3
1385 Words
Chapter 3
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It is the month of December, and now I am finally getting a chance to look at the rental homes I was interested in before. My appointment was at 10 am, so I made it a point to leave my apartment at 5:30 am since the drive there would take four hours. Making sure my charcoal grey Toyota Rav4 had enough gas in it and making sure the tires were in good condition I began my trip to upstate NY.
Three hours into the drive I could see snow falling from the sky and it was thick on the ground forcing me to turn on my all-wheel drive. In order to take my mind off the snow I went to the apple play feature that the car has and turned on the audible books app to hear the one story that has been on my mind for a month now.
"Now playing Wasted Love by Nicholas Donovan, Chapter 16."
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I arrived 15 minutes before the appointment due to the snow and light traffic as I neared closer to the college town. The realtor asked me to meet him in front of the first location when we last spoke so that is where I am now. The outside of the home looked quiet and quaint which I liked. 5 minutes later the realtor pulled up behind me so I got out of my car.
"It's cold, right? it's not snowing in the city now?" The realtor asked with a kind smile on his face.
"No, I was shocked to see it snowing on the drive up" I said with a small chuckle.
"Alright let's go in to where it's warm."
I quickly agreed and we entered the house.
I immediately didn't like the house, it had a country charm about it which I didn't like. I would describe my taste to be modern contemporary design with a splash of country.
"Judging by your face I can tell you don't like it." The realtor said.
"Yeah, I don't want to be a pain but there is no need to look further."
"Yeah, I apologize, the homes you saw online were not furnished. What about this house do you not like so that I can eliminate the other houses I had planned on showing you."
"I don't like that It looks like a farm inside here." I said bluntly.
"Okay, how about we leave here and just follow my car to the next house, it's about 5 minutes away from with traffic."
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"This home is right at your max budget of $1,500 a month, it is 40 minutes away from all the major schools such as Ithaca college, and Cornell University, it is fully furnished and it is rent free for the first month of moving in."
The house was cute, it was a four bedroom, 2.5 bath home with a large living room, it still had a country feel to it but I wasn't bothered by it. Walking into the kitchen my stomach dropped. Everything was yellow. Yellow backsplash, yellow tiles, yellow counters and counter tops. The kitchen was the same size of the one I have at home which Is bad. At least in NYC there was an excuse with the kitchens being too small, but living in an actual house and it being that small it really threw me off. Especially since I loved to bake and cook.
We looked at two more houses but it didn't cut it. I was fully aware that I was being a pain in the butt. I should stop being so picky, what if I don't even get a permanent job position. My thoughts were interrupted by the realtor speaking.
"Okay so this home just came available yesterday, I haven't had a chance to check it out myself, but if you are willing to we can go and have a look at it. "
"Yes of course let's go!" I said.
"Okay I'll be in the car, I'll have to make a few calls first and then pick up the keys so just meet me at the house. I'll text you the address."
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The ride was only half an hour, and immediately I loved the house. It had the country splash that I liked and I loved that it had a three-car garage. There was no reason for me to have all three since I'm only one person and I only have one car but I was fine with it. As I continued to look at the house I could tell that this house would be over my max budget.
I was startled by a knock on my car window but relaxed when I saw that it was the realtor. I got out of the car expecting for us to enter the house immediately.
"Before we enter there are many things we have to go over."
"Okay sure, like what?" I asked.
"Well this is a three bedroom, 3.5 bath home that is 3,000 sq feet, it is 15 minutes away from the major schools which is good because it close enough but not too close where you will have college students as your neighbors. As you can see it is a three-car garage home. Now the only thing that I'm not sure you would have a problem about is that this home rent is $3,500 a month."
"I knew it, what 3,000 sq foot home would cost at most 1,500 a month." I said feeling discouraged.
"Yeah, but that isn't the only thing. There are two residents already living in this home, so this is a shared living house."
"Oh, so that's $3,500 divided by three, which equals less than my max budget."
"Yes." He responded back.
"That's great, let's check it out."
"I have been told the residents are not at home currently and won't be back until later tonight, so if you like this home you probably won't be able to see them until you move in."
Once he opened the door I was greeted by a grand stair case which I loved. "To the left there is a small area that the residents have used as a small office space. I remember you told me you love books so you can store your books here on this bookshelf. Let's see what else is here... Okay I see a large kitchen, it has white subway tiles as a backsplash, marble counter tops, white oak cabinets, with a matt silver finish as your fixtures. Across from the kitchen there is a living room, that has a cozy feel to it, with a cream-colored carpet..."
Everything that I was seeing made me fall in love with it more and more. The place was slightly messy but that is to be expected with two people already living there. "The bedrooms are upstairs so let's head that way... once again cream colored carpet is up here, I am assuming the door that is opened is yours so let's head in."
The bedroom was the size of my full apartment in the city, it had carpeted floors, this room was not furnished so I assumed the person that used to live there removed all their belongings, there were barn doors that that lead to the closet space and the bathroom. I loved that, once I add my furniture in here it would be perfect and it would fit my ideal interior design.
"The bathroom is- "
"I love this place, where do I sign?" I asked cutting the realtor off.
"Really? You don't want to look at any more home's or at least wait until you meet your roommates?" He asked with caution.
"Nope not at all."
"Well lets head to my office which is about 20 minutes away from here."
I agreed and followed him to his office.
"You will be paying $1,167 a month. Some utilities are already included such as your heating and gas bill, but you will be responsible for paying your electricity, water, etc."
"Understood, when will I be able to move in?"
"You will be able to move in as close as 2 weeks from now."
"That's perfect, I'm ready to sign"
And within seconds as I signed my named on that piece of paper my life had changed.
- Writer
