Apartment Hunting and Cockroaches

Being on the verge of poverty, I hoped we could actually benefit from the housing market slide and get more room for lower rent. In Arizona, we could practically rent a four bedroom house for what we are paying in mortgage for our 2 bedroom condo. So, my hopes were high when it came to looking for a place to live in CA. I was thinking that we could find a little 3 bedroom home and we will be as happy as can be. Apparently, no one told California.

The rent in California is so high, it would make you blush. As I explained before, our student loans allow very little for rent (about $1040 per month). Which, in Arizona could get you a small house. However, in California, that will barely get you a studio apartment. I wish I was exaggerating, but I'm not!

Mark and I took 2 trips to CA to find a place. I was signed up on every apartment finder website available to find the best deal. I also looked on Craigslist. On Craigslist, I found scam after scam. People trying to rent places that they don't own and businesses that say they will find you a great place but for a small fee. Lesson I learned, if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

Our goal was to get a 2 bedroom apt or condo with laundry hook-ups and within 20 minutes to Western. According to the people at Western, the best places to live are in Chino Hills, Claremont, Rancho Cucamunga and the worst places are in Pomona and Ontario. However, The average rent for a 2 bedroom in the suggested areas is $1500 per month+ utilities. This was way out of our range. So, we had no choice to look in Pomona and Ontario. Still, even these place in not-so-nice areas, were running about $1300.00 per month + utilities. Lets just say, apartment finding went quickly from "exciting adventure" to "depressing reality".

I found a real estate agent who agree to help us find some condos to rent, but she either kept showing us places out of our price range or total lemons. She showed us one place in Pomona which was completely filthy and in disrepair. The patio was completely overgrown with a tree that was home to about a million bees (although she said that it was a great place for our kid to play). Our search was getting farther and farther away from the school and more and more unappealing. One place we looked at didn't look too bad. It was just a little out of our budget, but a good size. However, as we were walking down the stairs after viewing the bedrooms, I noticed a bunch of black spots on the living room floor. On closer examination, the spots turned out to be cockroaches. Yep, about 100 dead cockroaches all over the ground. Needless to say, we didn't get that one.

Then we found it! There was an apartment complex that came up on one of my web searches when I first started looking. It was in a good location and a good price ($1149 per month). But, I didn't take it too seriously because it didn't have laundry hook-ups. However, when Mark and I checked it out, we were quickly impressed. The unit was a large 2 bedroom townhouse with a bathroom downstairs and upstairs. Lots of storage closets and the walls were not white, but a pretty neutral color. Best of all it seemed to be very clean and only 5 minutes away from the school in the city of Claremont. We liked it, but it wasn't exactly perfect. It didn't have central air conditioning and no in-unit laundry. But, compared to everything else we looked at, we hit the jackpot! We happily signed a lease and celebrated with dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Bucca di Beppo.

Once I was willing to prioritize what was needed in an apartment and what was more of a luxury, I began to enjoy the experience. Mark and I really felt good about the place we found. We think it will be a good home for us even when the baby comes. Move in day is June 14th!