The Hunt Was On

The Hunt Was On

By: Zola

Chief Dieter

Plan Z Diet

My niece found out she was being awarded a fun new job.

The job was is in Chicago.

She was living in Madison, Wisconsin.

She was starting in 10 days. They asked her if she could handle moving that fast. “Sure,” she said. (That’s what you say when someone offers you a new job in a job market like this one. Make it happen.)

First item on the list. Get the old apartment sublet. That happened lickety-split. It went so fast she had to move out that weekend.

Then get to Chicago and find a new apartment. No time to put off that possible new tenant. That tenant wants to move in right away so that means move your stuff out of the apartment and put it in storage even though you will, with any luck, have to move it again into the new place within a week.

That is if you can find a new place. There’s the challenge.

Call in Auntie Z.

Zola loves to shop for real estate; be it a house, an apartment a new office. It’s an odd hobby. It’s not a hobby that I can do just because I have spare time though. I have to have a reason. A niece with one week to find a place to live is my kind of reason.

Kick it into high gear Zola.

But don’t go overboard. If your niece wants to do this on her own, she’s a young adult. Back off if you are not invited. Back off on influencing what size of apartment to get, what location, what budget, what amenities. You’re not living in this place Zola. She is.

It’s a balancing act. I realize how real estate agents feel. They have to be sort of impartial. Just present the available real estate and back off if they don’t want your opinion.

My niece gave me direction. She wanted modern, a safe location, laundry in her unit if possible, parking would be nice, one bedroom would be nice or an efficiency will do. In the big city it’s hard to tell what you can afford until you get into it. She told me what neighborhoods she preferred and they were not the ones young adults out of college usually gravitate to. And she gave me her budget.

We looked at 7 places in one day. We were in a few different neighborhoods. Nothing had everything on the list but most of them would “do”. My niece told me later she was about in tears but then at 5:30 PM we walked into her perfect place.

It has everything on her list and more. She has a garage; not just parking. She can walk to the train. It’s only 2 blocks from her house, so she can commute to her office. The walk to her office from the train stop is less than a block! She has a cut little front courtyard with hydrangea trees and bushes. She can sit and have coffee out there. Or she can have that coffee in her sun porch. Yep. She has a sun porch that’s glassed in; a perfect place to read a book in a rainstorm. She has a back yard. It’s not in great shape at the moment but it has plenty of potential!

She has the one bedroom with the big closet she was hoping for. She has an open concept with the kitchen running into a dining space and into the living room. She has one of those “candle” fireplaces. Very cute and romantic. She has wood floors and brand new cupboards and counter tops in her kitchen.

My brother and sister-in-law brought a 16’ truck with all of her belongings. We moved them into the house and now she gets to settle in.

She picked the only place that’s not quite “done”. The guys were working on it even after she moved in. I didn’t see her this morning so that means the water was hooked up to her shower.

Oh, and her Auntie Z lives less than 4 blocks away. Now, won’t this be fun!

Enjoy!

Cheers,

To read more of Zola's blogs CLICK HERE or head over to https://www.planzdiet.com/blog/