Our Apartment Hunt Begins

As mine and Marcos Wedding approaches, the apartment hunt begins. We’re looking for the place where we will start our marriage. With this post, I’m asking for your input, so be sure to leave me a comment below. 

Here’s what we’re looking for:

1. Downtown Ventura — near the beach and walkable
2. In the hills — safe & such pretty views
3. Two bedrooms — I have to have a room for my Office
4. Under $1400 with most utilities included — we want to save and spend money on fun, not rent

So, that being said, we found the perfect place. It meets all of the above criteria. It’s $1385, you only pay electric ($30/month), it has two bedrooms, its in the Hills, has a view, close to the beach, easy walk downtown, etc… Everything good, right?

It’s pretty old, and when we viewed it, it was so messy. Eeeek. There were still people living there. A family of 5 in a two bedroom apartment. You can imagine. There were mirrors on one living room wall, just like you’d see at the Gym. The move in date is perfect (right next to the Wedding), and the manager assured us that they’re going to repaint everything, steam clean the carpets, and get it looking super nice. FAITH! Plus, today, we’re even going to call and ask beg for the them to take down the crazy mirrors.

What I want to ask is this:

In your experience, is it worth it to take an older apartment that’s right where you want to live, for less money? OR, do you think it’s better to go with a more expensive apartment that feels new, bright, and super clean in an okay area. Here are some photo’s to help me explain… 

Here’s a nice apartment that is $1970 for two bedrooms in midtown Ventura. Pretty sure you have to pay most utilities too.

Photos from website.

Seems so cute, clean, bright, nice, and wonderful for a first home, right? But… would the newness wear off and we’d just be left with a big ol’ rent?

The outside is adorable!

Bathrooms are sooooo white and clean (my hearts pounding).

There’s washer and dryer inside… and it just looks like such a HOME (the one we viewed yesterday has coin laundry right downstairs from the apartment).

On the other hand, the last place we had was also really inexpensive and older, just like the one we viewed yesterday. I felt like with all of my color & decorations, it ended up looking clean & cute too… we were totally happy there.

Old stove, old counters, but still cute, right?

Our bathroom was nice, white, and clean.

I added tons of bright color. Like how my Coffee is set up for the next morning? 🙂

My office space was adorable… so organized (if you can’t tell, I like things to be clean and in order).

Another example… this is a photo of my studio which was in the same complex. It was also a bit older, but cute once I added my own touches!

At the end of the day… I think we will care most about kicking back, relaxing, watching movies together, etc… Plus, the area is important to us. It would be super fun to live downtown and be able to walk to dinner, coffee shops, and the movies… I don’t have any pictures of the place we viewed… The manager did say that he would completely fix it up before we make a decision, so that was nice 🙂

At the same time, I can’t ignore the fact that the thought of brand new white counter tops, new windows, and an in-unit washer and dryer sounds pretty appealing.

So, what do you all think? Would you go for the pricier newness, or have fun fixing up and cleaning the old place, save money, and live in the area we want to live? 

Now for you Daily Eaters! 🙂

Yesterdays breakfast. Guess what I had?! 😉

Noon-time snack

2:30 snack… part of Marco’s quesadilla 🙂 … it was so heavenly.

4:00p snack — dark chocolate egg. I love letting this melt in my mouth. Yum!

6:00p dinner after we rode bikes & swam at the pool

Late night dessert. Banana, peanut butter, and a few chocolate chips all blended together and then frozen. Wow. This was good! Still doesn’t replace my petite treats of gelato though 🙂 I think gelato will always win.

Alright y’all. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the apartment. What would you choose? The expensive beauty? Or the nice location, inexpensive fixer upper?