My new place.

So today something bordering on bizarre happened. Well, in a good way. Not a miracle, but more than just good luck.

So, since Wednesday I have been in Pittsburgh apartment searching. Now, since Chris is coming with me for a host of reasons I am too tired to explain my dad really turned me on to having a second bedroom to use as a study and to have more space since we are a couple who will be learning to live together.

For a while I fought him on it, refusing to consider it because I didn't want to spend the extra money. But more and more it started sounding like a really practical and smart idea. So, still keeping money in mind I started asking about seeing two bedrooms along with one bedrooms. Well, the first one I saw was in nasty condition, with no parking, and electric heat which would drive our bills up considerably. The cabinets and floor were in bad conditions and the bedrooms were tiny.

I was not impressed. More money, less quality. The next day (today) we saw a very very nice one bedroom that was spacious and extremely well kept, included garage parking for an extra monthly fee and the management was fantastic. It seemed like an amazing apartment. If *only* it had two bedrooms! But it was a possibility. After we stumbled upon a small coffee shop next door and went in. On our way out dad spotted a small, unremarkable sign on a business across the street. It was a realty company. He asked if we should pop in and ask what they had. I hesitated, didn't realty catered more to houses? He said they did apartments to. I was still iffy. We had an appointment coming up, and another in the afternoon and even more on Monday.

But he went in and I followed. And we asked. The guy only had stuff left in the run down area of town...or...townhouses. Immediately I dismissed it mentally, I mean, a grad student in a townhouse? We had gotten prices on some out of curiosity and they ran 1,100 + all utilities and up. No way. But he gave us the prices for these and it was much lower, even doable!

They were just around the corner so we even took a peek at the outside. Not a bad neighborhood, not falling down. They looked sound and sturdy, not new and shiny, but modest brick buildings with a cozy porch, and the one open even had a tree in the yard. It was a one way street and parking seemed easily available. The one up for rent was actually occupied but he had a 4:00 appointment already and agreed to squeak/sneak us in at 3:45! So we made an appointment to view one, with the mind set it must be run down or damaged or old.

Then our next appointment started with a nasty nasty run down sketchy basement apartment, but then we saw another property with a very spacious two bedroom. The place was bright, nice, had a living room, dining area, small second bedroom for an office, but dad kept saying the bedroom seemed too cramped.

It was all that kept us from pulling the trigger on the spot for this place, and I was thinking he was being a bit fussy. But he kept mentioning how tight a fit it would be for a bed, how much we needed a bureau, etc. I didn't think the townhouse could possibly be better but since the appointment was in an hour we kept it and didn't sign.

So, onto the moment of truth (I didn't know that at the time).

We walked in to this place and my eyes shot open. It was spacious, pristine, the walls were smooth and without any show of wear or tear, with nice hardwood floors that were undamaged (and we were looking after one horendous place!), and nice large windows. The living room was big, the dining room was huge! The kitchen was modest, but larger than most, and it came with a basement for storage! The basement was a completely clear large room with hookup for washer/dryer which the current tenants had in place.

Then, upstairs, there were two and a half bedrooms and a bathroom. The two rooms (both bedrooms) were HUGE. Easily BOTH bigger than all the bedrooms we had seen. The bathroom was good. The carpeting was new, nice and thick, soft and positively spotless. (Upstairs was carpeted, downstairs was hardwood).

The “half” bedroom was used as a baby's nursery and would make good storage or even a very small office.

There were new windows, just put in. It was connected to two other units so as far as heating there were only two “cold” or exposed walls. Heating wasn't electric (a big plus) but gas. It felt like a small house. We could NOT find a flaw. It was more spacious than anything we had seen in terms of room sizes, and it was nicer or as a nice as anything else. And it was affordable. Doable.

So today I signed a lease on a cute little two and a half bedroom townhouse. Do I strictly need the space? Well, yes and no. Chris and I are a happy couple, but new to living together, have two floors and a spacious office to seclude myself for schoolwork seems like a near priceless investment. Also, this means I have more than enough space for bringing luxuries like our full sized tall bookcases, both desks, and still having space to MOVE AROUND.

Also, it's lovely having my own place, with washer and dryer in my basement, not having to share. It feels like a home. And I cannot get over the condition.

We were frank with the realtor, we asked what was up. He said the guy who owned these had owned them for 30 years and didn't feel the need to sap every penny he could from them.

He also said he had just put this one up as available, and I mean *just*. The four o clock appt. was the very first he had made. Well, that made us the VERY first to see it. We told him we'd take it. Luckily his four oclock appointment never showed!

The other unit he put up got through a whole two showings before the second person snapped it up on the spot, like we did.

These places are just a FIND. And we just randomly walked in off the street around 12:30, beat out the very first appointment by 15 minutes because he was nice about squishing us in and by 4:00...had ourselves a deal.

What a stroke of LUCK!

The best part, in walking distance is a commercial center with a nice large grocery and then tons of independent eateries, coffee shops, a second string movie theater (shows older movies) and tons of neat little shops! A block over the street my internship is on begins, and it's just a straight shot to the location! Easy to get to or what?

I'm still in disbelief.