A Moving Experience
Well, we did manage to find a place. We took a Saturday last month set up several viewings; 4 to be exact. So, armed with notebook and a masked desparation we set out to find a new place to live.
The first place was a complete wildcard. The viewing was set up at the last minute, and I was prepared to let it go since there was a lot of hmming and hawing from the landlords. Regardless, we viewed it and were quite impressed. As the top floor of a three story building, it's spacious, has a full sized stove and dishwasher and we can have a barbeque. Neither of us really have lengthen our commute. Also, there's a nice large garage and the price was right. This was the one we ended up taking.
But not before we trucked all over the city to see the other apartments we'd set up appointments for.
The next one was on the 17th floor of condo. Naturally, it had a stunning view of the Ottawa River though not nearly as much space as we'd hoped. Again it had a decent stove and dishwasher, as well as in unit laundry. As a condo, the building had a fair number of amenities, including a squash court. What deterred us was the distance for the Singer to commute, as well as the fact that we'd have to pay hydro. Usually, that's not a problem, except when the unit is electrically heated and cooled. Top it off with a 1250 per month rent and this was a pass.
So off we go to the apartment I was kind of hoping for, located in the Sandy Hill area. The area was nice enough, and had plenty of trees. I like trees; especially when someone else has to rake the leaves. We arrived, met the landlord and his daughter and then proceeded to enter the twilight zone. From the time we walked in, it was very apparent that this wasn't just someones apartment, but was in fact a very personal and private space. It was obvious that they'd made it their own. It seems that the landlord had just bought the building and was in the process of evicting all the tenants so that he could rent the apartments for more money. Whether or not he could in fact do this is unclear, but it certainly wasn't a nice thing to do. We declined to rent, however, I wanted to write a letter of apology to the current tenant for having violated their space.
And it was on the heels of this disappointment that we saw the last apartment of the day. Right from the get go, we had a bad feeling about this place. It's in Vanier and not the good part of Vanier. Even as we drove up to the place, we knew we weren't going to take it. The Singer wouldn't have felt comfortable walking to the corner store after dark, and well, I was inclined to agree with her. That being said, we were going to take a look at the place as a matter of courtesy.
The landlord arrived shortly after we did, and asked for a couple moments to go open up the unit, so we waited in the driveway. The current tenant made an appearance, and was not pleased. After some snarky comments about the landlord, the pair went inside to continue their argument... while we waited in the driveway.
After 25 minutes, we decided to leave. So I slipped inside, and knocked on the door. The tenant was making the "If you're an honourable man..." defense, which never works out. I said our goodbyes and we got the hell out of there.
It was a lot of frustration and legwork to get those four viewings, and in total we saw 7 apartments. But we managed to find one that we both could agree on and fall in love with. I suppose this is just good practice for when we want to buy a house.
The first place was a complete wildcard. The viewing was set up at the last minute, and I was prepared to let it go since there was a lot of hmming and hawing from the landlords. Regardless, we viewed it and were quite impressed. As the top floor of a three story building, it's spacious, has a full sized stove and dishwasher and we can have a barbeque. Neither of us really have lengthen our commute. Also, there's a nice large garage and the price was right. This was the one we ended up taking.
But not before we trucked all over the city to see the other apartments we'd set up appointments for.The next one was on the 17th floor of condo. Naturally, it had a stunning view of the Ottawa River though not nearly as much space as we'd hoped. Again it had a decent stove and dishwasher, as well as in unit laundry. As a condo, the building had a fair number of amenities, including a squash court. What deterred us was the distance for the Singer to commute, as well as the fact that we'd have to pay hydro. Usually, that's not a problem, except when the unit is electrically heated and cooled. Top it off with a 1250 per month rent and this was a pass.
So off we go to the apartment I was kind of hoping for, located in the Sandy Hill area. The area was nice enough, and had plenty of trees. I like trees; especially when someone else has to rake the leaves. We arrived, met the landlord and his daughter and then proceeded to enter the twilight zone. From the time we walked in, it was very apparent that this wasn't just someones apartment, but was in fact a very personal and private space. It was obvious that they'd made it their own. It seems that the landlord had just bought the building and was in the process of evicting all the tenants so that he could rent the apartments for more money. Whether or not he could in fact do this is unclear, but it certainly wasn't a nice thing to do. We declined to rent, however, I wanted to write a letter of apology to the current tenant for having violated their space.
And it was on the heels of this disappointment that we saw the last apartment of the day. Right from the get go, we had a bad feeling about this place. It's in Vanier and not the good part of Vanier. Even as we drove up to the place, we knew we weren't going to take it. The Singer wouldn't have felt comfortable walking to the corner store after dark, and well, I was inclined to agree with her. That being said, we were going to take a look at the place as a matter of courtesy.The landlord arrived shortly after we did, and asked for a couple moments to go open up the unit, so we waited in the driveway. The current tenant made an appearance, and was not pleased. After some snarky comments about the landlord, the pair went inside to continue their argument... while we waited in the driveway.
After 25 minutes, we decided to leave. So I slipped inside, and knocked on the door. The tenant was making the "If you're an honourable man..." defense, which never works out. I said our goodbyes and we got the hell out of there.
It was a lot of frustration and legwork to get those four viewings, and in total we saw 7 apartments. But we managed to find one that we both could agree on and fall in love with. I suppose this is just good practice for when we want to buy a house.
posted by Serdic at 01:20
5 Comments:
So when is the move date? And even more importantly, the housewarming party??
The housewarming will be October 20. You should come!
As to the move date, that'll be the subject of the next blog. =)
Oooooh, the 20th. I could possibly make that work. We don't leave until the 25th. Hmmm, now to talk Jeff into the fact that I need to get to China via Ottawa. I mean, it's *right* on the way! I shall work on this project, but I won't be holding my breath.
Seriously though, congratz. It sounds wonderful and yeah, the process is always interesting. Funny enough though, I never had any amusing stories after I went apartment hunting. :)
I shall do my best to get a babysitter and come check it out. I might even be eating again by then!
20th? That's the Rocket's wedding. :(
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