San Diego: Coffees & Condos & Convertibles.
"This isn't what the morning is supposed to look like here," I grumbled. It was just after 7am in La Jolla, and I was looking off my balcony to a grey sky.
I didn't have any time to dilly-dally, though. I needed to get dressed, fed and out the door pretty quickly. I had a 30 minute drive ahead of me to Encinitas to look at properties with a realtor. We met in a Starbucks right on the main drag of the beach town. But I was slightly early... So I sat down and wrote as I waited for him to meet me.
"I need to adjust to 'California Time'," I told myself. I have determined "California Time" to be anywhere from just slightly after the agreed upon time to about 20 minutes after.
When he arrived, we visited a few properties nearby for me to gauge what I could get for certain price ranges. Overall, I was pleased with the quality. But I didn't see anything that made immediately want to jump up and say, "I have to put in a bid right now!"
Instead, I mentioned to the realtor that it may be the best for me to simply rent a place for a few months and continue to look while I rent.
"Do you have any rentals that you could possibly show me?" I asked.
He said he did. And it was close by. But that it was "very eclectic."
"I'm not sure it will be what you're looking for," he said.
I told him he'd be surprised by my taste. I gathered that maybe he thought I was fancier than I actually am. So he drove me about a mile down the road from where we were, to a tucked-away little street with individual little houses.
He pulled up to one that looked like a little cottage. It had a private entrance gate you walked through, where there was a yard and little garden...
A cute little cafe table set up outside. Things were nicely landscaped.
Inside, the place comes fully furnished - as it is typically a vacation rental, was cute beach cottage furniture.
The place comes with cable, wifi and a landline all set up. Utilities are included.
And the kitchen was spacious and clean-looking...
I didn't have any time to dilly-dally, though. I needed to get dressed, fed and out the door pretty quickly. I had a 30 minute drive ahead of me to Encinitas to look at properties with a realtor. We met in a Starbucks right on the main drag of the beach town. But I was slightly early... So I sat down and wrote as I waited for him to meet me.
The view from my laptop as I sat writing. Calm and pretty.
"I need to adjust to 'California Time'," I told myself. I have determined "California Time" to be anywhere from just slightly after the agreed upon time to about 20 minutes after.
When he arrived, we visited a few properties nearby for me to gauge what I could get for certain price ranges. Overall, I was pleased with the quality. But I didn't see anything that made immediately want to jump up and say, "I have to put in a bid right now!"
Instead, I mentioned to the realtor that it may be the best for me to simply rent a place for a few months and continue to look while I rent.
"Do you have any rentals that you could possibly show me?" I asked.
He said he did. And it was close by. But that it was "very eclectic."
"I'm not sure it will be what you're looking for," he said.
I told him he'd be surprised by my taste. I gathered that maybe he thought I was fancier than I actually am. So he drove me about a mile down the road from where we were, to a tucked-away little street with individual little houses.
He pulled up to one that looked like a little cottage. It had a private entrance gate you walked through, where there was a yard and little garden...
A cute little cafe table set up outside. Things were nicely landscaped.
Inside, the place comes fully furnished - as it is typically a vacation rental, was cute beach cottage furniture.
The place comes with cable, wifi and a landline all set up. Utilities are included.
And the kitchen was spacious and clean-looking...
"This is really nice," I told him. "I'd happily commit to renting it till the end of December this year, if the owners were willing."
There was one decent-sized bathroom, and two bedrooms in the back. Overall, the place was actually perfect for getting me acclimated to San Diego. I decided I could move to the place in July, look for a job. And also start getting more familiar with my surroundings, to the point where I would be able to feel comfortable buying somewhere.
He said he was pretty sure the owners would be happy to rent to me. He reached out to them, and they're going to meet me later this weekend to seal everything. So hopefully it all works out!
After meeting with the realtor, the Sun had started to peek through the clouds. So I hopped into the insane car the rental company forced me to take...
Mustang Convertible
And drove up the Coast Highway for a ways. I did not put the top down on it, though. I'm trying to become a "Southern California Girl"... but not that much of one. :)
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