Finding an apartment in Kansas City
Hunting down a place to live can be a stressful situation. Finding a place to live when Sky and I were simply moving from one side of town to the other seemed crazy enough, but now we are moving across states!! As our move-out date gets closer and closer I am starting to get more and more stressed out! There seems like there is so much to do, and accomplishing all of the tasks that need to get done virtually from Indiana is not only a pain for us, but it has been a pain for the leasing agency in Kansas City.
Our story starts a few months back. After I accepted my offer to work with Cerner, I immediately began my search for a nice apartment for Skylar, myself, and the two dogs. Thankfully, my recruiter was able to provide us with a nice list of apartment complexes that offered discounts for Cerner employees or worked well with the typical needs of a Cerner employee. So, we had a place to start.
The online hunt.
I spent days looking at pictures, browsing websites, attending virtual tours, and contacting each and every apartment complex to try and find one that was right for us. (And remember, this is all happening in the final weeks of school when I am busting my butt to get other things done, too!) Originally, we really wanted some place with a back patio or yard for the dogs and a washer and dryer in unit. I also wanted LOTS of natural light and modern appearances.
As I continued looking at photo galleries for different apartment complexes listed on the pamphlet that my recruiter gave me, I began to realize that we just weren't finding the things that we wanted in a location we needed for the price we required. At this point, we were only 2 months away from making our move, and my stress level was through the roof. This was time to call in some "Mommy Power" for help!
I called my mom as I was freaking out and was able to get her to come to my aid. She started searching online for apartments in the Kansas City area that were within decent driving distance to my work. It wasn't ideal that these apartments weren't on our Cerner approved list, but we were looking at what we could. My mom started finding some really nice looking places that were listed at really great prices, so I added a few of them to my list of "Yes Houses" that I was going to share with Skylar.
Once I had a decent list of apartment complexes that I thought might suit us, I showed the list to Skylar. We talked about things and talked about things. Finally, after much deliberation we realized that we couldn't make a decision from Indiana. We needed to make a trip to Kansas City!!
The trip to Kansas City.
We picked a date, and I started calling every apartment complex on my list. I scheduled appointments, factored in drive time, and made an itinerary for us that was booked literally every minute of the day. Sky and I were wanting this trip to be super cheap, thus, we packed our lunch and dinner and decided that we wouldn't get a hotel--we set out to accomplish this entire trip in a 24 hour time span and only pay for gas.
The trip took place after we had just bought our brand new car. So, the Prius was put to the test on its first ever long-ass trip! We left for Kansas City at 4:00am, arrived around 10:00am (their time), and instantly began shuffling from complex to complex. It was really crazy! There was no time to rest, no time to sleep, and absolutely no time to dilly-dally.
We quickly realized our first problem. We were in a big city with lots of sketchy neighborhoods, and we had not factored that into our apartment hunt at all. A few of the places on my list were not fit for us to live in simply because I did not feel safe. Safety quickly became our NUMBER ONE priority. We also realized problem number two--obviously, as the neighborhoods got nicer, the prices went up!
So let me tell you! At this point I am stressed, crabby from driving, and completely sleep deprived. And we haven't found a single apartment that I was 100% in love with. I felt helpless, completely lost, and totally scared. Needless to say, Skylar was giving me loads of hugs as I cried and cried.
The final decision.
When I felt like all hope was lost, Skylar swooped in for a victory as a good boyfriend should. He reminded me of the very first place we saw. An apartment that we had visited hours ago. The safest neighborhood, a decent layout, a dog park down the street, and a modern layout that I liked. All hope was not lost, I could make do with this place.
I drove home content. "At least I wouldn't be homeless," I said.
A few weeks later to present day. Our application has been approved and we are all set to live in an apartment on the south end of Kansas City. Its on the third floor (but we are told that it is technically only up one flight of stairs because you enter in through the second story). It doesn't have a patio or backyard, but a dog park is not far away and there is plenty of grass on complex for the dogs to play.
There is a washer and dryer in the basement of our building, which means that we won't have to go far to do laundry, and that's all I care about. There's a breakfast bar so we don't have to have a dining table, plenty of big windows for lots of natural light, and enough space for sky and I to live comfortably. I'm a little nervous about closet space, but we will make it work. Skylar and I aren't planning on moving with much, and I want to live a very minimal lifestyle in this new place.
Trying to do everything from Indiana while the leasing agency is in Kansas City has proven to be a big challenge. Money has to paid via an online website, applications needed to be faxed and mailed, and communication is always difficult. Honestly, I think that this apartment complex doesn't deal with out of town renters very often, but we are trying to keep our patience.
At this point, almost everything is taken care of. We just can't wait to get our keys!! Move-in day is June 1st. My family is driving down to Bloomington to help us make the move, and I absolutely CANNOT wait! Skylar and I are documenting this journey on our brand new YouTube Channel--if you haven't subscribed you should do it now!!
