Need: 2 bed, 1 bath, 5 closets.

Today started our apartment search for April 1.  We've been really fortunate in that the last two places that we've lived have been really well kept and modern.  You could even say that we're completely and totally spoiled with our currently underground parking and 2 full bathrooms, but we paid for it man, living here is not cheap so it's time to move on so someday we can buy our dream house.  Also, we've found out that just because something looks nice on the outside does not mean it's well made!  This place is slowly falling apart.  We're currently missing part of the ceiling and there is a bucket catching water.  There are a lot of cons about this place: the sound of the bus stopping in front of our building, fire trucks and ambulances going by every 10 minutes, the front door being slammed at 2am on the weekends next to our bedroom window, and using our second bedroom solely for storage because there is 1 closet in this space.

After a little back and forth we chose a town to zero in on which was the easy part and we've been searching Craigslist for listings.  The good news is that there is a lot out there in our price range so hopefully we get to see a lot of properties.  The bad news is that the first place we saw sounded great, but we knew from the second we pulled up front At Night that it was going to be bad.  First of all we asked someone who lived in the house if the landlord was there, and he wasn't sure, and he wasn't sure how to get to the second floor.  The front doors didn't lock, we seriously just walked right into the entryway.  The unit we were looking at was on the 2nd floor and it was the largest one of the three.  There was certainly plenty of space but it was in really bad shape.  The washer was in the kitchen...and the dryer was in the pantry... wtf?  There were water stains all over the drop ceilings, and paint was peeling off all the high ceilings, and every window had that insulating plastic on them because the oil was so expensive to heat the place.  There were two balconies, which would have been my dream come true but it just wasn't worth it.  We got to see the basement, and the tenant was like: we have an elliptical down there!  I'm thinking it's going to be partially finished because who the F would work out in a stone cold dungeon next to the water heater and the oil tank?  She would.  The basement was sectioned off into 3 parts for the tenants to house their stuff and the areas locked.  It really reminded me of every show I've seen where people are kept in the basement unfound for years and then killed.  I would never Ever go down there if I lived there unless I was a prisoner.

The good news is that this was only the first one!  The bad news is that I think apartment hunting is for the birds.  It takes so much effort to find a decent place without having to pay a realtor fee, but we're going to find the one.  We have to.