Renting Again

First thing Saturday morning, Kerry and I had to actually sign the sales contract. Our agent came over at 8:00 a.m. with the paperwork. Since we listed at 8:00 a.m. last Saturday, it meant that our place had been officially sold in exactly one week. Put that in your soft condo market and stuff it.

Next, Kerry and I had to find a place to live in the interim. Our thoughts had been moving closer to Plainfield so we could get used to the area and be near to watch the construction. The other consideration was to maybe save a couple of hundred dollars a month under the cost of our mortgage and assessment.

We found three complexes online and set off to check them out. The first one was in Bolingbrook just north of Route 53 and I-55 that advertised one bedroom units for $575.00. We came in and sat down with the saleslady who got basic information and then asked us, "You're both employed?" We answered, "Yes." She then pulled out a chart that had some salary levels marked and asked if we made more than $45,000 a year combined. When we told her we did, she said that we couldn't qualify for the complex because they're tax-subsidized for the poor. And that was that. When then headed off to look for the next complex.

That was in Romeoville south of I-55 off of Weber Road. It was actually fairly nearby the Romeoville new construction subdivision Kerry and I had been contemplating. We drove through but decided to check out a unit in Crest Hill (between Joliet and Plainfield) before stopping in here.

We drove to Crest Hill going west on I-55 to Route 30 and through some local construction. The complex itself didn't look bad. The saleslady was a little dingy. Couldn't find the right unit, brought the wrong key. Eventually, we found the 436 square foot studio unit. It was small and a little dark but we figured since Kerry is traveling, we could get away with a tiny apartment and moving most of the furniture into storage. Even with the short term rental premium, we'd be saving $175.00 a month. (Which would be partially consumed by the larger storage unit I would have to rent). We saw it and realized we would be looking at having the sleeper sofa, a T.V. and maybe a chair. I could tell Kerry was not thrilled with the prospect of living like that.

Nonetheless, we went ahead with the application process to put a hold on the unit while we prayed to find something better. The complex had a no-fee hold and application so it didn't cost us anything. We could always call to cancel before the move in date.

We went back to Romeoville but the saleslady there said she didn't know if any of their units would be available for short term leasing. The units seemed nice. Much nicer than the Crest Hill studio (and not only because it was a one bedroom as opposed to a studio). She took our information and said she would call us on Monday if there would be availability for a seven month lease.

So we headed up to Lisle again to see how much it would cost to get a larger storage unit. The saleslady there told us that we could cancel my current unit and open a new, larger 10x10 unit and get the $1.00 first month rental that existing customers were not eligible to receive. Then the price would be for an additional $50/month over what I was paying now for my 5x10 unit. We asked the saleslady if she knew of any cheap apartments in the area and she suggested we go to an apartment finder agency down the road. We left and headed out to find the agency.

On the way looking for the unit, we passed Lakeside Apartments where our good friend, Alycia, used to live. We thought it might be a little pricier than we wanted to do but decided to take a look. I hit the bathroom and Kerry covered our story with the salesguy. He said usually the premium surcharge for a short term (less than one year) lease was $200. But he would see if his manager would work with us since we'd be there for more than 6 months.

We looked at the second floor apartment and it was identical to the unit Alycia had. Right down to the odd cylindrical fireplace. It wasn't an upgraded unit but they were charging more for those. We went back to see if there was a first floor unit available and to check on if we could get a break on the premium.

There was a first floor unit (it didn't have a fireplace but so what?) and the manager agreed to a $100 premium for us. So we decided that we would sign the lease from April 28, 2007 until December 31, 2007. Our credit check flew through a we were renting again. In the end, it was about the same as our current mortgage and a bit more than the Crest Hill complex (if you factor in the additional storage costs). Add in Kerry's emotional turmoil in living in that teeny-tiny place and the decision was easy.

As soon as I got home, I called the Crest Hill complex and released the hold. Hopefully, the didn't lose any potential leases but we had to do what he had to do. And they'l have all day tomorrow to try to move it.

So now we need to round up a couple of people to help with the move. At least we'll have 2 weekends to get out.