Weekend Round-Up: Not Awesome

Weekend Round-Up: Not Awesome

This weekend was pretty pitiful. We had planned to spend two days camping in Marin Headlands and then a relaxing Monday in the city…but that did not happen.  By Friday I had been feeling really ill with a stomach bug for a couple days (I think it was giardia) so we decided to push back camping one night. Then we got an email that night from our landlord saying that our lease was cancelled and we had only 30-days to find a new place. Ugh!

Some quick research revealed that we actually had 60-days under the city rules, but even that is hardly enough time to find a great apartment in this very expensive market. We spent all Friday on Craigslist. I was well enough on Saturday to spend the day in the car on an apartment hunt.  There’s no shortcut to finding a great city apartment, just a whole lot of driving around looking at open houses – some of which are as short as 15 minutes!

We toured six apartments on Saturday and drove by probably four others.  Everything from pink-bathtubbed   homes too far out in the fog to fancy high-rise apartments that were too small.

Rob and I left straight from the last open house at 4:30 to have dinner with Jean and Trent in Menlo Park. Homemade lasagna, salad and breadsticks. We sat around the fire laughing at the dogs.

I woke up Sunday with a terrible headache and proceeded to throw up all morning. Rob called the doctor and got strict instructions that I should spend the day drinking one sip of gatorade every 3 to 5 minutes. So, no apartment hunting. I watched Sleepless in Seattle and Something’s got to Give, took naps and worked my way back to a hearty dinner of white rice.

I woke up Sunday morning feeling 100% better. Whatever I had, it was finally over. So, back out on the apartment hunt first thing in the morning.  We looked at a place out in Little Russia and then drove all the way back to Dogpatch for a tour of apartments still under construction.

Our noon open house took us close to Nicole’s apartment so we joined her for a sandwich lunch in the marina.  Our next tour in Laurel Heights was a winner, the first apartment that we actually applied for.  One more at 4:00 that we didn’t like at all before driving home.

In an attempt to eek out a bit of Labor Day fun, Margaret came over for a big taco dinner. We walked to Whole Foods for chocolate ice cream, then called it a night. Rent prices are so high in the city right now that we may actually find a better deal buying a place. Rob has plans to talk to a mortgage broker tomorrow. The hunt continues!

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There are 4 comments for this article
  1. Lara at 12:30 pm

    Oh man! So sorry to hear about your spate of illness + bad news. I hope (and feel confident) that this may end up being a good thing in the end!

  2. Rose at 6:25 pm

    Sorry about your place! You are effectively being evicted, so your landlord has to follow all the appropriate processes. If you've been there less than a year, 30 days is all the notice they have to give you. 60 days for more than a year. You are also entitled to some relocation benefits (around $10k) to help offset the cost of the move.

    It is a pretty good time to buy, so I wish you the best of luck on your search.

  3. Patricia at 9:05 pm

    Hi there – I hope that what Rose says is correct and that you at least get some monetary compensation for this hassle! Good luck for the hunt, whether buying or renting.

  4. Anonymous at 3:45 am

    Hi Emily,

    I love your blog and read it every week and sorry to hear about your rental situation. Not sure what your price range is but I have an apartment that will be available on October 1st. It is a gorgeous one bedroom with a small office/storgae space off the kitchen on a quiet tree lined street in the Duboce Triangle – Waller (between Scott and Divisadero) we have not posted on Craigslist yet but we are having a private showing tomorrow evening at 4:30 pm if you are interested. Please email me for more info and pics the price is $3095. [email protected]