Monday, October 18, 2010

Apartment Hunting

We arrived in Kansas around 4pm on Thursday, August 26th, 2010. We checked into our hotel and then went to look at a few apartments.

The couple weeks we had prior to our move we did research online and came up with a list of places that we wanted to look at in person. We had about 10 apartments on our list and hoped we would be able to find something that we could move into within a week. In calling around a few days before we arrived, it didn't look promising. Most places didn't have availability until October.

We were able to look at two different complexes the first night we were in town. Both were on our list and both were fairly disappointing; we were NOT impressed. The appliances seemed like they were from the 70's and the interior cabinets were also older. We knew we had been spoiled in Utah with the beautiful condo that we were living in, but we wanted something that seemed a little newer.

We went to dinner that night and I was feeling discouraged. I was exhausted from the 2-day road trip and feeling overwhelmed at trying to find something we would love. The next morning we went to the Post Office in downtown Olathe. I will have to share with you this story some other time,  but this was a bad start to what we thought would be a long day. We had about an hour or so before our first appointment of the day. 


We ended up stopping by a complex that was NOT on our list. In fact, it was the first apartment complex we had seen online that we loved. When Matthew was out in Kansas for his onsite interview he came to the complex and drove around it, but somehow it never got on our list. We walked in the office and they we soooo nice. They asked us what we were looking for- I personally wanted a 2-bedroom, but Matthew wanted to try to save more money and go with a 1-bedroom. We had been debating about this for a few days. We also needed an apartment with washer/dryer hook-ups.

They took us to an apartment that was currently available. We walked in and were very impressed with the layout, although it was very small. Our condo in Utah was a 3-bedroom, 2-bath and it was about 1200 sq. feet. The apartment we looked at was 1-bedroom, 1-bath and about 633 sq. feet. They were willing to show us their other model apartments, but this 1-bedroom was the only one they had available.

We thought about leaving, going to check out our other apartments and then coming back in the afternoon to make a decision. Matthew asked how quickly they go and the lady told us that they had signed 3 leases the day before. Matthew looked at me and said, "I feel good about this. I think we should take it."


I felt uneasy to say the least. We still had a whole list of apartments we were going to look at and I didn't want to rush into this decision. What was really appealing is that we could move in that day and be done with hotels. We finally decided to pay the deposit and see if we could get approved. We headed off to Einstein Bagel down the street for some lunch.


They called about 20 minutes later to say that we had been approved and we could come sign our lease. We got the 1-bedroom/1-bath and a detached garage which has been so great! We moved in our boxes that day and stayed in the hotel one more night. We were able to unpack everything and get all organized before Matthew started his job on Monday, August 30th. 


It took about a month to get all of our furniture and everything purchased and set up. I took a video of our place and have lots of photos to show you! :D We love our place!!!! I wasn't sure at first, but its grown on me so much. I love the area that we live in and our ward is incredible!!!


Enjoy the video and please don't take too much notice of my crazy hair!! Also, sorry I turned the camera a few times, I'm not sure what I was thinking.



The Kitchen

 Other side of Kitchen
 Kitchen Decor
 Wall Art above Kitchen Sink
Wall Art on Wall next to Washer and Dryer
Living Room
Wall Art in Living Room
Bathroom
Walk-in Closet inside the Bathroom
 Another Bathroom View
 Better view of the chair in our Living Room that I love!! My nephew Austin loves it too! :)