Today we looked at 14 million apartments. It was kind of funny because we actually only had one appointment scheduled today.

The first place we saw was at the corner of 5th and Shady. When I called to make the appointment, I actually thought the place I was going to see was the place across the street that we had driven by a few days earlier. Woops. The place we did end up seeing was pretty crappy. The woman showing us the place was unorganized and unable to unlock doors in under a minute. It smelled like a cat. We asked if any of their apartments had dishwashers; she said that it would be "no problem" to put one in for us. Sure. At that point I kind of knew it was a done deal - we wouldn't be living there. I don't trust landlords that make empty promises like that, and the place was crap anyways.

After we came home, I decided to call a bunch of places that we had the numbers written down for. I ended up calling the real place I had wanted to see in the first place, and the lady said we could come over right then and see it. Sweet! So we did. The place was very nice - in fact the whole complex was really nice. No dishwasher again. I'm starting to think there are no dishwashers left in Pittsburgh. Nate actually knew the guy that was living in the apartment at the time. Small world, eh?

We started driving home after that one and saw an open house for another apartment complex just down the street. So we stopped. The manager had cookies in her office (sweet!) and showed us an empty apartment - note that it wouldn't necessarily be the one that we would be renting. Yeah. When people show you "model" apartments, that's usually a big warning sign. We humored her though. The place was ok, but not as big as we wanted. Apparently the management company had just taken over another one, and if you signed the lease today, you got a $400 discount on the security deposit and no matter what, you got a free color TV or DVD burner! Kind of weird, but maybe that's how they were trying to drum up new business. We asked if they had any bigger apartments. She said they did in Squirrel Hill and that she could show them to us a few hours later. Sweet.

So, we went and saw the fabled Squirrel Hill apartments. Hrmph. They were on a narrow street with on-street parking that looks like it would be a total nightmare. Good thing I don't drive. Now these apartments... ugh. They weren't TERRIBLE especially considering they were for the same price as their other one bedroom apartments and were probably 2x the size, but still. They all had warped wooden floors and kitchen appliances that seriously looked like they were the first stoves ever made. The places weren't even clean... they were empty, but the bathtubs and sinks looked like they had never been cleaned ever. The sinks in the bathrooms were like held up with 2 skinny metal poles that looked like if I stubbed my toe on them, they would fall over. Most of the outlets were 2-pronged only, which means we couldn't hook up any computers or power strips or anything with a 3 prong plug. I think if someone had gone into the apartments and totally scoured everything in bleach and replaced all the appliances and flooring, then they'd be cool. The hallways smelled like food and smoke, though, and the one apartment's kitchen cabinets were covered in a few centimeters of grease and grime and I felt like I wanted to puke after touching them. Nate might think I am overreacting to the grunginess of these apartments, but I think it is pretty clear that we won't be living there either.

Anyways, we have this Excel spreadsheet that we fill out after we go see an apartment and we rate all the important stuff to us. So far I think the leader is the Royal Gardens building on 5th avenue. We have another appointment this Friday to see more Franklin West apartments. I really like their apartments and I know they are a good company, but the apartments we saw from them before had kitchens too small for even a Barbie doll. Other than that, they were really clean and nice. We have an appointment to see this other place tomorrow. I found out after I made the appointment that it is the rental company in Pittsburgh that has fluorescent signs on all their buildings with giant smiley faces that say "Now Leasing." I actually said a few weeks ago that I would never rent from them just because they used smiley faces on their signs. It seems kind of unprofessional for a rental company. Who do they think they are, anyways, Wal-Mart? Oh, and Nate is pretty set on living in the building that Kim lives in if they have an apartment we like. Someone I work with actually lives where Kim lives too, and she said she really likes it. I just want to live in a building that is clean and managed by a reputable company. A dishwasher apparently is the deciding factor for Nate.

I'm sure this entry was totally uninteresting to people who don't care about looking for apartments. But if you are looking for one in the Shadyside area right now and want to know what the crap apartments were that we saw today, feel free to email me so I can tell you to avoid them!