Housing Search

Colton and I have a lease that finishes on the first of May. Even though we love our landlords (Leavitt Land) we are trying to find a place with a few basic essentials:

Washer and Dryer.

No Stairs.

Preferably NOT an apartment complex.

Dishwasher.

Good Neighborhood.

Nice Yard.

Good Neighbors.

Close to the door parking.

Large rooms.

Amenities: Walking Path's/Gym/Playground/Pool/Cable TV/Internet (anything fun.)

We are currently paying $425 for a two bedroom, 1 bath apartment. It is up a flight of metal stairs, and has coin-op laundry (that takes my sweet ADD prone Colton 6 days to do.) But it's SO nice compared to all the horrible places we have looked at.

Let me tell you what we have found:

Cute=Tiny

Great Deal=Trashed

Pet's OK=Stinky

Washer Dryer Hookups=Dryer in the Kitchen

Quiet Neighbors=Creepy Old Man

We went and viewed two basement apartments today. The first one was okay. It was small and cramped feeling (the ceilings were only 6 inches from Colton's head, and he's pretty short.) The yard was kind of crappy, and it was about half the size of our place. But all in all it was okay.

The second place we went, we knocked on the door and they slammed it in our face. (They were the upstairs renters.)

There were cockroaches in the tub.

Spiders on the wall.

The 2nd "bedroom" was INSIDE the first bedroom. (IE it was a walk in closet.)

When we went outside to see the "beautifully landscaped yard." There was a bassinet in the middle of the grass, broken barbies, various dangerous wood projects and a few dirty diapers. 

A terrorizing pit bull, a mutt and a hideous chihuahua/weiner dog mix met us at the gate. 

When I asked how you accessed the back yard, the landlord said "I don't know." 

As he says this a man with a mullet and no teeth comes out of the seemingly uninhabited" shed. He is holding a paper with a line of powder in it. (Yup.) 

He shows us how to sneak into the gate, and then asks the landlord if he can chuck a few dogs in the desert on his way out of town. (Straight face, no joke.)

The landlord replies "No, I just got rid of 3 cats." (Now we know where the smell came from.)

As we left the man said "Whats the babies name?" 

I replied "MaTai."

What's that mean?

"It means Chief"

"Well we are extremely Chief friendly at this place."

Cue half naked 10 year old running through the yard.

Other fun finds include places with half full ponds two feet from the door. (Toddler death wish?)

Downstairs neighbors who have 30 beer boxes full of diapers scattered on the lawn.

"Private deck" consisted of 5 pieces of wood held up by concrete blocks.

Fenced back yards with giant holes every two feet.

Duplexes with "Wanda's Sunflower Nails and Special Services" next door.

The list goes on.

Perfect. Awesome. Great.

Needless to say. 

We are still looking.

There are so many apartment complexes in Cedar City, but I don't know where to look! All the property management places just hand you lists of rentals, and send you on your way, and Craigslist is leading us to these wonderful gems.

So we are at the point of driving street by street and calling "For Rent" numbers.

We really just want to rent a small house and stay in it until we move North or buy. We want something stable that we can make a home.

Wish Us Luck.