Yesterday was our second weekend looking for an apartment. The first week was a good start and we fell in love with a 2 bedroom apartment in The Richmond. The could-be roommate had to pull out so we continued our search yesterday.
After returning home at around 3 from Paul’s birthday, I get a call from Kate later that morning at 11. “Let’s go to SF and find an apartment.” The excitement in her voice alerted me to get up and I was in the shower five seconds later. While getting ready, Kate calls me again. “Dress professional.” I told her, “It’s Saturday! Who does that?!” I eventually gave in and half recycled an outfit from the day before. We had to look sharp.
The first place. I was impressed. It was probably one of the more beautiful in-laws you’d find (basically an empty space like a basement or garage converted into a living space, like Uncle Joey in Full House). I almost loved it. It’s in Upper Noe. It’s clean, quite spacious and beautiful. It had tons of natural lighting. The only problem is the ceiling is a whole foot shorter than your standard ceiling. I’m 5′10″. We applied and left them with a good impression.
The second place. The second place. The second place. We fucking love it. It’s right at Church and Liberty in Noe Valley. There are so many awesome boutique shops around and Chocolate Covered, a chocolate lover’s dream boutique shop (we spent over $20 each on 2.5 chocolate bars but they’re so good; they have this bacon chocolate bar I still need to try out). Anyhow, the studio apartment is beautiful, clean, new everything. The marble granite countertop in the kitchen, gas range, lots of built-in shelves and just about 575 sq. ft. which is a treat in San Francisco for our range. No lie.
The problem is. Well, the problem is there’s about a million other people going after the same shit as us. Kate and I are playing up our story of commuting from the Southbay and being the newly engaged couple. They require a hefty deposit to apply (which will be refunded or deducted from the rent if chosen) to filter in the serious prospects. We also wrote a friendly fax cover letter to send when we fax over our applications. It’s like we’re all aiming for the design internship position at Pentagram, yo.
The third one I loved. Kate didn’t. It was too old. It was right near Lower Haight and it was old, cozy and had wooden floor. It was an artists’ dwelling. But it freaked Kate out so we couldn’t agree to it. It looked like it came out of some Italian film noir joint. It was vintage yet beautiful. I would have lived there.
The fourth one. Fuck it.
The fifth one was cool. It’s basically taking over this lady’s lease who is moving to New York this Friday. We’d live i SF, paying a month-to-month lease and living until we find another place. We definitely would have accepted this on the spot if we didn’t see the second place at Noe Valley.
It’s much like going out for a job. The market is competitive. People can’t afford to buy houses so they’re renting places. Priced are jacked up. People are aggressive in their efforts; I mean look at me and Kate. She keeps shooting down my idea to give these people gift baskets and a well-designed and crafted self-promotional package with Jeff and Kate introductions. I hope the second place throws us a bone. We’re down to live at any of those three places, as they are all different living situations. The low ceiling place and the beautiful Noe Valley place are the same price. The month-to-month is drastically cheaper, but we’d be apartment nomads. The beautiful Noe Valley is a place we could live at for years and years.
You’ll see black and white pictures of me and Kate at Ikea with huge 575 sq ft. type next to us. That’s going to be us. Ha.
