home is where the heart is

this weekend, mark and i were on a mission. we met in the san francisco area for a long weekend together with the sole purpose of finding a place to live when we move here at the end of june.

with perfect timing, mark received his letter of acceptance as a transfer student to sonoma state university in beautiful rohnert park, california last wednesday, so we were able to approach our home search with a better understanding of where he would be attending school. coupled with the knowledge that i would need relatively easy access to one of the area airports (actually, there are a few more that i now know are within a reasonable distance), we headed off to look for the perfect place to live.

here are a few things that we learned in our searches this weekend:

1. apartments within the city limits of san francisco are very difficult to obtain. there are far more people wanting to rent than there are places to rent.
   
2. many places within san francisco expect you to provide "renter's resume" (seriously, printed out as if you were applying for a job) including a list of previous landlords as references and your credit and salary information used to compare you to other potential renters


3. looking for an apartment an ENTIRE six weeks in advance is sooner than most landlords expect. apparently, its normal to sign a lease that starts a week or two later
   
4. the rental prices with san francisco neighborhoods and sometimes be directly correlated to the amount of sun that neighborhood receives


5. the price to space ratio is much higher than in chicago. on average, somewhere on the order of 2:1


6. there was little chance that we were going to live with the city limits - and we were okay with that

we (or i should say, i) started the weekend hoping that we would find a lovely home in the north bay, just over the golden gate bridge. perfect, i thought, as i searched for for apartments in san rafael, larkspur and novato within our "price range" - just 20 minutes north of san francisco, and 30 minutes south of ssu. plus, the weather is generally a little warmer after you cross the bridge, which was a huge plus, in my book. unfortunately, my dreams were dashed as we drove up to the first appointment and looked at the community. it was old and unkempt - there were bugs and cobwebs inside, the screens were bent and often gaping (explaining how the critters entered), and although the view of the mountains was fabulous, it just wasn't going to do. mark could tell that the other rental properties weren't going to provide us with the amenities and services that we were hoping for, but i was hopeful, and insisted that we venture to a few more places to before calling it quits.

by saturday afternoon, i didn't know what to think. the only nice place we had seen was just outside of sonoma, and i didn't want the long drive in to the airport (i'm not the biggest fan of a commute), however, was equally insistant that mark's drive to school not be terribly long either. the combination was NOT working.

thankfully, mark had done a lot of research over the past few months on apartments in the area, and had printed out brochure upon brochure on apartment communities in the area. we were able to use his list to find an almost new apartment community in the city of vallejo, about 30 minutes northeast of san francisco (on the way to napa), and about 45 minutes from mark's school. we were able to take advantage of a great special offer on a 2 bedroom, 2 bath unit, which we both immediately liked, and are excited that we can check a huge thing off our "san francisco to do list"!

finding a new place to live is never easy, and nothing is ever quite perfect. what will make it so, is the love that surrounds you in that place - the joy and laughter that turn a house into a home. as i remain here in san fransico after mark has returned to chicago, its funny that i'm finding myself a little homesick given that "home" will actually be "here" in just a few weeks.

i know that when we move, i'll be leaving pieces of my heart in chicago, but there's no doubt in my mind, that home for me will always be where mark is.

mark at his new school taking an apartment-finding break for a latte and cafe au lait at rose's cafe
model living room for our new vallejo, ca. apartment