Good afternoon everyone. As I watch football here with my brother's family (while the four of them are all diligently working on setting up their new phones), I figured that this would be a good time to tell you the story of how I found my new apartment...
As I've mentioned previously, a lot of people are moving to Austin, and this is creating a lot more demand than supply in the housing and rental markets. I read somewhere that the apartment occupancy rate is now 98% here in Austin. Anyway, when I returned to town in late October, I called the manager at my old apartment complex to see if they had anything available. Being so close to the UT campus, I didn't expect them to have any vacanies, and indeed they didn't. All that was available was a one-bedroom apartment in January, and that was renting for $899.00 a month. The studio that I left in July at the same complex cost me $619.00 a month. Even if a studio was going to be available, it would cost me $719.00 a month because all of the units are being renovated. After searching extensively online, I came to the conclusion that my dream of living on West Campus again was futile.
When I started my search for an apartment away from campus, that's when I actually discovered how crazy the rental market is in Austin right now. Any place that I saw advertised online was going to cost me at least $600.00 a month, and that's for places 5-10 miles or more from campus. Being without a car, I also had to find something close to the UT or city bus routes. During my search, I called my old complex two more times to see if anyone had backed out of their lease - no such luck... For those of you who haven't been longtime readers of my blog, my old complex was a 15-20 minute walk to and from work, and I had the option of riding the campus bus home most of the time (the exception being when school wasn't in session). My old place also isn't very far from the city bus routes either, but I digress... Anyway, in the course of less than a month, a one-bedroom at the complex where a friend of mine lives went from $750.00 to $755.00 to $770.00 to $800.00. I kid you not. They're staying right on top of the market... The best option that I had found had nothing available, and was making a waiting list for December. Most places (evidently not all) now require a 60-day move-out notice (and don't all require 30 days???). Anyway, I'm not sure how they didn't know what they were going to have available in December, and WHO looking for an apartment has the luxury of being put on waiting lists? Anyway, a very frustrating process...
Then I decided to check into the offices of the apartment locators and realty companies on West Campus. I thought there might be a possibility that they would know of properties that weren't being listed online. In the past I've always hunted down my apartments for myself, but without a vehicle and with seemingly limited listings online (and likely just those of the more expensive places), I thought I'd take a shot. This was about a week and a half ago...
So I go into an agency on West Campus the Wednesday before last, and the agent finds at least two vacant units that we can look at the next day. On Thursday we visit the two complexes, and I KID YOU NOT..., BOTH apartments had occupants... When we walk into the first one, the agent tells me that it might be a model unit... The laptop has a cup of change sitting by it, there are posters on the walls, etc, etc... I tell him to check the refrigerator. The first thing that we see is a beer... At least this place was neat. When we opened the door at the second place, it was blatently obvious that the apartment had a tenant... Realtors are awesome... :) But don't say that, because this only gets better... So after he doesn't e-mail me on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, I go back to his office on Monday during lunch (because I'm not very smart)... He finds two more places for us to look at on Tuesday. Fast forward to Tuesday...
So now it's Tuesday, and when we meet, my agent hands me a piece of paper. When we looked at the occupied apartments the week before, I was never handed a piece of paper. This paper had the names of the apartment complexes, the addresses, and the monthly rents written on it. It also had about four typewritten lines at the top of the page. I skimmed the lines, and my eyes came to an ABRUPT HALT after reading the fourth line, which basically said..., "Be prepared to pay the equivalent of a month's rent for your deposit. Please let your realtor know if this is a problem..." An $800.00 deposit for an old $800.00 apartment in Hyde Park - yes, I was ecstatic... Oh, I forgot to tell you that I had seen a video of this apartment the previous day, which at least proved that no one was currently living in the apartment... Anyway, when I brought it to my agent's attention that this was indeed a problem, he assured me that I could contact the other West Campus realtors to confirm that this was standard. Even if that's the case, wouldn't you want to let your client know this up front??? Chelsea, Bryn, Monica, Cecily..., I wouldn't get treated like this in San Marcos, would I??? :) I've heard of paying a full month's rent as a deposit when renting a house, but for a one-bedroom apartment??? Anyway, then my agent makes a phone call, asks the person on the other end of the line if we still do "look and lease," and now the deposit has been magically reduced from $800.00 to $500.00. Hmmmm... I informed my agent that with the first month's rent, and the deposit, and the utility depsoit, etc..., that the amount was too high, and I walked away FUMING... Take me to a pair of already occupied units, try to charge me an $800.00 deposit... JERK FACE... NOTE: I'm stealing the term "jerk face" from my friend Brandi, and I totally plan on using it all the time and making it a household term within the next year... ;)
So now I'm back on campus, angrily pondering what's next in my apartment search. I decided to uselessly call my old apartment complex for the third time, and the manager informs me that nothing has changed - he tells me that no one else has backed out of their lease for the spring, and that he still has the remodeled one-bedroom available for $899.00 in January. As I sat there and stewed after we hung up, I realized that things have changed since the end of October. I thought that I'd SURELY have an apartment by now, and suddenly January isn't as far away as it once was. The unit at my former complex is expensive (a jump from $619.00 to $899.00 for me), but I've learned that's in line for a one-bedroom on West Campus, especially with the renovation. I am also completely comfortable with the complex and its surroundings, and it's still extremely convenient. So after talking to my friend and my brother to make sure that they could jointly deal with hosting me for another month and change, I pulled the trigger and called my former apartment manager...
As we sit here, I have a signed lease on a one-bedroom West Campus apartment that will be mine shortly after the start of the new year. I also just saw the Texas State Bobcats defeat Georgia State 54-31, giving my alma mater a 7-5 record and likely securing a bid to our first bowl game as an FBS school. Have a great football weekend and don't be a jerk face... ;)
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