I have an apartment!!!!
*I was going to post this yesterday, but didn't have a chance*
So we arrived in San Francisco at 11am on Friday. The weather was gorgeous and we took a short trip from the Embarcadero to our hotel. We quickly checked into our nice hotel room and were relieved to get rid of our bags. Immediately we headed over to Miami Ad School SF to pick up my loan check, deposited it at the nearest Wells Fargo and then went searching surrounding neighborhoods for vacancies.
We wandered around the hilly North Beach district looking for vacancies. There weren't any. Starving, we got a bite from N. Beach Pizza for a slice and salad. Pretty nummy. Then off to meet with a leasing agent at 2pm, practically on the other side of town.
We walked uphill and downhill at top speed to make it to a 2pm appointment. Somehow we got to the first apartment before the realtor. A few minutes later she arrived and showed us two apartments--the rest had already been rented. [Pictures to come in the next post.]
Apt 1--The room had a long hallway, a nice bathroom and kitchen, a walk in closet and a room that was 9'x9'. The price tag $1050/mo and for a new SF apt, that wasn't too bad.
Apt 2--The second apartment was two blocks closer but had no hallway, a cramped kitchen and a creepy bathroom. The bedroom was also smaller. Price tag $975.
Of the two, I liked the first and after some debating, decided to start the application. The leasing agent told us she had another appointment and asked us fill out the form at a cafe nearby--she would meet us there shortly. We filled out the form, etc and waited and waited. After 20 minutes, we called her, the office and couldn't reach her. So I left her a message and fairly miffed we headed off to my next appointment. If this didn't work out, I would have to walk to their office by 4pm to drop off my application. I was not pleased.
The next meeting with a roommate situation that I came across on Roommates.com. This location was only a mile from the school and in a much nicer part of town. I gave my potential roomie a call once my mom and I arrived and she bounded downstairs to meet us. Not only was she pretty and friendly (with a cool french accent no less!) but a pretty good match. She likes cartoons, comedy, art, film, cooking, etc. Hooray!
The apartment was equally wonderful [pictures coming soon!!]...2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, a spacious kitchen, hallway and bathroom. The bedroom I would be occupying was about 11.25' x 9.25' nicely lit by two windows with a view of the street. The roommate who was moving out owned most of the items in the apartment, so the two of us are starting from scratch. What better way to bond than over re-decorating. Oh and you can paint your walls!!!
So we chatted and she said she really liked me. She also liked that I brought my mom :). Happy as all get up, I wrote her a deposit check. My rent...(drum roll)...$695 with utilities included. Cable and Internet about $50 when split. Boy am I happy!
So...on Friday around 3pm when I walked out of my future place near Mason and Pine, my search was finished the day it began.
Awesome! That's all for tonight folks.