My housing search is over! I'm so relieved. It's interesting how fast things happened on this one... I've been spending lots of time responding to Craigslist ads, going back and forth asking and answering questions, scheduling times to visit houses, and then waiting. The waiting has been the worst part, I think. There have been a few houses that I've visited in the past few days that seemed like they would be a reasonably good fit, but they were all planning on meeting more people before making a decision. So I figured in the meantime that I should continue responding to ads. The one that finally panned out moved very quickly. Yesterday I found an ad that looked promising, and that gave a phone number to call. So I skipped the time-consuming email-writing stage and set up a time to see the house today. I showed up, got the tour, sat and talked with the five housemates and another girl who was seeing the place, and left as another person showed up to get the tour. About an hour later I got a message on my phone saying that I had made the decision very easy, and they wanted to offer me the room. I started grinning at strangers in the metro station immediately, but refrained from calling back right away. I wanted to thoroughly consider the offer, and I did, for like a whole hour. I have a place to live! I have a place to live!
It's $660 a month plus utilities ($40-$80), which is actually a really good deal in DC. The house has three stories and six bedrooms, is two blocks from a metro station and 1.5 miles from my office (definitely bikeable, and there's a bus that runs directly between the two locations). It has central heat but no AC, so I will probably be getting a window unit. The house is very comfortable-feeling, not overly messy, not overly clean, with used-looking furniture and bikes parked in the hall. And the people seem really nice. A couple work for nonprofits/aid agencies, at least one works as a waiter, and I can't remember what the others do. Anyway, as I told them, it seemed like a good balance between "young professionals" and "progressive activists," which seem to be the labels of choice to describe group houses on Craigslist. The only thing that will take getting used to is the food situation--they don't really do communal food, except for spices, olive oil, vegetable oil, and butter ("the fat group" says Carl). The fridge is divided up so that everyone gets a shelf. I think I can handle that. Overall it seems like a great fit and I'm really happy about the prospect of living with them, and relieved to have the housing search be over. Oh, one other catch is that the room doesn't open up until June 17th, and my sublet ends on June 10th. But they said I can sleep on a couch, or in the room of a girl who is going to be gone for a few days. And for free. So, I think it will be fine.
It's $660 a month plus utilities ($40-$80), which is actually a really good deal in DC. The house has three stories and six bedrooms, is two blocks from a metro station and 1.5 miles from my office (definitely bikeable, and there's a bus that runs directly between the two locations). It has central heat but no AC, so I will probably be getting a window unit. The house is very comfortable-feeling, not overly messy, not overly clean, with used-looking furniture and bikes parked in the hall. And the people seem really nice. A couple work for nonprofits/aid agencies, at least one works as a waiter, and I can't remember what the others do. Anyway, as I told them, it seemed like a good balance between "young professionals" and "progressive activists," which seem to be the labels of choice to describe group houses on Craigslist. The only thing that will take getting used to is the food situation--they don't really do communal food, except for spices, olive oil, vegetable oil, and butter ("the fat group" says Carl). The fridge is divided up so that everyone gets a shelf. I think I can handle that. Overall it seems like a great fit and I'm really happy about the prospect of living with them, and relieved to have the housing search be over. Oh, one other catch is that the room doesn't open up until June 17th, and my sublet ends on June 10th. But they said I can sleep on a couch, or in the room of a girl who is going to be gone for a few days. And for free. So, I think it will be fine.
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