We had quaint visions of living in an historic row home with a little back patio for grilling and playing with the dog. Instead, our grill is in storage and we live in a high rise condominium.We were greatly disappointed when we arrived for our house hunting trip and saw the horrible condition of the properties on the rental market. And we discovered there weren't any beautiful old row homes in nice neighborhoods being offered for rental. Our rental agent showed us 20 or 30 places that were either too rundown to consider or too far away to commute. (We don't even know how many. We've tried to block out working with her -- she was a wreck!)
Getting a bit desperate, we searched on Craigslist in the evenings after she would leave us. And that's how we ended up here - in a building that looks like a hotel decked out in "Johnson County beige." Our place has two important features: it's new (so it's modern - and clean!) and it's commute convenient (immediately across the street from the Metrorail station -- no waiting at bus stops or long walks home in the dark). There is a big yard for the dog to use (on leash only) and management installed several of those green pet-poo trash cans/ bag stations over the summer, which is very convenient since you MUST pick up after your dog.
There are some real advantages to condo life:
- On-site fitness room, summer swimming pool, someone at the front desk to collect your packages and let you in if you forget your keys
- Utilities are low - in fact, we haven't really run our heater yet, because our unit retains the heat from the sun/building heat. This is not a good situation in the summer.
- No yard or driveway to mow, rake, or shovel
And some disadvantages:
- The walls/ceilings/floors are thin, so we get noise from neighbors sometimes. I can tune out the train but not my neighbors.
- We have to go with the dog when she needs out. It's tough to get bundled up and rushed out into the cold - especially if it's dark out.
- No garage/attic/basement to store all that stuff that you don't know what else to do with. For this reason, we only brought half of our "stuff" when we moved - the rest is in storage in Lenexa.
But, when it takes less than an hour to do all of our weekend chores around the house, it leaves plenty of free time to be tourists!
