Renter Beware

Florida is, as promised, sunny. OK; not sunny today but most of the time it is. We weren't very sunny when we arrived here having opted to drive longer than planned and not spend a night in a motel when we could get to our destination before 9pm. With our newly acquired GPS, we could tell the landlady exactly when we'd be arriving and so it was.

Despite her assurances to meet us, she wasn't here. First bad sign. Gone to grab a quick bite, a neighbour told us. Eventually she showed up with her dad in tow (89 and about to turn 90 the next day). We slowly followed dad and her up the steps to our unit. Inside we had the whirlwind tour and as she was extolling her honesty and the cleanliness of the apt. & using the word "immaculate" I was staring at a dirty stove and a worrisome rain-stained ceiling. I was really wondering if she was perhaps blind. Second bad sign.

I should have pointed out my vision of this little shop of horrors then and there but I was a little shell-shocked being car-bound for 12 hours plus hubby had made a left hand turn almost into a ditch having missed a "street" which dear old GSP guided him to. As he backed out of that, with cars coming at us in the dark, I was sure we'd have a collision. I guess that was really the beginning of this little saga. All I really wanted to do, as she showed me the place, was to fall in bed. But no, "let me show you the pool and community centre." Zombie-like I followed. I mentioned friends were also staying here so next thing you know, landlady's knocking on their door. They're also renting from her. While it's all nice to say hello quickly, this wasn't quick. Our friends were glad to see the landlady as they had a list of things they were unhappy about or missing. Bad sign #3.

Finally we rid ourselves of the landlady (who, it turns out is really NOT the landlady but acting on behalf of her "friend" D who'll be coming down in a couple of days). We're beat and fall into bed. I awake but feel absolutely blue knowing in the light of day I'm going to have to do a more thorough check of the place. Things are surface clean, as if someone did the bare minimum. But the kitchen floor, fridge, stove and cupboards need scrubbing. We should have called friends to put us up and left then. But oh no...we buy cleaning supplies and get 'er done. Bad sign #4.

There's a mop but no pail. There's an ironing board but no iron. There's a sink but no dish rack nor towels. There's a new washer & dryer but landlady says it's not for our use; we have to use the laundry mat around the corner. What!!?? There's cable in both bedrooms but no TVs. The baseboards everywhere, white, are black with dust. The windows and windowsills - you don't wanna know. We're disheartened & should have been assertive with our dear landlady but no, we just get to it & clean. First bad move. Once all is clean, I feel better. Another friend in another area which we love offers a phone number to another place there. But we feel we're over the worst. This place is spacious and while definitely not modern (as my friend P says "a little tired"), will do now that it's clean. We give the number to our friends (the first ones with the list). Second bad move.

We give the landlady our list (iron, pail, dishrack, toaster, blender, bdrm TV, fix the patio screen [another story], cupboard liners [she or someone had started scraping the liners out of a couple of cupboards and just left the tool and scratched up liner there], strainer, patio chairs, oven mitts, and bedroom wastebaskets). She promises to get the items but its 4 days before she shows up with anything. Needless to say, we aren't eating toast for breakfast.

Our friends made the call and move into the new place. It's lovely, has everything including a different landlady, back balcony and front lanai AND it's cheaper! What the Hell were we thinking? We still don't have a toaster let alone a balcony and we gave that number away? Third bad move plus the ignomy of kicking ourselves for our own stupidity.

But it's not all bad. We can walk to the grocery store, the gym (named anytime cuz you can go "anytime"), church, etc. The pool is across the street and is a wonderful temperature and surrounded with chaise lounges. There is a BBQ, and a piano in the community centre so I can continue with my piano lessons. Our downstairs neighbours are wonderful and also happen to be the president and vice-president respectively of the condo corporation we're in. Both beds are king-like, meaning, they are king by virtue of two twin beds pushed together. The trick to making whoopee is to maneouvre so you're not about the fall through the crack! The landscaping is lovely, we're not on a busy street so it's very quiet. They don't seem to believe in water conservation (despite signs to the contrary) and the shower, compared to our lowflow at home, gives us copious amounts of water. We're still within walking distance of 3 other couples we know, one of whom we golf with.

On day 4, landlady shows up with most of the stuff on our list. We're in the toasting business again. But, bad sign #5, we mention that we'll be having guests. Sorry, she says. Guests can't stay beyond 2 weeks and we have a couple coming for a month. She asks for Jan and Feb rent. I tell her our deposit was to cover Jan and we only owe for Feb & Mar. These two things are my breaking point. I tell her that in that case I guess we won't be staying. I get on my soapbox. I turn into the horrible little bureaucrat I could sometimes be. Yes: Jekyll & Hyde, that's me. I let her have it. I set her straight about the rent & that she won't get a penny until Feb 1 and Mar 1 roll around. I tell her I'll be speaking to the condo prez & vice-prez about the guest limitation. I let her have it about the condition of the place. She asked why I hadn't complained about the cleanliness problem the first day. I said she'd had 6 months to get this place clean and what would one more day do? I was very stiff with her and was almost feeling bad when she apologized.

And it's funny. The longer you stay in a place, the more comfortable you get. It's really a pleasant place and now that most of the hurdles have been jumped, I could even recommend it. The prez said our guests could stay the month if they liked, no problem. He then showed us his place which is for sale and it's lovely and really IMMACULATE in the true sense of the word. Unfortunately, we're not in the market to buy. But we have decided to try to get over to where our first friend is staying as it's just more our style.

I knew going into this that taking a place sight unseen was a risk and as far as risks go, it wasn't that bad; however, we're now here a week and we have not unpacked as we expect to move at month's end. I've scanned the ads and have 2 possibles set up to view this week. Keep your fingers crossed that all goes well. Worst case scenario? We stay here. There are now mostly pluses to staying so who knows? One thing is for sure, we'll certainly know better next year and hope to lock into a place this year for next year so we don't go through this again.