Adulting 101- Monday- 4th period

[throughaphase]

While the class was meeting in the Danger Shop today, they were starting in the parking lot of an apartment complex. Also, it was 72 degrees and sunny here. Bless you, Danger Shop.

"Today we're talking about apartments," Kitty greeted them. "Because once you're not somewhere that'll put you up in dorms, it's time to find someplace to stay. Sometimes you might have it easy, like if you come from a situation where you can live with your family until you can save up enough money. If you don't have that, though, it gets a little... well, not harder, but you have to do more work. You can find a roommate, or rent a room in someone's house, or you can try to find a place on your own. It's all gonna depend on your situation and preferences and what you can afford. You can find any of these the same way you'd find a job, just on different websites. But today we're going to visit a couple apartments just so you can see what's out there. And you should have some idea of what you want and what you don't, too, before you see a place. Like if I was looking for an apartment, I'd want enough room to entertain, it'd need to accept both cats and dogs-" Shh, Lockheed was totally a cat if he had his image inducer on- "and a washer and dryer on the premises is a must. Laundromats are a bitch in the winter, I'm not trying to deal with that. So you want to have some sort of idea of what you're looking for, and be willing to bend on some things because unless you've got a lot of money you're not going to get everything.

"That said, before we go anywhere, I want to go around and have you guys tell me what you think a good price for a one-bedroom apartment is in this area, and a couple things you would definitely want or don't want to have in your home."

Comments

Sign In

[throughaphase]

Like you're moving!

Re: Sign In

[tigerundercover]

Raven Darkholme

Re: Sign In

[hexentotchen.livejournal.com]

Hanna Heller

Re: Sign In

[flickofthewrist]

Flick

Discussion

[throughaphase]

So, kids, what's a good price for a one-bedroom out here? And what do you want/need your apartment to have? Feel free to tag off each other.

Re: Discussion

[tigerundercover]

Yeah, Raven had absolutely no idea. She had only the barest idea of what things cost in 1955. "I've seen ads in 1955 New York for apartments around $150," she said finally. "So . . . a hell of a lot more than that?"

Re: Discussion

[throughaphase]

"That'd be correct," Kitty said. "And $150 for an apartment is the most sobering thing I'm gonna hear today."

Re: Discussion

[flickofthewrist]

"Depends on the area," he answered. "Up in New York, seen things run nearly a grand for a small hole in the wall in a crappy neighborhood."

Re: Discussion

[throughaphase]

"And depending on some areas in New York, a grand is lowballing it," Kitty said.

Re: Discussion

[wildandbrave]

"I've no idea," Cosette admitted. "Father and I have moved quite a few times --" usually with no advance notice, frequently in the middle of the night and as quickly and secretively as possible -- "but he's never let me be privy to concerns about rent."

She sounded mildly irked about that. There was a lot that her father never let her be privy to, and it was starting to bother her just a bit.

"So I'm not sure how much a good price for a small apartment would be in Paris in 1829, let alone now."

Re: Discussion

[throughaphase]

"Totally okay. I didn't know how much my parents paid for our place, either," Kitty told her. "And I didn't have to account for inflation."

Apartment #1

[throughaphase]

After the discussion, Kitty took them inside the first building and up to one apartment.

"So this is an apartment for $830," Kitty told them. "It's here in Lexington Park, a one-bedroom, one bath unit. What you see is pretty much what you get here, but this is where you have to remember to check the building amenities, if there are any. This place also has free parking, a game room, pool and volleyball court, a fitness center, and it's pet-friendly. If any of those things are interesting to you, maybe that be worth the apartment. I had a place like this in Chicago when I first moved out, though it was in the middle of the city and not as quiet. There wasn't a ton to it, but I had room for my computer equipment and it was close to public transportation, and most importantly, I could afford it." And sometimes it got raided by the FBI because you were under suspicion of being a mutant, but what're you gonna do.

"So you can go ahead and look around, and check out what you could get for that money."

Re: Apartment #1

[tigerundercover]

Before coming to Fandom, Raven had lived in the streets and then in a mansion. She had very little idea of what was considered reasonable for the average young adult to expect.

This was . . . a little small. Or maybe a lot small. For more than seven times as much as the ads she remembered back home. But she liked seeing all the green out the front window. You wouldn't get much of that in New York City.

Re: Apartment #1

[flickofthewrist]

Some of the apartments he'd squatted in before had been like this. Small but enough. He didn't need a lot of room to sleep and eat.

Re: Apartment #1

[wildandbrave]

Really, she'd spent eight years sleeping on the hearth in the common room of the Sergeant of Waterloo, then shared a bare-minimum room that you could probably call a cell with a half dozen other girls at the convent before coming to Fandom; this was luxury by Cosette's limited standards.

She'd even thought that gloomy little garret room where she and her father had first lived when they arrived in Paris, a couple of residences or so before going to the convent (another middle-of-the-night move that had involved her father scaling a wall and then stealing a rope from a street lamp to haul her up after him, and this was perfectly normal, what were you talking about?) had been lovely.

Éponine had a very different opinion on the Gorbeau tenement, but her family had moved in there at some point while Cosette was at Petit-Picpus and neither she nor Cosette realized that they'd both lived there.

"This would be more than enough for me," Cosette blurted out after about five seconds of looking around.

Apartment #2

[throughaphase]

When everyone was done with the first apartment, the simulation changed to something nicer. "This is in downtown Baltimore, and goes for between $1775 to $2000 for a one bedroom. Yeah, that sucks," Kitty said. "It's in a gentrified neighborhood, which means they took an area they thought was run-down and redid everything, so everything here is mostly new, and they can jack up the price. Also it tends to push out the people who lived in the neighborhood who can no longer afford to live here and tend to be minorities, but that's a soapbox for another day. This apartment has a washer and dryer in the unit, some have patios, there's central air and bamboo floors and granite countertops... A lot of things that would be great to have if you're into those things, but again, unless you can really afford it, you can probably do without it. Utilities are included, there's gated parking, storage, they even have a dry cleaning service. I'm showing you this one because this probably goes more towards the idea of what you guys really want, but again, $2000. There's a really wide range of stuff out there, but again, it's up to you and your preferences and needs. Figure out what you need and what you don't, and do your research and you'll be fine.

"Anyway, go check it out, see what you think."

Re: Apartment #2

[tigerundercover]

"The kitchen's a lot bigger," Raven noted. But still, mansion. She was a little underwhelmed. And this one cost as much as a car back home. Per month. "What do people who live here do? Design rockets?"

Re: Apartment #2

[throughaphase]

"The rocket designers probably have houses," Kitty said. "They're probably professionals, executives. Maybe they're married or living with someone and can split the rent so it's affordable."

Re: Apartment #2

[hexentotchen.livejournal.com]

Hanna had next to no opinion on amenities or aesthetics; neither was a place she could see herself living in. But that was more to do with how insecure she found both places. Gated parking was a start, but she had clear sight-lines to other people's apartments, so that meant they had clear sightlines to her as well.

"Are they all like this? Apartments?" She bit her lip, and looked around uncertainly. "So open?"

Re: Apartment #2

[throughaphase]

"Not always," Kitty told her. "They all have different floor plans, though it seems like open is trendy now." At least according to House Hunters. "But if this is too much, you can also get something like a studio or efficiency, which is the bedroom, living room and kitchen in one room."

Patio

[throughaphase]

And when they'd gotten done there, the scene changed again. "Yeah, this is me cheating," Kitty said. "This second place has a rooftop deck, and in reality it's cold outside, so there's snacks and you can hang out and enjoy the view of downtown for the rest of class."

[Snacks are moddable, talk to each other or what have you!]

Re: Patio

[tigerundercover]

Okay, this part Raven could definitely get used to. She grabbed herself a soda and some cheetos and hopped up on one of the chairs along the bar, facing the view. Baltimore was rather pretty, at least from all the way up here.

Re: Patio

[hexentotchen.livejournal.com]

"I would rather live up on this patio," Hanna said with a slight sigh, opening up her beverage. "Perhaps with a space heater and a tent.

Who knew you could get claustrophobia from modern living?

Talk to Kitty

[throughaphase]

Who had not planned for the apartment-hunting class to be on her own moving day and she was not excited/nervous for that at all shut up.

OOC

[throughaphase]

Night night, off to die of a cold/measles now.