Continued

First two down...Agoura Hills...10 minutes. Agoura Hills is ....quaint. I went to Archstone Agoura Hills for my appointment. The lady I spoke to (Shannon) was very nice. I told her I was interested in the 1 bedroom 1 bath apartments etc. Turns out they don't have models to show me and that the 1 bed/1 bath will be available in January but are not currently. Then I asked if she could show me anything so that I could get a feel for the place. Alas no. The manager had stepped out and taken the keys with him. I told her I would come back later in the day. Which I did. But it was meh.

I went to Simi Valley next. Which is farther out west. Love Simi Valley. It's cute. Very. I went to the complex and the lady (Amber) was really cool. She asked me what I wanted in an apartment and she gave me a list of those that fit what I wanted. Then we went and saw all of them. I took pictures of one of the apartments! :)







The bedroom. Most of the wall on the right is closet space. I love that there is a ceiling fan.















The bathroom.


















Washer and dryer.






















The living room and balcony.












The kitchen. One thing I should say about ALL the kitchens I have been in while looking at different apartments. They are all gas! No electric stoves. I mean, I survived two years in Hilltop with gas stoves but really! What does California have against electric stoves!?!??! I like the kitchen btw.








So I really really like this place. I had a few more to look at but this became my #1 option. Then I went to Thousand Oaks. I had 4 apartments to view there. I didn't go to the first three. Well I would go up to the building and turn back. I just couldn't see myself living in those areas. The first was completely submerged in familia suburbia. The apartment complex was surrounded by houses. The next two were in not so good areas. Then the last one. Arroyo.

I tried to make an appointment on the phone with a lady I will soon learn was Mary. When I had called pre-Christmas, she was very...abrupt with me. I shrugged it off as a 'must have been a bad day'. When I went into the office, there was only one lady there. Her name was Linda. She wasn't mean but she wasn't helpful or nice either. She did show me what a model of the available one bedrooms looked like.




The bedroom.

















The bathroom. The structure of the bathroom bothers me. I didn't like it.













The kitchen.
















Part of the living room.













Arroyo Villa was having a special that if you put part of a deposit down you got an apartment for $1370. The rooms normally start at $1650. Even though I liked Simi Valley better, I thought with Arroyo Villa I was getting 'more bang for my buck'. It certainly looked that way. Then the paperwork. I understood why most of the questions where necessary until I got to the part where I had to show proof of work. I told Linda I wouldn't be working until Jan 28. And she said that was fine. I just needed to put my work number etc etc. The end. I put a $150 as deposit and felt pretty good.


Until four days ago. I got call from a lady called Rhonda. And she said she needed my bank statements and my offer letter to go through with my 'background processing'. I asked her why and exactly how would my bank statements help with that. She said she needed proof to see if I could actually afford the place and that I would need a co-signer in case I didn't pay. (At 21 yrs old?!??!) I could understand the offer letter but bank statements? I told her that my parents were out of town and that nothing could be faxed until saturday and she told me quite matter-of-factly that if I wasn't able to show proof that day, my hold on the apartment would be dropped. By this point I was very upset. How was that fair at all? I called my dad (he was in Utah) and asked him to call the lady. He somehow convinces her (I don't know how he does it) that Saturday was ok. He told me to fax the offer letter and the bank statements anyway. That evening (tuesday evening) I get a call from Mary (another leasing agent at Arroyo - the evilest of them all) that my 'background processing' was almost complete and that it looked like I could afford the place. BUT that since I was coming from out of state and I had no history of renting I would either have to:

1. Pay market value as deposit ($1650), or
2. Have a co-signer.

I obviously chose the latter. The next day, she calls me (actually she left me a voicemail) to tell me she didn't know that my parents were also in WI (and then blames Rhonda) and I couldn't have a co-signer from out of state because it was company policy. At this point I was so angry I wanted to tell to keep her stupid apartment.

1. How does that excuse even make sense!??! If I live in my parents' house in WI, then obviously they live there too!
2. COMPANY POLICY MY BUTT.


I knew they were just trying to be mean. And there was no way I was paying $1650. I read reviews online that they are notorious for taking deposits and finding excuses for keeping it (aka re-painting, steaming carpets etc). $500 is not bad. But $1650? No way. By that night, I was so irritated and I wanted to drop them like a hot pocket. I remembered Simi Valley and decided to call the next day (thursday morning). Apparently my dad gave them a good rundown on the phone about how unprofessional their attitude was and how ashamed they should be for what they were doing to me. Hehehe. Then after some father magic, they agreed to let me do a deposit of $500. I'm thinking what happened to 'company policy', eh?

I called Simi Valley and asked if the room I saw was still available. And it was! I asked if they would need my offer letter, bank statements, a co-signer, my blood, first born child....(FYI I really did not say the last two). They said no. All they wanted was an address of where I worked and how much I would be making. Ta-da! I haven't called Arroyo yet to tell them to make like a tree. But I will. Sheesh.

That's it for now. More to come tomorrow.