Roommates

Once we were all settled in the hotel it was time to look for a roommate.

Yes, ladies and gentleman, I moved out to California WITHOUT a roommate (Again I pose, Am I nuts?)

I have heard good and bad reviews about Craigslist so I started sending out generic emails like this:

Hi!
I saw your place on craigslist. I am looking for a place to live. I am from the Midwest, Indianapolis to be exact. I just received a full-time job in Irvine-so no worries about a roomie not making rent. I am 23 years old, fun, reliable, friendly, outgoing, straight, non-smoker, socially drink, and I do not use drugs. I enjoy spending time with friends but am very respectful of not bringing the party home.

I am looking for all female roommates, no kids, non-smokers, no drug use.

Can you tell me more about the place? Address? Pics of the room? More about you? Other roommates?

Thanks!
Adair

Responses:
CRAZIES
-Must be 420 friendly
-Must be able to live with couple, heck no I do not wait to be your solution
-Must be willing to live with pregnant woman and husband, hello mistress/nanny
-Must be comfortable with different lifestyle... I don't even wanna know
-And the average post just to hit on women

Tips:
-Make a 'must-have' list
-Make a 'no way in hell' list and stick to it!
-Budget your money before searching, I found out my max and was looking for anything below it because that would mean more 'fun' money
-Take a look at how long your commute will be to work, in California traffic is SO bad they tell it by time not miles. For example, yes it is only 20 miles North on the 405 but it is about 30 minutes. It takes me an hour to get to LA on a good day, on a bad day three hours.
-Shop around, do not commit to anyone
-Imagine yourself in the room
-Make sure it is in a safe neighborhood
-Go eat lunch at a local deli or coffee shop to get the mood of the neighborhood
-Make sure you can live with your roommate, no you do not have to be best friends but make sure you both value the same things. ex. cleanliness.

While in my roommate search, I posted a profile on roommates.com, which I heard from friends was a safe bet. I did not prefer this site because you had to pay for service and people did not always get back to you. Not to mention, the pickins were slim!

So off I went to find a place to live. I started in Huntington Beach. Surf City. I thought, heck, this would be a sweet place to live! I had been there before when I was younger for a surf competition. My mom and I arrived early so we parked (in the all day lot-opps) and went to have lunch at a pier resturant. I ordered shrimp tacos - needed that seafood fix being so close to the ocean) and my mom ordered some kind of soup that was fabulous as well. Like I said, it was kind of chilly outside.


After a couple photo opps, see below:


It was time to meet the potential roomies. They has a house about three blocks from the pier. It was a nice house, did not have a home vibe. The ladies were very nice and seemed like great people. Unfortunaltey it was not for me when I found out they wanted cash and one had lost her job the week prior- can you say red flags?

Defeated I went back to the car. On to the next one. The next one was not near the beach but a nicer house and room. About $1000 a month which was the max of my budget. It was a nice house but there was one woman who had a kid and it was just not right for me.

Luckily, weeks prior to my move my dad was searching online and found a house on a lake. I started emailing back and forth with the owner, Sherry. She was very nice and was renting out a room. I had a great feeling about this and so did my parents.

Once my dad flew in from Indy we all went to check it out. It was perfect! Right then and there I was in. Ta-da no longer homeless! It was a great situation because it is safe, close to work, month to month etc. I do want to move closer to the water when I have a good group of girls to share a house with.

I was so happy! My parents and I celebrated with a dinner at Habana in Costa Mesa. This restaurant is an Ahlers' family favorite. It is a little Cuban restaurant with AMAZING food! I recommend sitting outside in their candle lit patio. Order Ropa Veija or the Halibut if it is in season. In fact, the first night my dad and I talked it up so much, once my mom tasted it she asked if we could come back again the next night.


After dinner, we went back to the hotel and started compiling a LENGTHY list of everything I would need. Tomorrow we would go to IKEA :)