Finding a rental to call home

8/14/07
We’ve been viewing at least 2 places per week for the past 3 weeks. The challenge has been finding a decent place that accepts cats, offers covered parking, a lease of 3 months or less, and a reasonable rent. We really prefer a month-to-month arrangement so if we find a replacement property quickly then we’ll have the flexibility to move. Most places require a one year lease and no pets. If the landlord accepts pets, an additional deposit of $200-$300 per pet is necessary. After scouring the Craiglist ads for weeks, we found a subletting situation that comes closest to our needs. Actually, it is person who is being allowed out of their 6-months lease if they find a replacement tenant that meets the landlord’s requirements. The lease would be assigned to us for the remaining 4 months of the term, then we can play month-to-month for an additional $100 per month. It’s in an area we like but will add another 10-15 minutes to my husband’s commute to the university. He says he can stand on his head for 6 months as long as he knows it’s temporary. I’m thankful he’s being so understanding and flexible. We should keep looking in case this place doesn’t work out. I’m going to talk to the manager today and get the application.

8/16/2007
We found the apartment. It is smaller than we desired with a significantly longer commute for us both but it is the closest we’d come to finding a suitable place. We are happy to have it. We’ll be assuming someone’s lease which works. It allows us a rental of less than 6 months which adds some flexibility if we find a replacement property sooner. We found them through Craigslist. So now, I’m calling different moving companies to get quotes. Three have come highly recommended which include Stu Miller’s Moving, Movin’ Mark and Delancey Street Moving. I called Ace Moving and found them to be very helpful on the phone. How moving companies charge is interesting. They charge by the hour. Time starts from their arrival and concludes when they finish unloading but the cost of a round trip is incorporated in the overall charges. They require a minimum number of hours of service. Monday through Friday it can be 3 hours while Saturdays is about 4 hours. Also, generally, insurance coverage is minimal at .60 cents per pound. Otherwise, you can opt for more coverage at an additional cost. They may charge a higher per hour rate if you use a credit card versus using a cashier’s check or money order. No personal checks. In my opinion, we’ve got a few really valuable pieces of furniture that need special care. I would opt for the additional insurance but I know my husband may balk at the idea. He’s more of a risk taker than I am. We are aiming to move in on September 1 but it depends on the moving company’s availability. After we move in, I can finally begin to finish preparing the home for sale. It is a beautiful home with lots of love in these walls. Family gatherings, Christmas, parties, laughter, sunshine, and happy times…who ever gets this home..truly has something special.

8/24/2007
Things are moving along. My husband, James, has notified the phone company about switching our phone service to our rental in Lafayette. Our new LAN line will only be used for incoming calls and faxes. We’ll depend mostly on our cell phones for regular long-distance service. We are also making progress notifying other companies with whom we do business about our new mailing address. We keep discovering some have yet to be told. Just when you thought you told everyone. We've decided to keep electricity and water service while the home is on the market. We need water for the automated irrigation system and a few lights on in the evening. We just chose Stu Miller as our moving company. They were so responsive and thorough in the explanation of their services. I was quite impressed. Hopefully, they will do just as good a job on the day of the move. Our moving date is September 6 which works out because we’ll have the first 5 days of the month to make sure everything in the rental unit is in good condition. The previous occupant will be out on August 31st. We have already gone to measure each room. This way we can decide which pieces of furniture will go into storage and which ones will fit in the rental. It’s is going to be quite cozy in that space.