Ah, the joys of renting pre-construction. . . no, no joy actually.
Lemme 'splain. No, is too much. Let me sum up.
I HATE WAIT.
Ahem. So I found my lovely, lovely, lovely apartment with the fabulous view of the downtown skyline with the assistance of the wonderful Michael Berger at CuencaCondos. He's a friend (Hi Mike!) and he'd been with me through the stove thief adventures to know what I was in the market to rent.
One day when I was avoiding the apartment hunt drama and attempting to get some actual work done (I have those days. Sometimes.) I got THE CALL. It was Mike, wanting to know what I was doing right then.
"Why?"
"Because if you don't come take one of these places, I'm never speaking to you about apartments again," he said. Really, can you resist that kind of threat? I couldn't. I shut the computer and let him pick me up to take me to Luciano's apartments.
Conveniently for me the picker-outer, the building was still under construction. I got to wander through every unit and indulge my oooh-what's-that instincts to the max. Eventually I settled on a three bedroom, two bath unit on the third floor. It looked like a cement box, with windows, but the rooms were mapped out and the bathrooms were tiled. There was a kid who looked about 14 years old assembling the closet/cabinets for the bedrooms, but he seemed to know what he was doing.
I took it on faith, for $375.
It was supposed to be done with my life moved into it by October 1st.
Ahem. Check your calendars, people. I'm supposed to be doing a lot more than visiting this apartment right now!
I've watched the toilets go in. I've watched the kitchen counters get built. I've learned about the finer details of putting in granite countertops and the joys of floating hardwood floors. I've very narrowly avoided having a mauve living room (Me: "Do these pinkish thumb marks on the wall mean this is the color it's going to be?" Luciano: "Yes" Me: "NO!"), and didn't visit in time to stop from having a wheat/gold accent wall in the master bedroom. I can live with the wall.
Anytime, really. I'm ready to live with the wall!
I do have scads of pictures of the place at various stages of done - when I actually get in there I hope to have the time to post them up for sharing. Now I just use them as comfort, to verify that progress is being made and that someday - SOON - I am going to get to live in this place.
One day when I was avoiding the apartment hunt drama and attempting to get some actual work done (I have those days. Sometimes.) I got THE CALL. It was Mike, wanting to know what I was doing right then.
"Why?"
"Because if you don't come take one of these places, I'm never speaking to you about apartments again," he said. Really, can you resist that kind of threat? I couldn't. I shut the computer and let him pick me up to take me to Luciano's apartments.
Conveniently for me the picker-outer, the building was still under construction. I got to wander through every unit and indulge my oooh-what's-that instincts to the max. Eventually I settled on a three bedroom, two bath unit on the third floor. It looked like a cement box, with windows, but the rooms were mapped out and the bathrooms were tiled. There was a kid who looked about 14 years old assembling the closet/cabinets for the bedrooms, but he seemed to know what he was doing.
I took it on faith, for $375.
It was supposed to be done with my life moved into it by October 1st.
Ahem. Check your calendars, people. I'm supposed to be doing a lot more than visiting this apartment right now!
I've watched the toilets go in. I've watched the kitchen counters get built. I've learned about the finer details of putting in granite countertops and the joys of floating hardwood floors. I've very narrowly avoided having a mauve living room (Me: "Do these pinkish thumb marks on the wall mean this is the color it's going to be?" Luciano: "Yes" Me: "NO!"), and didn't visit in time to stop from having a wheat/gold accent wall in the master bedroom. I can live with the wall.
Anytime, really. I'm ready to live with the wall!
I do have scads of pictures of the place at various stages of done - when I actually get in there I hope to have the time to post them up for sharing. Now I just use them as comfort, to verify that progress is being made and that someday - SOON - I am going to get to live in this place.
Hi-
ReplyDeleteI just stumbled across your blog. We're planning to move back to Cuenca next year.
When we were last in Cuenca (2007-2008) we waited 3 months for an apartment to finish, it was beautiful, had gorgeous woodwork & tile that was almost done, and only $300/month. We'd go back every week and ask how the work was coming. Eventually we gave up, and rented another place that wasn't as nice but had an amazing view of the Cathedral. When we finally heard back from the landlord, he wanted $420/month, 6 months lease (our visa would be up in 3 months), and we'd have to buy our own appliances.
We just shook our heads and laughed.
-Aaron
Aaron -
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment! I've gotten moved in - FINALLY - but the workmen just keep lingering. Officially the building is done, but unofficially, as you can imagine, there is still a lot to do. Someday there will be no drilling . .. someday.
Let me know when you move back!
Jen