"She had an evil face, smoothed by hypocrisy; but her manners were excellent."
My landlady is pulling some serious Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde shit with me (that's where the quote is from). She insisted yesterday on bringing in another flooring company to assess the "damage" again, and I accepted in the interests of not antagonizing the fucking Balrog. It was... interesting, to put it mildly.
I spent today running around in a tizzy before that. I did some tidying/vacuuming in the morning, as well as some overdue laundry (my laundry is always overdue, I hate using the shitty washer/dryer unit in this place), then headed out for my first house viewing. This was the inexpensive co-op that my friend L. had suggested I look into (not that one specifically, but co-ops in general). When I got there, the lady I've been speaking with for nearly ten days greeted me in order to show me the house. Now, she and I had what I thought was a pretty good rapport over the phone, but in person her attitude was completely different. She was cold, brusque, and borderline rude with me. At the end of the viewing she told me she had spoken with my landlady, and I figured that explained the about-face in attitude (more on that later in this post).
The house itself was... well. I suppose technically there was nothing wrong with it. It's part of a much larger housing complex than I was expecting (at least 40 houses, if not more), and rain water was pouring off of it, signalling that the eaves troughs hadn't been cleared in quite some time. Inside the house was dirty, but they were planning on cleaning it, at least. It was another of those places that has the kitchen and dining/living room on the second floor. The entrance was tiny, with a "utility room" on the left (grey concrete floor, wood panelled walls, nothing very exciting) and a smallish bedroom on the right. On the second floor was the aforementioned kitchen, also rather small, and the living room/dining room, equally small. Did I mention small? Small. On the third floor were the remaining two bedrooms, identical in size. Not tiny, but not really that large, either. The kitchen was older, and was missing bits and pieces in the form of drawers. The whole place lacked storage space, except of course for the utility room, but overall it felt impractical, especially with the kitchen on the second floor. I mean, who does that? Also, I must confess, I found the place pretty hideous to look at, both outside and in. There was also no yard, which, while not a deal breaker, is not ideal for a dog owner.
In short, even if the lady hadn't been rude to me and insisted that my landlady must be telling the truth if she'd gotten lawyers involved (what even), this wasn't the place for me. It's really too bad, because it was a lot less expensive than anywhere else I'd looked, and that would have put me on the path of saving quite a bit of money. It's clearly not meant to be, and so I am moving on.
The second house was okay. It was a row house accessible via a shared hallway, which I will confess I find weird. You kind of have to pray for quiet neighbours in a case like this, I'd imagine. The house was in the process of being renovated, and the previous occupants had left ALL their stuff behind. Like, really, all of it. It was a mess like I've rarely seen before, on top of the renovations. There were clothes strewn about some of the rooms, various bits of junk were stacked on furniture, and the kitchen appliances were filthy. It was honestly pretty hard to look past the vast piles of crap, but the space was nice, if unimaginative. Again no yard, but a little outdoor patio with a great view of about a million neighbours. The place isn't top of my list, but it's a possibility, I guess.
I had about an hour and a half before my last viewing of the day, and tomorrow is Cooking Day with
ai731 , so I decided to kill two birds with one stone and go grocery shopping in the area. I ended up at a Metro, where the prices were horribly inflated and I couldn't find about a third of the stuff I needed to buy. I got what I could, and then zipped off to my last viewing of the day.
The third house was very much along the same lines as the second: a townhouse accessible via a shared hallway. What is up with that, anyway? Is this an Ottawa thing? Or am I just super sheltered? Anyway. This place was much nicer, although it was also undergoing a thorough renovation. This place is being renovated with higher-end materials, though, and the appliances were all brand-new (stainless steel, which is not my cup of tea, but still really nice). The space was much nicer, too, though there was still no yard, only a small patio. There were a number of large trees outside, though, which seemed to afford a little bit more privacy than the previous place. Lots of storage space, a semi-finished basement, and a place I could see myself living in for a while, at least. Not spectacular, but certainly doable. There are some perks to this place, though: it has a gym, an indoor pool and an outdoor pool, and two social and gaming rooms which aren't bad at all. Parking space is extra, which is a bit of a concern, but nothing too terrible in terms of price. It would certainly be within my budget.
After that it was a race to get home, because my landlady was coming at 16:00 with the floor guy. Naturally I got caught in the beginnings of rush hour traffic, and spent a good fifteen minutes being very stressed out because I was going to be late for the appointment. I got lucky and managed to make it back by about 15:58. The floor guy was already waiting for me when I got home, but he opted to stay in his truck until my landlady arrived. I slipped inside and checked to make sure the cats hadn't kicked litter all over the floor (the last thing I need is to give my landlady ammunition of any kind against me).
She arrived a few minutes later, and informed me that she had given me a good recommendation to the co-op, so I am perplexed about that. I can't imagine why the co-op lady would have turned so hostile toward me if it hadn't been as a result of their conversation. I mean, we spoke yesterday and she was warm and friendly, and today (after she spoke to the landlady), she was outright rude and dismissive. So, I don't know? Maybe she thinks my landlady is trying to foist off a problem tenant with a good review? Or else my landlady is lying.
Anyway, she and the flooring guy (who was ALSO super rude to me, I have no idea what was with people today) went around the house, and that's when she changed her tune. Suddenly it was all oh-isn't-the-house-clean! and gosh-it-doesn't-smell-bad-at-all! She insisted that one spot on the floor HAD to be pet urine, and even lay down on the floor (!!) in order to sniff it herself, to no avail. I explained that the discolouration had been there when I moved in, and she looked me in the face and lied to me: "No, I inspected the house myself before that, and I was the one living here before you," she said. That is a lie. I met the people who lived here before me, and it wasn't her. I also know that she did no inspection of the place at all, because the previous tenants didn't move out until a few hours before I moved in, and it was being run by a property management company at the time, which means she wasn't involved with the maintenance of the place. Still, she did an almost complete 180, and started back-pedalling on the eviction, in spite of the lawyers' letter. She wants to talk with my downstairs neighbour, because she says he's the one complaining about the smell (although I spoke to him last week and he said there hadn't been a problem), and maybe she'll reconsider the whole thing. I just... I don't know what to do with her anymore. I'm so, SO done with this psychodrama. I don't care if she changes her mind, I still want to go. God only knows what sort of bullshit she'll pull in another couple of months when she goes on another rampage.
I'm a little discouraged by the state of the rentals in Ottawa, at this point. Only one house has come close to suiting my needs (crazy landlady aside, where I am is a great little house, practically perfect in every way as rental units go), and it's a bit too big and on a very busy thoroughfare. I'm not overly optimistic about finding a good place, although of course I haven't stopped looking. It's making me want to reconsider my options, though. I went to the bank several months ago to inquire about a mortgage, and I'm pretty much guaranteed a pre-approval. The problem, of course, is that I don't have enough money for a down payment as well as closing costs and money to move. I'm maybe about halfway there in terms of my savings, and that would clean me out. Someone mentioned that I might be able to get my downpayment as a separate loan, and another friend referred me to her mortgage broker for more information, so after the landlady shenanigans I called the broker, and have gotten the ball rolling on seeing what my options are there, at least. It would be nice to go back to owning my own home, and being the only person to whom I have to answer about my living decisions.
That's it for now. I need to pack up the last of my prepped food for Cooking Day, and then go to bed like a responsible adult. Critical Role is airing tonight, but I have to be up early, so I will likely watch it tomorrow evening. I have one last house viewing tomorrow, after which I have to start the whole query process over again. Lather, rinse, repeat, as the shampoo bottles say.
See you on the flip side, LJ!
This entry was originally posted at http://mousme.dreamwidth.org/1439983.html, where there are currently
comments. Feel free to comment wherever you'd like!
I spent today running around in a tizzy before that. I did some tidying/vacuuming in the morning, as well as some overdue laundry (my laundry is always overdue, I hate using the shitty washer/dryer unit in this place), then headed out for my first house viewing. This was the inexpensive co-op that my friend L. had suggested I look into (not that one specifically, but co-ops in general). When I got there, the lady I've been speaking with for nearly ten days greeted me in order to show me the house. Now, she and I had what I thought was a pretty good rapport over the phone, but in person her attitude was completely different. She was cold, brusque, and borderline rude with me. At the end of the viewing she told me she had spoken with my landlady, and I figured that explained the about-face in attitude (more on that later in this post).
The house itself was... well. I suppose technically there was nothing wrong with it. It's part of a much larger housing complex than I was expecting (at least 40 houses, if not more), and rain water was pouring off of it, signalling that the eaves troughs hadn't been cleared in quite some time. Inside the house was dirty, but they were planning on cleaning it, at least. It was another of those places that has the kitchen and dining/living room on the second floor. The entrance was tiny, with a "utility room" on the left (grey concrete floor, wood panelled walls, nothing very exciting) and a smallish bedroom on the right. On the second floor was the aforementioned kitchen, also rather small, and the living room/dining room, equally small. Did I mention small? Small. On the third floor were the remaining two bedrooms, identical in size. Not tiny, but not really that large, either. The kitchen was older, and was missing bits and pieces in the form of drawers. The whole place lacked storage space, except of course for the utility room, but overall it felt impractical, especially with the kitchen on the second floor. I mean, who does that? Also, I must confess, I found the place pretty hideous to look at, both outside and in. There was also no yard, which, while not a deal breaker, is not ideal for a dog owner.
In short, even if the lady hadn't been rude to me and insisted that my landlady must be telling the truth if she'd gotten lawyers involved (what even), this wasn't the place for me. It's really too bad, because it was a lot less expensive than anywhere else I'd looked, and that would have put me on the path of saving quite a bit of money. It's clearly not meant to be, and so I am moving on.
The second house was okay. It was a row house accessible via a shared hallway, which I will confess I find weird. You kind of have to pray for quiet neighbours in a case like this, I'd imagine. The house was in the process of being renovated, and the previous occupants had left ALL their stuff behind. Like, really, all of it. It was a mess like I've rarely seen before, on top of the renovations. There were clothes strewn about some of the rooms, various bits of junk were stacked on furniture, and the kitchen appliances were filthy. It was honestly pretty hard to look past the vast piles of crap, but the space was nice, if unimaginative. Again no yard, but a little outdoor patio with a great view of about a million neighbours. The place isn't top of my list, but it's a possibility, I guess.
I had about an hour and a half before my last viewing of the day, and tomorrow is Cooking Day with
ai731 , so I decided to kill two birds with one stone and go grocery shopping in the area. I ended up at a Metro, where the prices were horribly inflated and I couldn't find about a third of the stuff I needed to buy. I got what I could, and then zipped off to my last viewing of the day.
The third house was very much along the same lines as the second: a townhouse accessible via a shared hallway. What is up with that, anyway? Is this an Ottawa thing? Or am I just super sheltered? Anyway. This place was much nicer, although it was also undergoing a thorough renovation. This place is being renovated with higher-end materials, though, and the appliances were all brand-new (stainless steel, which is not my cup of tea, but still really nice). The space was much nicer, too, though there was still no yard, only a small patio. There were a number of large trees outside, though, which seemed to afford a little bit more privacy than the previous place. Lots of storage space, a semi-finished basement, and a place I could see myself living in for a while, at least. Not spectacular, but certainly doable. There are some perks to this place, though: it has a gym, an indoor pool and an outdoor pool, and two social and gaming rooms which aren't bad at all. Parking space is extra, which is a bit of a concern, but nothing too terrible in terms of price. It would certainly be within my budget.
After that it was a race to get home, because my landlady was coming at 16:00 with the floor guy. Naturally I got caught in the beginnings of rush hour traffic, and spent a good fifteen minutes being very stressed out because I was going to be late for the appointment. I got lucky and managed to make it back by about 15:58. The floor guy was already waiting for me when I got home, but he opted to stay in his truck until my landlady arrived. I slipped inside and checked to make sure the cats hadn't kicked litter all over the floor (the last thing I need is to give my landlady ammunition of any kind against me).
She arrived a few minutes later, and informed me that she had given me a good recommendation to the co-op, so I am perplexed about that. I can't imagine why the co-op lady would have turned so hostile toward me if it hadn't been as a result of their conversation. I mean, we spoke yesterday and she was warm and friendly, and today (after she spoke to the landlady), she was outright rude and dismissive. So, I don't know? Maybe she thinks my landlady is trying to foist off a problem tenant with a good review? Or else my landlady is lying.
Anyway, she and the flooring guy (who was ALSO super rude to me, I have no idea what was with people today) went around the house, and that's when she changed her tune. Suddenly it was all oh-isn't-the-house-clean! and gosh-it-doesn't-smell-bad-at-all! She insisted that one spot on the floor HAD to be pet urine, and even lay down on the floor (!!) in order to sniff it herself, to no avail. I explained that the discolouration had been there when I moved in, and she looked me in the face and lied to me: "No, I inspected the house myself before that, and I was the one living here before you," she said. That is a lie. I met the people who lived here before me, and it wasn't her. I also know that she did no inspection of the place at all, because the previous tenants didn't move out until a few hours before I moved in, and it was being run by a property management company at the time, which means she wasn't involved with the maintenance of the place. Still, she did an almost complete 180, and started back-pedalling on the eviction, in spite of the lawyers' letter. She wants to talk with my downstairs neighbour, because she says he's the one complaining about the smell (although I spoke to him last week and he said there hadn't been a problem), and maybe she'll reconsider the whole thing. I just... I don't know what to do with her anymore. I'm so, SO done with this psychodrama. I don't care if she changes her mind, I still want to go. God only knows what sort of bullshit she'll pull in another couple of months when she goes on another rampage.
I'm a little discouraged by the state of the rentals in Ottawa, at this point. Only one house has come close to suiting my needs (crazy landlady aside, where I am is a great little house, practically perfect in every way as rental units go), and it's a bit too big and on a very busy thoroughfare. I'm not overly optimistic about finding a good place, although of course I haven't stopped looking. It's making me want to reconsider my options, though. I went to the bank several months ago to inquire about a mortgage, and I'm pretty much guaranteed a pre-approval. The problem, of course, is that I don't have enough money for a down payment as well as closing costs and money to move. I'm maybe about halfway there in terms of my savings, and that would clean me out. Someone mentioned that I might be able to get my downpayment as a separate loan, and another friend referred me to her mortgage broker for more information, so after the landlady shenanigans I called the broker, and have gotten the ball rolling on seeing what my options are there, at least. It would be nice to go back to owning my own home, and being the only person to whom I have to answer about my living decisions.
That's it for now. I need to pack up the last of my prepped food for Cooking Day, and then go to bed like a responsible adult. Critical Role is airing tonight, but I have to be up early, so I will likely watch it tomorrow evening. I have one last house viewing tomorrow, after which I have to start the whole query process over again. Lather, rinse, repeat, as the shampoo bottles say.
See you on the flip side, LJ!
This entry was originally posted at http://mousme.dreamwidth.org/1439983.html, where there are currently
comments. Feel free to comment wherever you'd like!