thank you! And yes it is, even if I have to keep clearing a path to walk after every unboxing effort. I swear the boxes are breeding.

Yay!

[brainwane]

YAYYYYYY!!!!!!

Re: Yay!

[seperis]

Thank you!

[zulu]

Hooray, sounds like an amazing place!

[seperis]

I am so in love it's ridiculous.

[azurelunatic]

Hooray! New place with good things!

[seperis]

Thank you!

[jesse_the_k]

Congratulations on a new home!

[seperis]

Thanks!

[jujuberry136]

Moving is the worst, but your new apartment sounds amazing! HOORAY for kitchen storage. AND you get light? And easy access to pastries? I think this may be the best apartment ever. Congratulations on jumping on a fantastic place. I lived for years in a 2 bed, 2 bath 750 square foot place - so having over 1,000 square feet and a patio sounds amazing. Enjoy!

[seperis]

Old Apartment was roughly 760-780 square feet with only one (small) bathroom and my kitchen--well, best not to dwell there. I feel like I was released from purgatory is what I'm saying.

85 degree bakery is amazing. They're an Asian fusion with cakes you would sell your soul for (and pastries and bread and just hell yes). And right down the road is Tous Les Jours, which is a south Korean bakery franchise that does French-Asian fusions that will put me in bankrupcy court if I'm not careful (I never take a credit card in there, just my debit).

[jujuberry136]

One of these days I will have a window in my bathroom OR kitchen (I'm not greedy - just ONE of these rooms would be amazing)...

I am very jealous of all the easy access Asian bakeries. My nearby vice of choice is a fantastically bougie coffee/sandwich place that opened near me. It is a struggle not to get a $$$ breakfast sandwich every day (fresh ciabatta, fried egg, homemade salsa, tilamook cheese... so good). I've had to restrict myself to buying gift cards every couple of months only using money from them to avoid coming home with ALL the goodies (they also sell what are essentially frozen dinners...)

[grimmhill]

Congratulations! Apartment shopping is both stressful and kinda fun, but it sounds like you got the best mix. Enjoy your new home.

[seperis]

Yes, and thank you!

[the_shoshanna]

That all sounds fantastic -- congratulations!

[seperis]

Thank you!

[kickair8p]

❤

~

[seperis]

*g*

[ravurian]

This is wonderful, but I was promised photos! Are you allowed to paint walls and so on? Would you want to?

Very many congratulations to all three of you. What does the dog make of it?

[rissabby]

I've been moving too. I finally slept at my new apartment on 6/05. I still have things in boxes. I'll probably have things in boxes ten years from now. My living room is my box room.

This was my longest, most stressful move. The thing that's still causing me unease, is the change in neighborhoods. New buses and new connections make me feel lost and touristy. I missed a thing yesterday because the online trip planner lied and caused me to get off at a stop with a mental health service center (with a line of clients) on one side of the street, and a tent-row homeless encampment on the other side. I gave up and went shopping.

I mostly like/love my new place. My worst inside problem is that a third of the cupboard space is too high for me to reach (I'm 5feet zero). Outside, there's a large backyard and anyone who wants can reserve a growing space or a large planter. I grew tomatoes for the first time. Delicious and abundant cherry sized tomatoes.

I envy you your patio/balcony thing. I wish I could just build one outside my bedroom.

Good luck to us both at our new digs.