Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Squatters no more

Yesterday we signed a lease on our new apartment. We are so excited because it is a really great apartment in a wonderful building, and we can’t wait to move in! We actually had put in an application for a different one on Friday, but since they allow 72 hours for you to change your mind, we decided that we would use the weekend to keep up the search and just see if anything better popped up. We found that one through one of the free apartment-renting services in Chicago – it is such a renter’s market that there are many of these, you just go in and talk to an agent about your needs and wants, and they drive you around to several available apartments. If you’re lucky like us, you will get someone who is really nice, knowledgable and who understands what you need (even if you don’t quite know yourself!)* Basically, our agent determined that we should be in a high-rise building, rather than a walk-up. Though walk-ups will generally have more character and uniqueness, after seeing a few on our own I started to get very wary of descriptors like “vintage” (read: old and dingy), “cozy” (teensy-weensy, you may have to duck your head) and “won’t last till the weekend!” (been on the market since March).

Once we visited our first high rise (which was in fact the one we ended up applying for), we were hooked. 24 hour doorman and maintenance, rooftop pool and sundeck, heated valet parking, fitness center, etc. etc. What’s not to like?! A couple of them had – get this – free continental breakfast during the week. BELIEVE me, that was hard for us students-aka-lovers-of-free-food to pass up.

Anyway, thanks to our agent’s work and a lot of online research, we found our future home on Sunday. It’s a one-bedroom slice of heaven, with a great kitchen (it should be no surprise to anyone who knows us that a nice kitchen was high on our list of ‘wants’) and an amazing 29th-floor view of both Lake Michigan and the city. We move in September 2nd, so stay tuned for photos! In the meantime, here are some pics we took while walking along the lake yesterday… the lake that is literally across the street from our apartment.

*Since this webjournal is not about product placement, I’ll refrain from naming any names. But if anyone wants a referral for an apartment-finder in Chicago, I’d be happy to pass along his info!

Lake Michigan


Can you see our new home peeking through the trees?

6 comments:

Amy said...

Congrats on the awesome place! Can't wait to read all about your new adventures through your un-blog.

Anonymous said...

congrats on your beautiful new place! will a "webjournal" be soon known as the "bjourn"? :) -KIUC

Louise Chapman said...

hey guys! HOpe its okay that I read your `webjournal':) That view looks amazing!

Anonymous said...

Congrats guys, those photos are beautiful! I didn't realize Chicago was so pretty:)

Jen

Michael said...

Congrats on finding a beautiful apartment...I'm so excited for the adventures that await you in the windy city! Can't wait to visit you guys.

Your friend in NYC,
Mike

Anonymous said...

Miche and Brian - sounds like a great little summer you've been having, a great new city and a great new apartment! Can't wait to come for a visit:) Liz