Selecting a New Home

So we finally found a new place after looking at around a dozen condos and houses. I had never had such a hard time selecting a home before. I discovered this was cause there seem to be way more 1 bedrooms than 2 or 3 bedrooms, for rent at least, and a lot of the bigger places are real dives.

I couldn't believe that some people would hold their head up high and offer their places for rent. I saw some horrible places, and not cheap either! Our range was between $1500-2000 a month and wow. . . .a lot of ads were misleading too, otherwise we wouldn't have wasted our time.

Like one house which featured views of the back parking lot of a pizzeria (that was the view from the front of the house) and the back view was of a dirty alleyway. Inside, the staircase was missing one of its banisters, so anyone could just fall right over if they took a wrong step (don't even want to think about my toddler trying to navigate them). . .hardwood floors with missing planks and plywood just screwed into place instead (worst patch job ever). . .stinking of kitty litter. UGH.

Then another place which was supposed to be two floors of a house was actually the basement and main floor. Which could be fine except for the fact that it was a butchered house. You had to enter through the back patio as the front door lead to the second floor apartment. The wooden back patio was covered with a mess of multi-coloured chipped paint. The back yard had a few feet worth of grass, so long it was bending over and swept every which way. A back room was 1 bedroom which opened up into a truly decrepit kitchen with no eating area. Then what was once a beautiful front drawing room had its leaded glass doors covered with plywood, which had been crudely screwed on. I asked the landlord, "did you do this?" and he proudly said yes. Should I mention he was impeccably dressed and drove a shiny brand new BMW? This man knew taste, but he had no shame showing off this home slum to the many people who came out for the showing.

It only got worse from there. The third bedroom was in the basement, complete with very low ceilings and protruding bulkheads. One bulkhead stretched across the top of the tenant's bed, where his chest would lay with about a foot and a half of clearance. Imagine sleeping like that? I saw a jar of Cold FX on his nightstand, along with a box of kleenex and it's not even cold season. Bulkheads or beams like that, especially over a sleeping area, is VERY bad feng shui, it generates sha (negative energy.) I was not surprised he had chest (cold) problems.

The bathroom was a hole (mind you the basement was not nicely finished, might have been attempted to be refinished in the 70s due to the fake wood panelling.) It featured a plastic shower stall and old toilet and tiny sink. That was the only bathroom in the whole apartment. The steps leading down to the basement were like the average steps leading into an unfinished basement -- wooden, rough, no backs or anything like that. The gall of someone trying to rent this to a young family!!!

Besides those two monstrosities we saw some so-so condos (mostly too small), average homes out in the middle of no where. Finally we found a place that had decent square footage and a fair price right next door to where we live now. We were hoping for a house but without a car, the choices downtown are quite slim if you're only prepared to pay 2k or so. In a nice condo at least there is a gym and a spa, swimming pool, concierge. All sorts of fitness classes, most for free. . there are a lot of bonuses. Not to mention that the one we selected, though only a few years old, had just gotten brand new floors put in (cherry wood to match the cherry cabinetry.) Granite counters, as we have now, a brand new stonework backsplash in the kitchen. It is a 2 bedroom + den, perfect for my husband who works from home.

More later on how I am arranging to move us in within a week! Co-ordination at its finest.