While on vacation last week I got a call from my roommate. She said our apartment managers had called her, wondering why we hadn't payed rent this month. She explained to them that when they came over with our old managers (probably about 6 weeks ago) they had told us that we would be getting August rent free. He told us no, that was never said. We resigned the lease last month for another year and we thought it had also been talked about then. He claims that he said August of 2008 would be free. What do we care about August of 2008?? It's still 2007! This is especially frustrating because our old managers had given our next door neighbors a deal over the summer which saved them around $1200 and told us we would be getting a deal as well. We thought we would be saving about $600, which is still only half as much, but made a big difference to us.
Diana went over to talk with the manager that night and he had her call the owners and they basically talked down to her and made her feel like crap. She ended up paying the rent that night. The manager and owner said that if we wanted to give them notice by the next evening and be out by the 31st they would waive any lease termination fees ($1100 worth) since we have already signed for another year. Diana was ready to pack up and move, but I explained that I can't afford moving costs (deposits, etc.) right now, plus we just got a cat, plus college starts in a couple of weeks and it would be harder to find a place with all the students coming back. I told her we can stick it out for another year, but in the meantime, whatever that manager says, we are getting it in writing and we'll be moving in August (without paying rent that month because this time it's in the lease!).
Steve owns a house in Albany and jokingly mentioned that maybe we should live there. I mentioned it to Diana and she loved the idea of living in a house rather than an apartment (I love the idea, too!) so we've been talking quite a bit about that. Right now there are tenants living in the house, so it would only be if they decide to move out (which they've been thinking about) and only if Steve could knock the rent down a little bit, which he says he could probably do. Cons include paying a tad bit more in rent, paying more for utilities than we do now and commuting to work (unless I transfer to Albany - shh, don't tell my coworkers I'm considering that). Pros include having a 4 BEDROOM HOUSE, being able to paint walls and decorate the way we want, NOT living in a college neighborhood (!), having a yard and lots of storage space (including a shed), feeling more comfortable about making Nikita an indoor/outdoor cat (ironically this is the neighborhood we got her from), not paying first and last month's rent or deposits (a big deal with pets!) and the most exciting part for me would be living just a couple of miles from Steve and Jordan, which would allow Jordan and I to spend a lot more time together.
If we don't end up renting the house we'll have to look really carefully for a new place because the people who manage our place manage a LOT of places in Corvallis (I hate how that works). Plus the place we have now is getting a little small for us because there is NO storage. We have one little linen closet but once we put towels, laundry detergent, a vacuum cleaner and cleaning supplies in there, it's basically full. We would love a 3 bedroom place, but those get pretty spendy in Corvallis. So our fingers are crossed that the house will work out! If it doesn't, we have about 9 months before we'll even start looking for a place, but hopefully it will all work out! The idea of a fresh start is actually a little bit exciting to me...
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