After not posting for who knows how long, I’m finally getting down to the business of apartment-hunting. My friend and I looked at a 2 bedroom this morning that we liked. It has teeny weeny bedrooms, but they’re just for sleeping, right? We need to figure out the money thing on her end and mine, on whether she’ll be able to afford moving off campus and how much money I’ll actually be making, or am making now, which could put a damper on things.
I’ve been searching primarily via craigslist. There are plenty of places on there, plus most of them list an address or at least an intersection. Then I go find it on google maps and use the street view to see what the neighborhood looks like. Then, to be even more sure I want to potentially live there, I check out the Anchorage Crime Map and see what kind of crimes are committed in the area. I’m obviously not going to escape crime, especially with apartments in the price range I’m looking at (think LOW). Then I drive through the neighborhood to see what it’s like. How well do people take care of their yards? Are there bums on every corner? I’ve been a little judgemental in some neighborhoods, but so far only one apartment I’ve straight-up crossed off my list after a drive-by.
I’m looking at one- and two-bedroom places. Primarily because I didn’t know if my friend was all in or not (and we’re still not sure). She’s got a good thing going on campus but would LIKE to move off, but doesn’t want to hold me into a crappy place because she can’t afford a nicer one. Right now I can afford a 1BR on my own, barely, so I’m still going to look at 1 BRs. The place we looked at today was cute. Its only drawback was the tiny bedrooms. He wants a 10 month lease, which is okay I guess, but Jake will be moving down and two of us in that teeny bedroom will be kindof crowded, but considering we’ll hardly be there at the same time except to sleep, I think we could wing it.
I’ve called a few other places. I’m going to look at a 1BR on Monday, but none of the other places have called me back… though I see one is re-listed on craigslist today. Maybe they just call on weekdays?
Anyways, this is part one in my apartment-hunting adventure. We’ll see how many parts there are to this. Hopefully not too many! I’m getting sick of commuting and living with my parents.
