I am all moved in. The whole project took much longer than expected and had a huge amount of red tape. In the old days (my 20s) you had a two or three page lease form to fill out in triplicate. Pretty much boiler plate. But times have changed with firms like Blackrock and Blackstone and their Real Estate Investment trusts. Those two firms alone have hugely inflated Austin housing and rental prices by bidding 20-30% over asking prices when money was cheap from the Federal Reserve. Basically free money. For everyone but you and me.
I had an eight step process to go through which included referral letters, pet vaccination and fees ($400 deposit + $20 month "Pet Rent"). I could have got out of the pet rent if I had talked a doctor into declaring my cat a "Service Animal", so the leasing agent confided in me, and the laws require they cannot restrict or charge for such animals. But I do ride share and I see my share of bogus "service animals" and that kind of always bugged me. I don't mind dogs for the blind, police dogs, dogs for the deaf, or those who have special dogs trained to sense oncoming seizures, to me that's a legitimate "service animal". But this wholesale ubiquitous service animal thing simply because you don't want to leave your pet at home is ridiculous.... and the more I thought about it, temping as it was, I felt I would feel like a right shit, doing the very thing that aggravates me as a driver of bogus "service animals". The hair they leave behind makes me sneeze. But I am required contractually to take them. I can ask for the paperwork but I never do.
I was supposed to move in on November 28th, but the apartment wasn't ready. It also wasn't ready on the 29th.
Move in was moved back to the 30th, which was the deadline on my old lease. I selected the unit because it was not remodeled and I was told the older units had washer and dryer. The man who made these promises to me, quit the day I moved in, to return to being a medical admin (a vax refusenik?) but I didn't get his promises in writing. I sold my washer and dryer to the man moving into the house I was in when I thought I was moving to Seattle, it would have been too expensive to move them. That was a mistake on my part. It turned out unit has been upgraded to new cabinets and stone countertops without the upgrade price even though it didn't have the washer and dryer.
I got a U-Haul 15 foot E450 Ford truck, hired a local guy to help me pack it. We got it mostly packed but I had to go through folders of documents to try and find my pets vaccination records for this cumbersome rental checklist online, you can't get to the next step without the prior step. I couldn't find them, and without that, no rental contract, no keys to get in. I had trouble locating my cat's vaccinations papers, a required preliminary step before the offer to rent, as was renters insurance, references, etc. So the move had to be delayed until the next day. I sent my helper home and offered to pay him to come back and finish it the next day. I did find the papers they were in a small folder on top of my dresser.
The son of the owners of my old house offered to let me sleep there one more night, which I am grateful for. So I had two blankets and a two bathroom mats for a pillow.
The next day, December 1, I got the paperwork finished, and got the formal rental letter and contract. The truck was packed and was on my way to Austin. I had to get to the office by 6 pm in order to get the keys. It was cold and raining, and the truck seemed to ride like a boat the 90 minutes it took to get to the apartment complex. When I got there, the office had closed early, I nearly lost it at that point, but a young gal who was getting her mail suggested I call the emergency maintenance guy. So I called the number and a very nice Mexican man with an elastic band flashlight on his head drove 45 minutes to meet me. He was a little annoyed it wasn't a flood or major problem, but he did kindly get me the keys to the unit. But then the nephew of my my helper in Kingsland didn't show, who I was told was very very reliable. He had a college exam to study for.
So, keys in hand, I drove my U-Haul truck back to Kingsland, and now the wind was blowing and the weather was quite bad. There were numerous traffic accidents on Highway 29 to Kingsland and the truck was riding worse than ever. I thought maybe the tires were low on air. I stopped at an Exxon station in Marble Falls to air up the tires and most of them seemed okay. The truck had dual wheels in the back and when I was unscrewing the valve protector on the inner wheel to try and put air into it, it just unscrewed the entire tire 8 inch valve stem extension into my hand and I couldn't get it back on. So I just drove the 15 miles to Kingsland as it was, and the winds had died down.
Another night in Kingsland with the two blankets and the bathroom mats for a pillow. Everything was packed and loaded for the move and I didn't intend to come back that night.
December 2, I left early. I headed to this very nice tire repair guy in Marble Falls called Tire Man. He fixed a flat a week earlier for me that had a construction nail in it. He walked around the truck filling the tires, I had given him the valve extension to reinstall. When he got to that back tire, he reached in and said "I can fit my hand INSIDE this tire!". Which is why it was riding so poorly, like a boat, Too much weight on just one sound rear tire. He didn't have the tire in stock. He told me U-Haul had a road side service truck but it can take 5-6 hours to get serviced. He suggested I call discount tire in Marble Falls and see if they had the proper Michelin tire in stock, they did. They fix a lot of U-Haul tires it seems.
I called the U-Haul store, and the women went off on some tangent about something or another about roadside service (which would put me into yet another day of truck rental) and I told her "I just have to get moved, I'll get the tire fixed and you can reimburse me". I didn't have time to listen to franchise politics of U-Haul. I had to get the move done and I was going to do whatever it took to get that finished. Discount tire fix it. And what a difference it made on that truck! U-Haul also reimbursed me $250 for the tire in days which I thought was great service! Kudos to U-Haul!
I arrived at the apartments before 5 pm, even with the tire issue, and this time my Austin helper showed up! A very strong young man built like a lumberjack. He was fast, clean and good. I gave me a tip for getting it done and showing up.
The past week was spent getting cable internet and utilities connected and lots of unpacking and organizing of things. My kitchen space is much smaller but it is nicer. I have lots of storage for clothes and linens which I didn't in the old house. I have a garage which faces the parking lot so my car is out of the weather and won't get its catalytic converter stolen. My apartment bedroom and living room faces the forest. They call this a "ranch view" unit.
My cat seems much more peaceful here, not having 4 feral cats near by to police. But he's very bored. First few nights he slept on the bed to feel safe. He's now taken to sleeping on some linens and towels in the closet. There's some kind of equipment noise I there that sounds a bit like a purr. I think it calms him. The noises from 3 stories of apartments spooks him and he hasn't yet adjusted to it. I have not let him out until recently until he got a sense of "home". 10-11 days is what it takes a cat to re-home their internal compasses. He still won't go outside and explore yet, there are unfamiliar trees and scents and he scampers back in. I am hoping he adjusts because he is getting fat from lack of exercise.
This location is central to the greater Austin area. It's nice only having a 15 minute ride home vs the 60-90 minutes I had before. There's a noticeable drop in fuel consumption too!
I estimated close to what it took to move. Deposits were less than expected but utilities startup fees higher. Utility deposits come due on the first billing.
Many of you donated to the blog which really halped. KP sent me an unexpected gift which meant I had money for food. Thanks to all of you! Love you ALL!
