[Side note: When the pandemic started, quarters became very scarce because people stopped using cash. Places where I could normally buy a roll of quarters for the laundry machines no longer had them, and my bank didn't have tellers (BECU) except for the branch all the way up in Tukwila. So every few months we would buy like $100 worth of quarters so we wouldn't have to make several trips. I had tried to cut a deal with the Landlord to buy back the quarters in the laundry machines when they went to empty them but no dice.]
The place I was at was old, but it was still decent. However, rent kept (and keeps) going up, and it quickly became more than the place was worth. I quickly became enamoured with this new place that had only been built 5-6 years ago. I thought it had been way too expensive but with Patrick's new job it was a real possibility to move to it. The issue was that they had a waiting list - 2-3 months. You would have to apply 3 months before you lease ended in hopes they would have a place come availible when you were due to move out. It was a real roll of the dice. When I applied, I guessed wrong on the lease end date. 9 months from our last sign was 11/30/22. I figured it would round to 12/1/22, but instead it rounded to 11/1, so I was a month off, and would probably end up paying months worth of $200 month-to-month fees on top of rent while waiting. I got really lucky though - I received a call from the landlord of the new place that said a unit had become available and no one ahead of me on the list could take it because their leases weren't up yet. Did we want it?
UM, HELL YES.
However, their move out was 10/31 and the unit would not be ready until 11/10. So I ended up having to pay a full month's rent at the old place, PLUS the $200 month-to-month fee (for 10 days!) and then all of their move in costs. I probably could have put a damn down payment on a house with as much as we shelled out this month. But now that we're officially moved in, it was so worth it. I still have some unpacking to do, but the majority of it is done.
I've never lived in a place this nice in my entire life. Two bed, two bath (I didn't really care to have another whole bathroom but they don't have 2-bed 1 bath units). It has quartz countertops with under-counter sinks. The doors aren't cheap and crappy like in most apartments. The laminate wood floors are great and even the carpet is very plush and soft. The washer and dryer are stackable but actually nice. I've never been in an apartment that doesn't just cheap out on all the appliances. I lived at one place that had the maintenance guy tasked with fixing all of the old appliances; I had the dryer break, the water heater bust, and the fridge die TWICE while I lived there. (They had the nerve to get angry with me when I called the "fire, flood or blood" maintenance line over the weekend for the busted fridge because all of the freezer food was spoiling and I tried to fit everything from the fridge into a chest cooler.) ANYWAY, I digress.
I've never been on the first floor before. It's so weird. I'm so used to the privacy and security of being on the top floor of apartment units. I'm a huge privacy nerd; it runs in the family. I grew up on 5 acres in the middle of nowhere where you didn't have to bother locking your car doors or leaving the windows open. Even when at the old place and I was on the top floor, where I was right on top of the main walkway through the complex so I added trelis fencing on the balcony to block people's view of my living room. Now I'm on the first floor facing the parking lot on the main walkway to the mailboxes and garbage. I'm glad neither one of us cares much about natural light because we will have the shades and curtains drawn 24/7 lol. We also have our own office for the computers, now!! Something I've always wanted.
This place really thought of everything. Not only do I now have a small workout room, a tanning bed (not as if I would use it but it's cool) and a pool, but they also have their own Amazon lockers with UPS/FedEx drop off, electric vehicle chargers, CenturyLink internet instead of Comcast (with a Fiber option and their own rep to call if you run into issues!) and a huge trash compactor. Yup, that's right, no regular dumpsters here. Even though it's only a mile from my previous place, it feels like a much safer community. My unit is in the middle section of all the units, so I'm not close to the main street or the freeway, and it's also fully gated. Hopefully I can feel safe cracking my window open at night to let in the cool air.
I'll post another update with pics once our place is completely done and clean!
