Finally found an apartment that...

is bigger than 900 square feet, has a screened porch area for the cat, is 3 minutes from work, and costs $1100 per month (but includes water, sewer and pest control).



It's $160 per month higher than the place I was going to rent (great vistas, totally updated, big kitchen, only a shared floor, no shared walls, good neighborhood) and $260 higher than my mortgage payment. But the place I was going to rent didn't have any screened porch area, and someone had let a cat pee all over the carpet, creating a horrible odor. Their plan for rectifying the odor didn't sound like it was going to work, to tell you the truth, they were very vague. And I had nighmares about my cat doing the same thing to their new carpet!



So, after a protracted battle with the landlord, I got my deposit back before even moving in and went down the street to a higher rent neighborhood, especially when I realized that the two bedroom apartments that weren't disgusting in the neighborhood had almost all been rented. And the deposit was only $200, an amount that looked great compared to the $1,000 deposit from a neighboring complex that really didn't want my cat in their building.



I'm in for six months, with an eye toward buying a condo in the $155-$160,000 range, that I can pay off in 5 years and rent if necessary. All of this moving, looking, etc., has made me into a complete basket case.