Day 319: 7/26/12 - "Firestarter"

"I'm a firestarter, terrific firestarter.
You're the firestarter, twisted firestarter..."

-"Firestarter" by Prodigy

Absolute Failure!  Today was an absolute failure in the apartment hunting realm.  Here is what I endured and why I'm now feeling a little bit worried about how this trip is going to turn out.

1. Met the apartment locator at her place (made it on time despite the traffic) and drove over to the first place.  This was a high-rise condo that was on the 4th floor and the first issue we had was that we couldn't even get in and had to try to call someone.  Then we got lucky and someone let us into the place.  The hallways were tight and the entire place smelled funny.  The hallways were also not air conditioned so it was stifling!  We get to the apartment and they gave her the wrong code for the key box.  After two phone calls and two texts we get the right one and go in.  the kitchen was small, the living room was even smaller, there was no dining room, and the ceilings were low.  Needless to say, no way was I staying there! 

2. The second place was actually a complex so I wasn't sure why I needed a locator, but they were nice enough there, had a fitness center and had a place on the top floor.  The only real issue?  They were asking for $125 more than I'm budgeted for (and this was after I told the locator this to begin with!).  I am worried that I won't be able to come up with the extra funds, and also, what happens when my lease is up and they raise the rent?  That's what always seems to happen and I know I couldn't afford that.  *sigh*.  Nightmare!

There was nothing else for her to show me so we decided that I should consider Homestead, which is about 20 miles or so south of Miami.  I thought it would be a good idea to drive from the University to Homestead during the evening traffic as if I were actually going home from work.  I didn't even make it halfway there!  The traffic was so bad that it took me nearly 30 minutes to go 5 miles.  I had to let her know that Homestead was out of the question.

I decided to stop at a mall where I could do some retail therapy, and found a lovely white dress - I'll try to post a picture later.  Then I headed back to the hotel...which took nearly an hour!  I'm not liking Miami right now!