City dwelling

[seabird78]

So this Thursday I have an appointment to go look at an apartment. Moving is an idea the boy and I have tossed around ad nauseum, but for the longest time we didn't really make an effort to look locally because we were waiting to see if out-of-state relocation possibilities would pan out. But since nothing has really come of any of those, and since we need to start saving money if we ever hope to buy property (we're thinking condo, since our home maintenance skills are a little suspect) the latest plan is to see if we can find a place we like in the city, (even if it means dropping to a one-bedroom, which will likely be the only thing within our price range) sell my car so I don't have to worry about a payment, and then share the expenses related to his car, gas and insurance and such, so that we can stash any money we would be spending as separate car owners to build toward some down payment money. This is both exciting and nerve racking. I've always wanted to live in the city, but I also know that shrinking our living space means that a lot of our junk is gonna have to go. Which is fine, I mean, I've been wanting to declutter and have been in the process of doing so anyway, but I know it's gonna hurt when (or I should say if) we have to go through all our stuff, and realize how much has accumulated over the years and how little use a lot of it has gotten.

I probably shouldn't start worrying yet. This is pretty early in the game, and even though M has visited the place I'm looking at and liked it, it doesn't mean we'll definitely have to take it. But this has never been an option before and I'm not sure what to expect. His mom owns the place we're renting now, and that's the only place I've ever lived aside from my mom's house, so if we do end up moving, it will be my first "real" apartment. Welcome to grown-up life, I guess. At least it'll make it easier to meet up with some of you on here on a regular basis.

Comments

[fuzzilla.livejournal.com]

Ooh, exciting! What neighborhoods you looking at? Lincoln Square is cool and has always been one of the more affordable neighborhoods where I'd feel confident I wouldn't be sketched out by crime. Ukrainian Village will give you a lotta bang for your buck and is pretty close to downtown, but might be harder to find a place close to an el.

[editrix26.livejournal.com]

Ooh! Exciting! I will put in my usual plug for Andersonville, although I don't know what rent runs here anymore. (Back in the early '00s, I lived in two different two bedrooms. One was huge, with a front and back deck, and was $1200/month. The other was smaller but nice and $900 a month.)

Lincoln Square is great, too, as is Ravenswood.

[seabird78.livejournal.com]

Good to know. Thanks!

[fuzzilla.livejournal.com]

Oh, and if we ever go to someone's apartment who lives in Rogers Park, I'm like "I bet their apartment kicks ass," and I'm always right. Lots of bang for your buck if you're worried about losing space. Some parts of it are sketchy, though, and it's really far north, which might make for a longer commute.

[seabird78.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Rogers Park seems to have the greatest amount of listings within our price range, but I haven't ruled out Andersonville or Lincoln Square or really anywhere at this point. The place I'm looking at is in Wrigleyville, which would normally be the last place I'd consider looking, but M endorsed it and said it felt like it was the sort of place that was "us" so we'll see how it goes. I just saw a craigslist posting for a two-bedroom condo conversion in Lincoln Square for $950 and it took my interest, although I think I need to get a little bit better a figuring out how to interpret these listings, because I'm not sure how a condo can have a predetermined rent, since I thought normally you'd have to get a mortgage for one of those. This is definitely going to be a learning process....

[fuzzilla.livejournal.com]

Sounds nice, a condo conversion in Lincoln Square for $950...two bedrooms?? I'd jump all over that, were I looking.

Condo conversion probably means whoever owns the condo is renting it out for income; one of our friends is doing that. So they might make for more responsive landlords or might have less resources to fix stuff.

[mollyester.livejournal.com]

I second the Andersonville/Edgewater recommendation ... we've got a relatively large two-bedroom, hardwood floors, back porch/courtyard, heat included, for $995. We're right on the Andersonville/Edgewater border, and the walk to the Red Line is less than 10 minutes.

Much luck!

[seabird78.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[seabird78.livejournal.com]

Since you moved in fairly recently, I have to ask, what sorts of apartment finding methods did you use? So far, Craigslist seems to be turning up a bunch, but I'm wondering if there are other places we should be looking.

[mollyester.livejournal.com]

We found ours through Craigslist, and had appointments to look at several others that we found through there, too. Apartment People can be a helpful service (they drive you around and show you lots of different places) but they tend to concentrate on high-rises and more expensive places in "trendier" areas (Lincoln Park, Lakeview, etc.).

I would definitely recommend cruising around Craigslist a bunch, and also just walking around some of the neighborhoods you're considering and taking down numbers. There's a lot of places around here with "for rent" signs right now (in fact, there's a 2-bedroom just up the street from us that's advertising at about $1000).