A Cool New Pad!
We went out house hunting this weekend, well apartment hunting really, although we did look at a townhouse. We stuck to our original areas that we scoped out back when we came over in February. It was a fabulous day for it, with the temperature at around the mid 70s.
The first place we looked at on Saturday was very cheap, a studio flat, in the middle of nowhere in Kenosha, Wisconsin. At only $600 pcm and zero deposit it was an attractive option to allow us to save probably another $600 each month towards a deposit for our own mortgage eventually. However, the journey would have been about an hour, and literally it was in the middle of a field!
We moved on to our favourite little town, Libertyville, and saw a couple of gorgeous places. A townhouse which was a kinda tri-level place, with three bedrooms, a nice lounge, 1.5 bathrooms, a big, if slightly dated, kitchen/diner and a nice little yard. At $1200 it was right at the top of our budget. The guy from that place pointed us in the direction of another place in Libertyville, a nice ground floor condo with the added bonus of a garage, our favourite place thus far. Although, again at $1150, it was right up there at our limit and the minimum rental period was 12 months. The last place we saw on Saturday was an apartment in a place called Vernon Hills, it was OK but nothing special at $1100!
Sunday morning we had set the alarm early to get up and go to a bicycle store sale, which actually we found out was for next weekend! Still it gave us plenty time on Sunday to look at a good selection. We started out at a reasonable and cheap place in Buffalo Grove, at only $870 it was attractively priced, but it just didn't have it. We moved on to the likely winner very soon afterwards, and looked at several apartments in a complex called Buffalo Creek apartments, which were well priced and in a pretty good location, they went to number 1 in the list.
We then looked at another independent condo, which was OK, but again overpriced at $1200. Thinking we were done at this point we went to check out a few more complexes, Amli at Osprey Lake sounded really nice with an indoor and outdoor pool, tennis courts, and all the usual trimmings, and a newly refurbished complex called The Park at Butterfield, and we were sold!
We have gone for the one bedroom with a large lounge, where we can have Lorraine's sofabed for visitors. The complex has wifi internet, a brand new pool and clubhouse, with a gym, free soft drinks, etc. The bonus is that all the apartments are refurbished with all new carpets, drapes, kitchens, bathrooms and balconies. Also we are allowed to decorate the place any way we like as long as they only have to paint one when we leave!
We have a great deal, as the complex is new and also cos I work for Hewitt, it seems that name gets us a discount pretty much anywhere. It would get me zero deposit if I had a credit score, but it does get us a half price admin fee, saving about $150. So all in, including most utilities (except electric), is $897 pcm.
So now we are all set, will be signing the papers tomorrow and moving in on the 27th. Another major job done.
The first place we looked at on Saturday was very cheap, a studio flat, in the middle of nowhere in Kenosha, Wisconsin. At only $600 pcm and zero deposit it was an attractive option to allow us to save probably another $600 each month towards a deposit for our own mortgage eventually. However, the journey would have been about an hour, and literally it was in the middle of a field!
We moved on to our favourite little town, Libertyville, and saw a couple of gorgeous places. A townhouse which was a kinda tri-level place, with three bedrooms, a nice lounge, 1.5 bathrooms, a big, if slightly dated, kitchen/diner and a nice little yard. At $1200 it was right at the top of our budget. The guy from that place pointed us in the direction of another place in Libertyville, a nice ground floor condo with the added bonus of a garage, our favourite place thus far. Although, again at $1150, it was right up there at our limit and the minimum rental period was 12 months. The last place we saw on Saturday was an apartment in a place called Vernon Hills, it was OK but nothing special at $1100!
Sunday morning we had set the alarm early to get up and go to a bicycle store sale, which actually we found out was for next weekend! Still it gave us plenty time on Sunday to look at a good selection. We started out at a reasonable and cheap place in Buffalo Grove, at only $870 it was attractively priced, but it just didn't have it. We moved on to the likely winner very soon afterwards, and looked at several apartments in a complex called Buffalo Creek apartments, which were well priced and in a pretty good location, they went to number 1 in the list.
We then looked at another independent condo, which was OK, but again overpriced at $1200. Thinking we were done at this point we went to check out a few more complexes, Amli at Osprey Lake sounded really nice with an indoor and outdoor pool, tennis courts, and all the usual trimmings, and a newly refurbished complex called The Park at Butterfield, and we were sold!
We have gone for the one bedroom with a large lounge, where we can have Lorraine's sofabed for visitors. The complex has wifi internet, a brand new pool and clubhouse, with a gym, free soft drinks, etc. The bonus is that all the apartments are refurbished with all new carpets, drapes, kitchens, bathrooms and balconies. Also we are allowed to decorate the place any way we like as long as they only have to paint one when we leave!
We have a great deal, as the complex is new and also cos I work for Hewitt, it seems that name gets us a discount pretty much anywhere. It would get me zero deposit if I had a credit score, but it does get us a half price admin fee, saving about $150. So all in, including most utilities (except electric), is $897 pcm.
So now we are all set, will be signing the papers tomorrow and moving in on the 27th. Another major job done.
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