Comments on: What Apartment Shopping Taught me about Careers

By: Your 1st Quarter Review (and confessions about mine)

Your 1st Quarter Review (and confessions about mine) — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 14:35:08 +0000

[...] sacrafices. I decided to move out of my 25th floor Gold Coast apartment to move into a less glamorous neighborhood with [...]

By: Ashley

Ashley — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:44:38 +0000

Love this post! I can definitely relate- living in an apartment built in 1920 for the last two years has been an exciting challenge. Nothing in life is perfect. The things that appear to be “deal breakers” so often are opportunities to change our frame of reference. Something you think you will hate may be an opportunity to learn something new about yourself.

By: Burcu

Burcu — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 18:54:19 +0000

I know exactly how hard it is to find a place that you are really comfortable to live in. After graduation and moving to a new town I was faced with a never ending apartment search. After a while I realized which mistakes I made, it was so obvious, too high expectations on a too low budget. What I learned of it is to gather information before you even start to search. In which neighbourhood would you like to live? What are the mean prices per square meter in that neighbourhood? How much do you want to spend on rent? What kind of an apartment can you afford in your favorite neighbourhood? So really do your math before you start looking for a place. In the end you will save a lot of time and energy.

By: Tracey

Tracey — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:26:07 +0000

Thanks!

Not going to ask specifically where your moving, but from the sounds of your (hilarious, and so like me) reliance on phone maps, it’s a new neighborhood for you? That’s the best part of Chicago, I think – such a variety, and so easy to get from one place to the next.

By: Heather

Heather — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 09:39:02 +0000

*ideal…oops!

By: Heather

Heather — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 09:35:48 +0000

I’m moving back to Toronto from China in a month, and two girlfriends and I are currently in the process of finding a place for us to live together. Due to my geographic location, I’m not as involved in the house-hunting nightmare as I would otherwise be…lucky me! Your advice about understanding that “you can’t have it all” is well-taken, though, especially because we’re all recent graduates. The idea that we’ll find a place that we love in a location that’s idea for the price we want to pay is just absurd, and we need to recognize that.

I think, in many cases, young people get a little brainwashed about what they should expect from their first apartment or home by the media/television, and maybe even their peers. It’s what leads to people living beyond their means and also to “lifestyle creep”…two things that I am determined to keep in check!

By: Nicole Crimaldi

Nicole Crimaldi — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 03:07:01 +0000

I think letting go of perfection lowers expectations. Unrealistic expectations is often the source of disappointment, anxiety and even depression. Striving for perfection is essentially setting yourself up for disappointment.

By: Nicole Crimaldi

Nicole Crimaldi — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 03:02:30 +0000

Good luck with your upcoming search. It’s definitely a waiting game and takes serious patience! It’s also hard to pick a neighborhood around here considering there are so many great ones!

By: Nicole Crimaldi

Nicole Crimaldi — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 03:00:59 +0000

Good for you! I live in a really tiny place right now and I always joke that someday I’ll look back and want my tiny apartment and a simple life again. Let’s hope we spend more time OUTSIDE of our apartments at this stage of the game.

By: Jen

Jen — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 23:49:11 +0000

I’m slowly learning to let perfection go; it does make things so much easier. Good luck with the apartment hunt! Your search sounds very similar to my search for a house… not as fun as I thought it would be! LOL