Posted this on Facebook a while back, but decided to put it here as well. As an update, the keys are being sent to me soon, so it's time to start planning! EEP!
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So. It's official. I've signed a lease on a rental in the French Quarter. No backing out of it now! I'm moving.
Yesterday was a LONG day! I started looking at places at 10am. I saw a strange little place on Conti that was pretty much one large room with a notch walled off to contain a bathroom. I'd liked it on the listings website, but wasn't so sure in person. Then I saw a two-bedroom walk-up on Dumaine that left me fairly unimpressed. Not terrible, just not what I was looking for.
The priciest property I saw was a nice two story, two bedroom with balconies that have a view of Royal Street. Would have been very convenient for viewing festivities, but kind of noisy, kind of pricey, no washer/dryer, and a spiral staircase. Now, I used to like the idea of a spiral staircase. They're pretty, they save space, etc. But they give me nightmares. Going up I did fine, but when it came time to descend, I got to the head of the stairs and just froze. It took most of the will power I could muster to go down, and I never wanted to walk up that flight again. Unreasonable, irrational, neurotic, etc. It was a very nice place. Still.
We weren't going to be able to see the one on Madison until the afternoon, but in the mean time, we went to see the one on St. Philip.
When I walked in, I stopped, and behind me the agent showing me the apartment and I both said, "Wow!"
Now, it's not perfect. It's a little farther from work than I was planning. The window in the bathroom precludes the shower curtain from being more than 5 feet off the ground right now, which may or may not lend itself to some creative problem solving. But it just seemed so... right. So me. I was sold. Went back to the realty office, filled out an application for a lease starting May 1 (YES! that was my biggest worry, that i'd have to pay double rent in April or come back later), and I don't think it was 11:30am yet.
Of course, then I found out I would need certified checks for the deposit and the first month's rent. I looked up the nearest Washington Mutual and found that it was... in... Baytown. Texas. Nice. Well, I'd known I would be better off opening a new Chase account anyway, since they have a location in the French Quarter. So I headed down to the branch on Royal and Bienville to take care of that.
The rest of the day was a bit of a blur. I opened the account, got lunch, got approved, got certified checks for the deposit and first month of rent, walked back to the realtor's and signed the lease. Done by 5:30pm. What a day. I had to keep reminding myself the rest of the evening that it was still Thursday. It seemed like three days. But they were good days. :-)
So, I was so delighted with the rental property itself that I forgot to take photos. But I went back today and got at least some exterior shots. So...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So. It's official. I've signed a lease on a rental in the French Quarter. No backing out of it now! I'm moving.
Yesterday was a LONG day! I started looking at places at 10am. I saw a strange little place on Conti that was pretty much one large room with a notch walled off to contain a bathroom. I'd liked it on the listings website, but wasn't so sure in person. Then I saw a two-bedroom walk-up on Dumaine that left me fairly unimpressed. Not terrible, just not what I was looking for.
The priciest property I saw was a nice two story, two bedroom with balconies that have a view of Royal Street. Would have been very convenient for viewing festivities, but kind of noisy, kind of pricey, no washer/dryer, and a spiral staircase. Now, I used to like the idea of a spiral staircase. They're pretty, they save space, etc. But they give me nightmares. Going up I did fine, but when it came time to descend, I got to the head of the stairs and just froze. It took most of the will power I could muster to go down, and I never wanted to walk up that flight again. Unreasonable, irrational, neurotic, etc. It was a very nice place. Still.
We weren't going to be able to see the one on Madison until the afternoon, but in the mean time, we went to see the one on St. Philip.
When I walked in, I stopped, and behind me the agent showing me the apartment and I both said, "Wow!"
Now, it's not perfect. It's a little farther from work than I was planning. The window in the bathroom precludes the shower curtain from being more than 5 feet off the ground right now, which may or may not lend itself to some creative problem solving. But it just seemed so... right. So me. I was sold. Went back to the realty office, filled out an application for a lease starting May 1 (YES! that was my biggest worry, that i'd have to pay double rent in April or come back later), and I don't think it was 11:30am yet.
Of course, then I found out I would need certified checks for the deposit and the first month's rent. I looked up the nearest Washington Mutual and found that it was... in... Baytown. Texas. Nice. Well, I'd known I would be better off opening a new Chase account anyway, since they have a location in the French Quarter. So I headed down to the branch on Royal and Bienville to take care of that.
The rest of the day was a bit of a blur. I opened the account, got lunch, got approved, got certified checks for the deposit and first month of rent, walked back to the realtor's and signed the lease. Done by 5:30pm. What a day. I had to keep reminding myself the rest of the evening that it was still Thursday. It seemed like three days. But they were good days. :-)
So, I was so delighted with the rental property itself that I forgot to take photos. But I went back today and got at least some exterior shots. So...
This is my block. I'm not in the green house, or the one with the white balcony, or the orange one, but the beige one right after that.
Yup, that one there, between the orange and the pink. I think it's divided roughly in half front and back. I have the back half, by the little courtyard.
Yeah, back there somewhere. Not really going to be much fun getting furniture through there, I imagine. There was another door that might present a better option, but it was locked. I'll probably find out more in May.
But anyway, there's my place! I'm so excited!
