Apartments

Went to Quincy yesterday to commence the apartment quest. Looked at two places:

Avalon at Faxon Park was really nice. They’ve got a two bedroom with loft, available on our move in date (Oct 1). It faces South, and has a big skylight that lets in the afternoon sun from the West. It reminds me a lot of the place that we lived in Minneapolis, prior to the house in St. Paul. One of the things that I really liked was that the entire up-front fee is a $500 security deposit. One price (rent), plus one deposit to hold and secure the place was the extent of the fees.

It even has garden plots that residents can sign up for.

Ten Faxon, on the other hand, irritated both of us. They were the very definition of a high-pressure sale. After leaving us sitting in the office anteroom for perhaps ten minutes, we sat through a set of requirements and definitions specifying exactly how cool we had to be to even be considered for residency there. Credit checks, employment checks, background reports, guarantors and the like. Then there were the rules … no move in on weekends. No this. No that. Great first impression.

Finally, there was the super-duper pressure: If we sign “at first sight,” we got two months rent for free.

All that to live in a high rise … which admittedly has nice hardwood floors and stainless steel appliances. Oh yeah, plus it’s $400 more than our goal price for rent.

The plan is to look at a couple of places in Newton (and surrounding areas) some day this week, and then go back and sign on the Quincy place that we liked.

Fortunately, we made quick arrangements for a fabulous dinner with friends, including sejabop. Awesome times.

And now … back to painting cabinets.