DRAMA! Part II

And now for the exciting conclusion ...

Okay, so in the previous super-long post, I told you about the drama that when on trying to rent my old apartment. Now here's the drama happened while trying to rent my new apartment. To be honest, this post might be a little anti-climatic, since this drama isn't quite as dramatic as the first drama, but given that in real life they occurred at the same time, it all added to one very dramatic week and a gray hair on Meghan's head (Uh-oh, you know things are bad when she starts referring to herself in the third person).

This super special awesome apartment was listed by my fellow agent Carol just a little before May, with the landlady hoping for a May 1 rent. Now, this landlady is 89-years-old, and very sweet, although she's sharp as a tack. Although she was hoping for a May 1 rent, she didn't want to bother the current occupants by allowing Carol to show the apartment while they were still living there. Carol tried to point out that that would made it difficult to rent the apartment for May, but the landlady was insistent. So, May 1 comes and goes, the former tenants are now out, and the apartment is vacant. Carol was scheduled to visit the apartment and take pictures, and I asked to tag along, since I would soon be in the market for an apartment.

Well, it was love at first sight. I wanted this apartment. Problem was, it was only May, and I was stuck in my lease until the end of June. So I decided to wait and see what happened. My hopes were crushed that weekend when Carol said she found a tenant for the apartment - some police officer with a dog and a girlfriend. A week passed while Carol negotiated the deal, and then ... it fell through. I was hopeful again, only to learn that Carol has two female roommates waiting in the wings to take the apartment. My hopes of getting this apartment again looking pretty hopeless, but once again, the deal fell through.

I knew this was either God, or a happy coincidence, but either way I knew I had to pounce on this apartment right away. So I called up Taylor (who happened to have the day off that day) and told him we were going to see an apartment.

Taylor loved it, like I knew he would, and we immediately went down and made an offer for a June 15 move-in. The landlady was reluctant - she'd really want someone in there June 1 - but she liked us so she agreed.

That weekend Taylor and I scheduled for a check for the down payment to be sent from our online bank on Monday, thinking is would arrive on Wednesday to my agency. All that was left now was to wait.

Tuesday comes, and I get a call from the landlady. She asked me what was going on, if I was really going to rent this apartment. I said I fully intended to rent the apartment, I was just waiting for my bank to get me my money. She said that she had someone else call her about the apartment because of a sign in her window, and since she didn't have a deposit from me, she was going to response to that call. I told her she would be getting not just a deposit, but the full amount (15 days of June and security) tomorrow. She was happy, and we hung up.

Taylor and my original plan was to move in on the 15th of June, and move out of the old apartment June 30th. We'd only be losing half a month, but it would be worth it. However, when the check from my bank didn't arrive on Wednesday as planned, the wheels in my mind staring whirling.

I figured that if we could get out of our lease 15 days early (and surely Landlord and Mrs. Landlord wouldn't care about that!) then we could move into new apartment June 1st, and we'd still just be out one month's rent like we planned, but we could move a whole lot earlier. Taylor said that was a smashing plan (okay, he's not British, so he didn't literally say "smashing," but the sentiment was there) and we took out another half month's rent in cash. We called up new landlady and told her we were coming by with a deposit. She said "great."

However, on our way there, Bob, my boss called, and said new landlady called him and said she wasn't comfortable with us coming over without Carol there. He advised us just to wait until tomorrow. We agree. I go back to the office, where landlady calls again asking why Taylor and I hadn't arrived at her home yet. I told her was Bob told me, and she said "I never said that!" I then told her we'd have all the money tomorrow, and Carol would be with us, and we'd wrap up the whole thing.

Thursday comes. The leases are written. I'm still waiting for my check to arrive, and for Carol to get back from her other job. I'm was so nervous I jumped at every footfall, thinking it was the mailman with my check. Then, landlady calls, and she asks why we hadn't arrived yet (again). She said she thought we had an appointment at 1:00. I said we had an appointment for the afternoon, but we never set a specific time. She then said she was confused her commission (you can imagine how I reacted to that). I handed her over to Bob, and he tried to explain, but she's an old Irish gal, and she decided to haggle the commission. Billy, Carol's husband, was quite upset by this, and he said we shouldn't negotiate, and I said "No! Whatever you, DON'T LOSE MY APARTMENT!"

Landlady and Bob come to an agreement - he took fifty bucks off for her - and finally, my check arrives, along with Taylor. We're now waiting for Carol. An hour passes and she finally breezes in. "Well, let's get going."

Of course, anyone knows that when a whole group of people try to "get going" it takes awhile. We arrive at the new apartment at 3:30, the money is paid, the leases are signed, and Taylor and I breathe a sigh of relief because we are finally in!