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$475 1 BR Chp Apt. In The 'Hood (Central District)
Because of all the housesitting gigs I've done in the past couple of months, I've actually spent more time off the boat than on, and all those days not having to walk outside to take a shower, being able to cook meals on real stoves and store the leftovers in real refrigerators, not to mention actually getting a complete night's sleep in a real bed has prompted me to give a lot of serious thought to moving into an apartment situation. Now that the boat's paid for there's not so much financial pressure to economize, and a quick cost-benefit analysis shows that a modest rent expenditure of $600 a month would allow me to stay within my income budget and still put a couple hundred in the savings account each month.
So, I've been looking through the classifieds, checking out apartment listings on Craigs List, and scoping out "For Rent" signs in some of the neighborhoods close in to downtown. The good news is that right now the rental market in Seattle seems to be pretty stable, with a fair number of studio & small 1 BR units available in my price range, so I seem to have the advantage of being able to take my time, find something that fits my needs and lifestyle, and plop down a bunch of cash.
The only possible downside I can see is that the whole process of renting has changed drastically since the last time I was actively seeking housing. Now, it's all about background checks, evidentally to give the landlord some assurance that: a.) I'm going to be able to pay rent on a timely basis, and b.) that I'm not some crank-cooking, machete-wielding psychopath. From their standpoint, these are probably quite reasonable considerations, but in terms of my rental history, I've been somewhat "off the grid" for a number of years (unless the definition of "renter" can be strethed to include three plus years of liveaboard boat moorage), which conceivably could cause me some difficulty.
I suppose I could always do the roommate route again, but I've been-there-done-that, and with two geriatric felines in-tow, I'm not sure that would necessarily be any easier of an arrangment to negotiate than just living by myself. Besides, at a certain age (namely -- mine) the issues of trading social interaction in exchange for things like being able to use the bathroom whenever you need to start to rear their ugly little heads, in addition to the fact that I've frankly come to enjoy the luxury of privacy.
Posted byCOMTE
on 9:49 AM
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