I never realize how hard it is to find
a place to live in until I have to move.
I've been looking for a place since May
and haven't found anything. Surprisingly, in this tiny college town,
all the apartments are taken by students who lease them for the year.
I am not a student, I'm not interested in leases (since I'm trying to
get out of a horrible one right now), and I don't want to
drink/smoke/do drugs, etc.
You'd think for me it would be easy to
find a place. It's not.
I don't have a lot of income but I have
a lot of savings and a joint checking account with my family that I
pay the bills with. Apparently, the online copied forms don't allow
for this provision and I have to scribble it down as best I can that
I am not poor and I have money.
I haven't bothered to pack my numerous
belongings since most of it isn't mine. I'm downgrading from a three
bedroom, two bathroom house at $1650.00 a month, hopefully to a
cheaper but still nice place. No such luck...
All the places on Craig's List I've
found are scams. Numerous crappy apartments aimed at college students
with more than ten ads placed for one apartment. Even the property
management companies run scams (all with terrible leases) and I can't
rely on them either. I've asked around but my friends either have
five roommates or they're married with income.
Most of the other places I've found
online involve schemes like "re-modeled" garages, shacks
and outhouses for student housing (most of which hasn't been approved
with a permit). "Studios" that turn out to be someone's
room in a house that isn't theirs. "Cottages" in old
garages or garden houses that were never meant to be lived in. I've
seen ads for men with children, wanting free housekeeping and
babysitting in exchange for a "rent discount". It pretty
much means a nanny/maid who pays the boss instead of the other way
around. Women do this too and often shack up with dubious renters who
promise to babysit their children; it's not something I recommend.
International students get scammed with
"International Host Families", who make them pay rent,
babysit the kids, clean the house and other chores that are not
approved. Next comes another baby and the student is thrown out to
make room (I've seen this happen to my friend!).
Living in a college town has its
definite drawbacks but I never realized how bad until now.
I don't want five roommates, I'm not
married, I don't have children (I don't even have pets!), and I'm not
looking to make money off of college students. All I ask is to find a
place I'm comfortable with but I guess that's too much to ask.
There's also the problem of gender. I
noticed since I'm a single woman (no boyfriend, husband, etc.),
people don't trust me to pay the rent. "Are you alone?"
They always ask me. "Yes" I answer, wondering why it
matters at all. Then my application gets denied and thrown away.
Living in a rural college town is not the best situation for a women
like myself who has no urge to shack up with a man in order to pay
the bills. I don't want to end up his servant and have to do the
cleaning, cooking, managing bills, all by myself. Worse yet, men
often confuse female roommates as their girlfriends, next thing you
know they're offering marriage proposals. Or they try to control
everything you do.
I've often wondered how my chances in
life would improve if I could get a sex-change. I know of no single
woman who can make a living on her own and pay the rent at the same
time. With minimum wage part-time jobs ruling the market right now,
there's no hope for me to make a living for myself.
I guess I'll have to move in with my
family, something I really don't want to do, unless I find another
family to shack up with. Then I'll end up doing the chores,
housekeeping, managing the household, babysitting the children and be
stuck with everybody else's responsibilities.
I'm seriously thinking of getting that
sex-change now...
