My first recommendation to you is...DON'T GIVE UP! If you are looking for rental property in Portland, it is expensive, exhausting, and crazy...some of the places that I looked at...well, they just scared me. Really, truly, for $1400 I looked at a house that made my skin crawl when I left. Apartments were a bit out of the question for us, since we have two dogs and two cats. And even though some of the apartments that we were looking at took animals, truly we wondered how we would "let the dog out" in the middle of the night to pee. (and if you are a dog owner...you know that happens!). I couldn't imagine being on a third floor, getting dressed, wandering the parking lot looking for a patch of grass, at 2 am. Nope, out of the question. Another house I looked at didn't take us (hubby and I and the zoo) because we didn't have easily verifiable income (self employed). So that landlord went with the overly prepared couple( weren't they smart!) that had their pay stubs handy, references in hand, and well, they knew what they were doing and I didn't. So when I found the house pictured below, I knew it wasn't everything we were looking for but it was close.
It was tucked behind another house, it had a nice, fenced yard, it was affordable, I was prepared with a cute little letter describing what we did, how much money we made, pictures of the animals, and all the charm the hubby and I could possibly muster on a damp fall day in Portland. The house was not vacant then, the current tenants still lived here. It was horrifically warm inside, the temperature inside must have been around 80 degrees (kid you not, found out later she had a sick child, then that made sense). So we didn't stay long, we said we would like to rent it, filled out her application, and got out of the place as quickly as possible (or clothes were going to have to start coming off...).
So, when she called around and got positive feedback from our references, we had a house! Of course, I didn't remember much of the house, but I said, YEAH! and told the hubby we had a place to live. We had sold our house and had three weeks to get out...so we spent the next 3 weeks packing and working and cleaning our old house...you know, all the fun things that you do when you are moving.
She gave me the keys the Friday before the Monday that we were to move in, and that is when I took these photos. I wondered what furniture would fit, and where. I had all weekend to picture our furniture in the cottage, so imagine I did...
so the room above is what you see when you first walk in the door...
it is an open floor plan, so here is the kitchen (in the second picture of the kitchen, is the other side of the room you walk in to from the front door)...
the back yard...
this photo is of the living room...and those plastic doors (click the photo to blow up the picture)? They hide the washer and dryer (aren't those doors beautiful?). Yep, the laundry room is in the living room...didn't remember that when we first looked at the house...how convenient (sarcasm here)
this photo is of one of the bedrooms...the ceiling slants down as you walk in...
And here is another shot of the living room.
I forgot to get a picture of the other bedroom, but it is pretty normal. Except for the 1970's sliding mirrored closet doors, it is a good room.
So, this is the beginning.
Oh, the bathroom you ask? That will need to be a post all on its own.
And why the gardeners cottage?
that, too, is for another day.
If you are looking for a rental in Portland, check Craigslist every half hour...be the FIRST to call...be aggressive, be ready!!!
and good luck...
thanks for reading along...
