And we wound up drinkin' all night.
Hey gang! I'm just rollin' in from the patio, with a half-empty bottle of booze in my hand and wearing a grin a mile wide.
Man, this weekend just flew by for me. Of course, I spent the last two days driving all over Las Vegas, mostly criss-crossing the Henderson/Silverado Ranch/Horizon Ridge neighborhoods, looking for a new place to keep my stuff.
And I think we have a winner!
Luckily Rob and I found a place we can both agree on--it was a little pricier than we'd planned, but still less per month than I'm paying for rent now. The difference is, here at Reuben's Swingin' 60's Pad, the utilities are included (hence the air conditioner that is never turned on), whereas with the new place, we now have to contend with gas, electric, and cable. No problemo--I figure the money I save in coffee creamer, eggs, condiments, and ice cubes that will no longer be stolen by dirtbag roommates will almost cover the cost. Oh, and the thermostat will finally be set at a comfortable temperature, too, which is always a bonus.
But we looked all over the place and I must've made about a hundred different phone calls this week. Tuesday we looked at a nice condo down on Horizon Ridge that Rob really liked, but me, not so much. The parking situation was a little tight, one of the bedroom walls was dark purple, and the washer/dryer was one of those mini-combo units that only washes three towels at a time. Otherwise, it was *very* nice. We put it on the short list.
We had lots of interesting experiences the past couple of days, but one in particular stands out--we went to look at a place in Silverado Ranch, but the leasing agent was one of the strangest cats we've ever met, and was highly disorganized. Then the unit he was showing us seemed ok at first look but then upon closer inspection, we kept finding dead roaches everywhere.
Oh, well, every house in this part of town has a roach problem--it's part of living in the desert.
The f*ck you say... No other place we looked at had a roach problem, and even when I lived down the road with the strippers there was no roach problem. (There was a filthy litterbox problem, but that's a story for another time).
Anyhow we weren't too impressed with the property, and even less impressed with the agent, so we blew him off. Of course he called me today to make sure I got that application in ASAP...
Yeah, we'll get right on that.
Anyhow, after all of our looking on Tuesday, we decided that the purple-wall place was the best, and did all the paperwork and applications, called the agent back and said we'd be down in the morning to pay the fees and get the ball rolling.
But later that night, I just had a gnawing feeling that something wasn't right. I kept going over my budget and telling myself I couldn't really afford it. I had buyer's remorse and I hadn't bought anything yet. I couldn't sleep very well that night, and the next morning I woke up almost sick about the situation. So I called Rob and just told him that I was just going to stay put--I'm *almost* out from under the most onerous part of my old debt, and the expense of moving was just going to be too much to bear until later this summer.
Well, I didn't really think the situation through, because he gave his 30 day notice already at his current apartment, and if I backed out, I'd screw him over. I couldn't do that with a good conscience, so we decided to keep looking until something felt 'right'. So he came back over yesterday morning, and we started looking again.
He sent me an email link to some very nice apartments down the road from the place we almost took, and they looked pretty nice--even better than the condo. They were just a tad pricey, but when I called the leasing agent, she was easily the most helpful person I'd talked to all week. We set up an appointment for noon on Wednesday.
I had three other places on the list to look at after that one, but both of us had a pretty good feeling about the neighborhood right off the bat. In fact, Rob even knows a gal from back home in Ohio who lived in those very apartments, and got hold of her. She sent us a very long and detailed email telling us of her experiences there and how much she liked it. It seemed like it was working out.
We drove down there and arrived promptly at noon, and we were quite impressed. Nice neighborhood, gated community, surrounded by houses we could never afford. They took us on a tour of their models and we were even more impressed. But the deal clincher was that since early summer is the 'low' season for rentals out here in this hot-ass climate, they had some specials to offer us. First of all, if we wanted to move in on June 15th, they'd waive the rent for two weeks. Second of all, if we signed a 12-month lease, they'd knock $400 off of our rent for July. And third of all, since we both worked for one of the largest employers in Henderson, we *may* be able to have our security deposit waived. (We'll find out on Saturday if that happens, but they seem to think it will--we've got our fingers crossed).
We didn't sign anything right then, but both of us figured, without saying it outloud, that we'd found our new home. We finally left that property after about an hour and headed to our last scheduled appointment, after a quick stop at the local Panda Express for some authentic Chinese cuisine.
Our last stop was at another condo in Silverado Ranch, one that I thought would be ideal. It was really nice, although not *quite* as impressive as the place we'd just left. Nothing at all wrong with it, except that it was a second floor unit, and both of us preferred the first floor for the simple fact that 1) Utilities would be cheaper, and 2) The idea of moving all the furniture and crates of books we owned up a flight of stairs was absolutely repugnant to us. Also, schlepping groceries up and garbage down every other day is no fun, either.
We both liked the place a lot, and figured we couldn't go wrong with either choice. Being on the second floor was a minor inconvenience at worst, but due to our work schedules, we figured it would probably be quieter and easier to sleep, anyways. And the condo was $160 less per month than the apartment.
So it was a tossup between the apartment we'd seen earlier that day, or the condo. The leasing agent was professional enough to leave us alone out on the patio while we discussed our options, and when it came down to it, we both agreed that we liked apartment better, even if it cost a little more.
Once we made our decision, we headed out and called the leasing agent at the apartment and told her. She said she'd be in until 5:00 pm--so we made a mad dash up to North Las Vegas to Rob's place (I now know why he's so anxious to get out of there... heh...) to pick up his paycheck stubs and get some info for the application. Then we lead-footed it back to my house to get the same stuff, then made it back to the leasing office, sliding in under the wire. We got all the paperwork filled out, coughed up the $360 for fees and whatnot, and walked out of there feeling like the weight of the world was off our shoulders.
If they accept our application (which we're fairly certain they will), *and* we can get the deposit waived, our move-in costs on June 15th will be a grand total of ... get ready for it ... THIRTEEN DOLLARS!
Oh hell yeah.
And then on July 1st, we'll have to cough up a grand total of $327 each for the month's rent.
It's almost unbelievable, but with Rob's damn-near perfect credit score, my full-time income, and the fact we are gainfully employed where we are, they are offering so many incentives that it's hard to say no.
So we said yes.
Not only is it extremely affordable (this month and next month were tight ones for me, and not having to come up with an extra thousand dollars for a deposit on a condo, plus getting a cut in the rent, it's actually cheaper for me to move than to stay here), but the fact that we can move in on June 15th is just icing on the cake--no need to rent a truck and get everything moved in one day. We can take our time over two weeks, moving stuff over at our leisure. My rent is paid through July 1st, so if I have the keys to a new place two weeks before that, not only will I spend my days taking loads of stuff to the new place and having plenty of time to organize it, but I will be able to sleep in cool air-conditioned comfort once again.
Hallelujah!
Anyhow, after all the heavy decisions were made, the paperwork was submitted, and the money changed hands, we decided to celebrate. We stopped at the grocery store for some provisions, and then once we got back to the house, we poured a couple of celebratory rum & Cokes with some of Barbados' finest. Once the sun went down, we fired up the grill, lit the campfire, and cooked some cheeseburgers.
It was a fine meal, and we sat out by the fire discussing all of our plans, contented to know that the hard part was behind us. Now it's just a matter of rounding up all of our shiat and herding it down to Henderson over the course of the next few weeks.
However, as excited as we are, nothing is official until Saturday--maybe even Monday. But after that, we should be good to go.
I can't wait to tell these old farts that I live with that they'll have to start buying their own groceries next month.
Mikey
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