it's official #i can't decide!

[KhanadaRhodes]

my husband and i are planning on moving out sometime this summer. we want to move downtown.

we looked at our three most favourite choices of apartment complexes today. and now i can't decide which one i like best! he's got his mind all made up, but i can't decide. i know we still have 6+ months, but i want to at least be able to list them in order of the one i like best to least.

this is the problem...

first there's the gayoso house. it used to be a hotel (gayoso hotel i think) back in the roaring twenties. the inside has that old feel, it's cool. it's not falling apart and there's air conditioning and stuff, lol. it's a nice apartment. they all are. the floors in the hall are tiled and everything.

it's downtown, right at like main street. if your apartment has windows facing a certain direction, you're facing the famous beale street. i could see b.b. king's club from one of the apartments.

downtown as a whole is pretty okay, but we heard from our dentist (!!!) who used to live there that she never had a worry parking on the lot on beale street at night and stuff. she never had any problems with someone breaking in her car or anything. also, security is TIGHT. you have to have a card to get in the building, and then to get in the door to the elevators. security cameras are all over every floor, so there won't be people loitering.

plus, there's 24 hour security guards as well. to quote the leasing agent, any guests who don't sign in at the desk will be accosted, lol. PLUS, there's everything there in that building. a coffee shop, time warner (so we could get our cable and net hookups without leaving the buildings), and several restaurants. ooh, and there's a museum of the city downstairs.

even cooler, they have a loft available. they didn't have any available to show, but they're groovy looking. the one we like has a bay window in the bedroom, looking over beale street. downstairs is the living room, and upstairs is the kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom. and even groovier, it's a spiral staircase!

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

then there's the echelon at the ballpark. they're right next to, you guessed it! a ballpark! we don't have a major league team, but they're close enough to one and wildly popular. i love going to the games there (autozone park to be exact, as in the auto store). they're really nice apartments. they're only a couple years old, if that. the newest section was just built this summer. i think they're really groovy looking. the walls are textured, but you can paint them different colours if you want to. everything's on the neutral side, but still lively at the same time and can match any decor. i loved the furniture of the model room, i just wanted to grab the bed and refuse to leave that apartment.

also, they have card access for all the buildings for extra security. i guess it's the whole downtown thing, and it's right by the greyhound station which is one of the more ghetto parts left downtown. they also have a cool pool, with cabana service. also, it too has a loft, which i'm starting to lean towards. they're huge, like about the size of the house we're living in with my parents! the rent's steep though. it'd cost more to live there than the mortgage is on my parent's house!

BUT it's cool. they have closed circuit television so you can watch the baseball games. so if they had like an 8 pm game on a tuesday that we wouldn't normally go to because we had to work (or just because it's kinda expensive to see every ballgame) i can watch it at home. billy's not too crazy about baseball, but i love it. nothing would beat the atmosphere of being there, but oh well. regardless, it'd be great to walk out of the ballgame and be home 2 minutes later, because the apartments are literally next door.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

finally, there's the rivermark. i've loved this apartment building since i first moved to memphis. it's right there on the river, very close to that hillside the band were on during rattle and hum. these come with a washer and dryer! we have to share them with only one other suite. this building has such a cool atmosphere. as soon as you walk up to it, you feel like it's the middle of summer and you're in florida on the gulf coast. i swear i even smelled suntan lotion sometimes. the view of the river certainly doesn't help. it felt more like a hotel which is groovy. they also have a free movie rental thingie, you just go to the leasing office and you can pick a movie. they have all the latest stuff, and all the older movies i like i already have.

there's also card access to the building, a huge pool, a jacuzzi, a full service deli, fitness center, sauna, tennis court, and a great river view. but, their pet policy sucks. $350 non-refundable fee plus $35 A MONTH. WTF? one year and you'd be out $770, none of which you'd get back. the other two just have a non-refundable $200 pet fee, which i can handle a lot more than paying $400+ a year for a pet, plus the one time $350 fee. they have a loft too! yay! it's exactly (to the foot) the same size of the house we share with my parents. eek! it's around the same amount as their mortgage rate too, which isn't too bad if you just look at the fact that they're equal. but still, then we have to pay through the nose for pet fees.

the one thing they all have to their advantage is that they're all by beale street. i love memphis in may and it'd be great to be able to walk home from it. the main thing that keeps me away is having to drive there. i don't mind the drive, but i do mind putting myself at risk for getting hit by a drunk driver. people just get falling down drunk at this thing all three days. i don't understand why people would want to get so drunk that they not only make a fool of themselves in public, but they don't enjoy the great food and music, and don't really remember a thing of it. but this way, we could walk home instead! they're all about an equal distance from it. while the gayoso house is right by beale street, it's not the exact part where it is, so they're all about equal. gayoso house and rivermark would be about a two block walk, echelon would be like four blocks.

 

[Screaming Flower]

that was a lot of reading i just did for a wednesday night.

i can't decide between the gayoso and the rivermark. actually the rivermark sounds coolest but you have all those random fees. they might be worth it though.

i don't really know what i'm talking about.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

yeah, that's the problem. plus, the rivermark has great deals going on. for example, you get two months free with a two year lease. it's pro-rated into your lease, so essentially you get a discount for two years.

i know they'd turn around and when we renewed, they'd jack up the apartment price on us. however, two years is a long time. by then, i should be about ready to graduate college, so we wouldn't have to live in this shitty town for too much longer after that. however, the pet fees will add up. $1190 for two years of monthly pet fees plus the non-refundable deposit.

one thing's for sure, though. we're getting a new bed this weekend. after 19 years (i've had this mattress all my life, yes) my boxspring and mattress are shot. the local store is going out of business and selling them for $200. if only we had the money and space to go ahead and buy a whole new set. king size beds =

 

[Sicy]

I cant decide

I am no help

 

[Bonochick]

If you like them all, I'd go cheapest.

I'm such a cheapass...

 

[adamswildhoney]

I'm such a cheapass...

seriously I would go with the one that you feel most comfortable with!!

 

[MissVelvetDress_75]

i would go with the gayoso house. it sounds like somewhere that i would love to live.

the ballpark one may have disadvantages at night because of the stadium lights and traffic. that to me would be the down side of moving to place near a ballpark. you can watch baseball anywhere!

the one on the river sounds like a waste of money. dumping money on a monthly basis for something that you will never get back is not worth the money that you could have been using to help save up for a down payment for a house.