On The Move: Asbury Park, NJ
It’s been a whirlwind few weeks.
I knew I needed to move. I knew I needed a new place to move to. A new home to replace the one I owned and had to short sell. Not only was a long term relationship ending, so was the security they both afforded.
After a year on the market, finally, an offer. Months pass. A seeming eternity. We are in the home stretch to closing on November 31st.
I flew back to Asbury Park, New Jersey last Saturday (10/15). I was on a mission. Find a place to call home. I had one week to do it in. Thankfully my friend Geoff Hoover & his wife Tatiana let me stay at Chez Hoover for the week.
Sunday was spent combing Craig’s list, the Jersey Shore edition, and Rent.com again. Looking for new rentals. Made a few calls to try to set up appointments. Was really interested in a high rise apartment building called Munroe Towers. These apartments and the entire building were being renovated. One bedrooms were around $950.00 including all utilities except electric. Not bad! But in the end … no go… a firm No Pets policy. I did get a lead on a local real estate company, John Conover Agency.
On Monday I called them, and by that afternoon was sent a half dozen or so listings. Later that day I got even more. I set up an appointment to see four apartments that I liked for Tuesday morning with Phil. Long story short … all four places didn’t pan out. Each one had its quirks, and for $1,100.00 to $1,200.00 they just weren’t worth it. Plus I would have had to pay utilities on top of the high rent.
On Monday afternoon, I rented a car. I needed to drive the entire grid of Asbury Park looking for For Rent signs. Geoff came with me on Monday afternoon. Every time I saw a sign, I’d pop out and snap a photo of the sign & the building. Again there were several places I liked. When I was done I went back to Chez Hoover and started making phone calls.
There was one building on 6th that looked promising. Its owner had taken this old brick 3-story apartment complex and renovated every apartment in the place, as well as painted the red brick of the facade a nice industrial gray. It looked very clean, crisp, modern, and new. I saw the place at 1:00 PM on Tuesday, after my viewings with Phil. There were 2 apartments available, a one bedroom for $950.00, and a two bedroom for $1,300.00. Juan, the building’s super showed me the two bedroom first. Located on the first floor, it was nice but way out of my prices range. Then up to the second floor, to see the one bedroom. The place was a sight to behold. A long “shotgun” apartment. New cherry wood floors, large living room, small kitchen, and bathroom and a large bedroom. Big enough for my bed and an office for me to work from, with room to spare. I pretty much knew I wanted it on first viewing. I even went back a second time on the same day. I called the owner John, and told him I’d like to rent the apartment.
He sent me all the applications and asked me to get a copy of my credit report and score & send it to him. I did. My credit rating was in the four-fucking-hundreds. Akkkkk! I also had to send him six months worth of bank statements, because I am self employed. I think him seeing over $36,000.00 in my checking clinched the deal. Because my credit was so torn up from the short sale of the condo, and us not paying mortgage in 6 months, he asked for first months, last months rent, and 1.5 months security. Oh .. let’s not forget $300.00 pet deposit. But I was willing to shell it all out for this place. I liked it so much. As soon as I got off the phone with John, I called my bank and had the money wired to the owner’s account. I eMailed John with all the info and told him the money would be in his bank account by tomorrow. And so it was.
On Wednesday, I called all the utilities, and set up accounts. I called Verizon to set up my FIOS TV & Internet service too. Once that was all done, I called John to go over to the apartment to take exact measurements. Once all that was complete, I went back to Chez Hoover and rescheduled my flight home for Thursday. Moving it up from Saturday. Mission accomplished, in record time. I then returned the car before 3:00 PM and saved a few more days rental.
On Wednesday night Geoff & Tatiana took me out to a wonderful steak dinner. On Thursday morning I got up, caught a train to Newark Airport, and was home by 4:30 PM.
I’ve been packing and cleaning ever since I got back. I tired & wiped, but feeling good about the move. On Wednesday, Allied Van Lines will pick up my belongings. And depending on the time they finish, I could be on the road with my two kitties Rocky & Rose, by Wednesday or Thursday. I must be in Asbury Park by Nov 3rd. My Allied delivery window is November 4-11. And that is the close of another chapter and the beginning of a new one.
