Current Events > Apartment hunting sucks. :-/

(+) Yeah! (+)

Looking for a new apartment and I'm not having any luck so far. Every time I find a listing that looks decent, I'll look up the place and find some reviews and they're all negative, with some serious horror stories. And sometimes it doesn't even make sense. One place was listed as 4 stars (out of 5) based on 3 reviews. But when you look at the 3 reviews, they were two 1-star reviews and a 2-star review. How the fuck does that even work? Did they just total them up to get the 4 stars? O_o

Also, there's nothing available anywhere close to where I work. My commute is pretty much guaranteed to increase, which isn't exactly what I was hoping for. I really do need to get my own place, though, so I'll deal with it. I just wish I had some better options to choose from.

I haven't gone to look at anywhere just yet. Going to do that this weekend, hopefully, just to get a better idea of what I'm really looking at in the listings. But still...it's turning out to be far more of a pain in the ass than I'd hoped it would be. I didn't expect it to be easy, obviously, because it's a big decision. But ffs, there is just nothing around here to pick from. And half of the few places that are listed are in an area that I really don't want to live in.

Shit sucks, man. ;_;
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Take the reviews with a pinch of salt. People leave reviews when they've had a bad time (or just because they're dicks), nobody leaves a positive review after moving out of a place. Go see the place, ask all the right questions and use your own judgment.

Only time I'd be concerned about reviews is if there were lots of reviews with the same consistent complaint, e.g. "landlord keeps walking in unannounced" or "upstairs neighbours party 4x a week till 3am"
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Try apartment hunting when you don't speak or understand the language in the slightest. I've pretty much given up on finding something new right now on my own. Definitely going to need help to find one.
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I had to learn to stop putting so much weight into reviews when looking for a place tbh. It's not like restaurants where people are happy to share their positive experience, most folks only ever review an apartment because they had a poor experience. There were likely hundreds if not thousands of tenants who otherwise had no issues.

pinky0926 posted...

Only time I'd be concerned about reviews is if there were lots of reviews with the same consistent complaint, e.g. "landlord keeps walking in unannounced" or "upstairs neighbours party 4x a week till 3am"

This, if some place has like 20 reviews that all mention shit parking or sketchy security then that helps, but if there are only 3 reviews of people who are just bitching about one problem they had then you are probably okay.
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I'm just posting to echo posts 2 and 4. People are much more likely to complain about a bad experience than give praise for a good one. If a place only has three bad reviews over the course of a few years then take it with a grain of salt. If people are leaving one star reviews every month than there may be cause for concern.
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pinky0926 posted...

Take the reviews with a pinch of salt. People leave reviews when they've had a bad time (or just because they're dicks), nobody leaves a positive review after moving out of a place.

Well yeah, I know that much. If you just had a normal time living somewhere you're not going to go out of your way to review it. It's only the people who had a noteworthy or exceptional experience that are going to review, good or bad. But many of the complaints are concerning enough even if it was just a 1-off, like someone finding a puddle of urine and unidentifiable fecal matter in the stairwell of a place that doesn't allow pets...and then it taking 3 days for maintenance to go clean it up. >_>

Still, despite the annoyance and frustration I'm dealing with right now, I'm still excited to be moving out. I've been saving up to be able to do this for a while now, and it feels good to finally be doing something about it instead of just sitting there and thinking "won't that be nice" all the time.
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MuayThai85 posted...

Try apartment hunting when you don't speak or understand the language in the slightest. I've pretty much given up on finding something new right now on my own. Definitely going to need help to find one.

Maybe you shouldnt live in a place where you cant fucking understand anyone? Unless you were forcefully exiled from your own country, I dont see why anyone would be dumb enough to live in a place without bothering to learn the language.
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Have you ever learned a language in 2 months? No? Then shut the fuck up.
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MuayThai85 posted...

Have you ever learned a language in 2 months? No? Then shut the fuck up.

Why would you need to leave in 2 months? You literally have no excuse to move to a country without taking enough time to learn the basics of the language.
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It's called a job offer you inept troll. Should I have told them "Can we wait a year while I attempt to learn the language because some troll on a message board claims you shouldn't move to a country unless you already know the language?"

I guess the millions of ESL teachers around the world should have refused their job offers as well.
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Yes, you should have. Or get a job in the country you live in, where you already know the language.
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Yep, definitely a pathetic attempt at trolling.
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MuayThai85 posted...

Should I have told them "Can we wait a year while I attempt to learn the language

yes
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Aristoph posted...

Well yeah, I know that much. If you just had a normal time living somewhere you're not going to go out of your way to review it. It's only the people who had a noteworthy or exceptional experience that are going to review, good or bad. But many of the complaints are concerning enough even if it was just a 1-off, like someone finding a puddle of urine and unidentifiable fecal matter in the stairwell of a place that doesn't allow pets...and then it taking 3 days for maintenance to go clean it up. >_>

Still, despite the annoyance and frustration I'm dealing with right now, I'm still excited to be moving out. I've been saving up to be able to do this for a while now, and it feels good to finally be doing something about it instead of just sitting there and thinking "won't that be nice" all the time.

Without wanting to play devil's advocate too much that can literally happen anywhere. Maybe there was a bystander effect and no one reported the mess for 3 days, and they had a bi-weekly stairwell cleaning roster. If that issue was compounded with other reviews all complaining about the cleanliness it might be another thing...

In that instance I'd want to go look at the building, should be able to tell in an instant how clean and maintained it actually is.

I relate this back to an anecdote of an experienced chef friend of mine who went to a ramen restaurant I highly recommended and ended up with food poisoning. Afterwards I quipped "Well I guess you won't be going back there again!" and he just said "Nah, it was delicious! Best ramen I've had in a while. Food poisoning can happen literally anywhere."
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How can you even teach something when you cant even understand the students?

Are you just gonna stand in front of them shouting out random english words with no context for 8 hours and hope they learn what means what?
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Chicken posted...

How can you even teach something when you cant even understand the students?

Are you just gonna stand in front of them shouting out random english words with no context for 8 hours and hope they learn what means what?

(Excuse my typing, my tablet is being slow today)

It's called a total immersion clasroo, and for young students, it is proven to work. It isn't just spoken language. There Is a lot of really interesting psychology behind it.

They ften usually have a native speaer in the classroom to help in case things go wrng.

On the flip side, in many countrie,s there arent any natives who can teach the other language with understanding, context, or fluency.
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And other countries often have a base foundation for English, unlike the US where second languages arent enforced in schools.
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Chicken posted...

How can you even teach something when you cant even understand the students?

Are you just gonna stand in front of them shouting out random english words with no context for 8 hours and hope they learn what means what?

You obviously don't have any understanding of the industry then. The majority of schools don't want teachers who can speak the language, that's the job of the assistant (local obviously).

And fucking lol if you think that all the teacher does is shout out random English words at the students. There is courseware for a reason that is based on the students level of English... You use visual references for young learners as well...
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Chicken posted...

How can you even teach something when you cant even understand the students?

Are you just gonna stand in front of them shouting out random english words with no context for 8 hours and hope they learn what means what?

So clearly you have never been in a classroom before. And of course you were fluent in english from the moment you were born, right? No. You started learning the language by someone saying "apple" and then pointing to a picture of an apple.

Now stop trolling MuayThai. If you don't have something to contribute to the topic, shut the fuck up and go away. -_-
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The people that write those reviews are also the slobs that for the most part create the shitty conditions they're complaining about and have been kicked out so they write nasty reviews.

Just take your time. You never make a big decision in a hurry.
I went through apartment hunting drama for my lunatic aunt last year. You want a horror story. She's 76. She gets irritated by neighbors extremely easily over stuff everyone else would ignore. "They talk to me too much. They leave their light on." etc. So much so that she moves every few years. And when she decides to move it's all of a sudden. And I mean today she says she's thinking of moving and needs to look for a new place. Tomorrow she's already called the manager that's she's leaving and to shut off the utilities in a few days. This level of insanity. No looking. No taking her time. Just wild hair up her ass and now she has to move. Here's her laundry list of what she wants but with the caveat of it having to be within walking distance of the church. That's insanely limiting. Well last time she suggested moving in with me. Uhhhhhh not just no but hell no. Then we all have to hear absolute bs and this is a direct quote, 'Well I guess god just doesn't want me to be able to live in this town." Pull your head from your ass for a moment please. She ended up finding literally a converted garage circa the 1930s at a higher price than what she had and a few blocks further away. All because people saying good morning is a massive annoyance.
I would feel a little sorry for her but she brings it on herself. Plus the never ending self-flagellation talk about her suffering without nicer things is for god. Yeah.
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_____Cait posted...

Chicken posted...

How can you even teach something when you cant even understand the students?

Are you just gonna stand in front of them shouting out random english words with no context for 8 hours and hope they learn what means what?

(Excuse my typing, my tablet is being slow today)

It's called a total immersion clasroo, and for young students, it is proven to work. It isn't just spoken language. There Is a lot of really interesting psychology behind it.

They ften usually have a native speaer in the classroom to help in case things go wrng.

On the flip side, in many countrie,s there arent any natives who can teach the other language with understanding, context, or fluency.

That last part is spot on. The majority of local English teachers are fucking terrible at English. The head of the English Department at my school in Thailand couldn't speak English so everything had to be done via writing because she could at least read and write. Thai and Chinese English teachers for example have insanely bad pronunciation, so bad that native English speakers won't understand what they are trying to say at times. Local English teachers are typically used to teach grammar, reading and writing. If the schools can afford it then they'll get NES teachers to teach conversation and proper pronunciation.

I taught IEP (Intensive English Program) for 2 years, the students did all their classes in Thai and then I taught them the same subjects in English (Math, Science, English and Social Studies). In these classes everything was taught in English only and the students were only allowed to speak in English (difficult to get grade 1/2 students to do but they did a decent job of it). The majority of my students in grade 1 could barely speak a word of English at the beginning, at the end of the 2nd year most could have a basic conversation with me (there were a few who were only in the class because their family was rich even though the student couldn't comprehend anything she was learning).

My current job is almost exclusively about pronunciation. In less than 6 weeks my first class has made very noticeable progress in their pronunciation. They are even able to pronounce words like xylophone with near perfect pronunciation (the Chinese teacher had to ask me how to pronounce it because even she couldn't correctly).
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Aristoph posted...

Chicken posted...

How can you even teach something when you cant even understand the students?

Are you just gonna stand in front of them shouting out random english words with no context for 8 hours and hope they learn what means what?

So clearly you have never been in a classroom before. And of course you were fluent in english from the moment you were born, right? No. You started learning the language by someone saying "apple" and then pointing to a picture of an apple.

Now stop trolling MuayThai. If you don't have something to contribute to the topic, shut the fuck up and go away. -_-

I learned french in school. The french teacher wasnt some idiot who couldnt speak any english, so we could actually ask questions if we didnt understand something. Not my fault this guy isnt smart enough to figure it out.
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fyi guiz chicken is a known shitposter, no need to pay him any mind.
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pinky0926 posted...

fyi guiz chicken is a known shitposter, no need to pay him any mind.

who even are you lmao. why would you show up and not even contribute anything?
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Not contributing anything is infinitely preferable to...whatever it is you're up to
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pinky0926 posted...

Not contributing anything is infinitely preferable to...whatever it is you're up to

Discussing the topic at hand? I can see why youd be confused.
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(b")b
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Chicken posted...

pinky0926 posted...

Not contributing anything is infinitely preferable to...whatever it is you're up to

Discussing the topic at hand? I can see why youd be confused.

The topic at hand is hunting for an apartment. I'm not at all surprised you're confused, tbh.
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I just want to know why 99% of the apartments in Miami I've been looking at don't have central air conditioning (in Miami) or their own washer/dryer.
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Aristoph posted...

Chicken posted...

pinky0926 posted...

Not contributing anything is infinitely preferable to...whatever it is you're up to

Discussing the topic at hand? I can see why youd be confused.

The topic at hand is hunting for an apartment. I'm not at all surprised you're confused, tbh.

And the topic changed to why someone would be dense enough to move to a country without bothering to learn any of the language first. Sorry if you were unable to catch that. Perhaps we should slow down the discussion a bit so no one else gets left behind.
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For what its worth The property management company that I rent through has terrible reviews. I've never had any kind of problem with them. They've been great on repairs and just about anything i need.
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deupd_u posted...

I just want to know why 99% of the apartments in Miami I've been looking at don't have central air conditioning (in Miami) or their own washer/dryer.

Well, the washer/dryer thing is understandable, tbh. Most apartments don't have hookups in the apartment and just use a communal laundry room. Especially if the water bill is included in the rent. Which is unfortunate, because it's one of the very few real desires I have when it comes to amenities. I don't really cook much, so kitchen-wise I'm fine as long as it's got a refrigerator and a microwave. Decent heating is necessary, but I don't really like air conditioning. We had a/c in our duplex in college and I couldn't stand when my roommates turned it on. The hotter the better, imo. Nothing beats a nice warm breeze, so a window and a fan is all I need in the summer.

Sadly, the only place I've found within my budget so far that has a washer/dryer hookup in the apartment was one of the ones in the kinda sketchy area that I don't want to live in.
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TheBiggerWiggle posted...

I'm just posting to echo posts 2 and 4. People are much more likely to complain about a bad experience than give praise for a good one. If a place only has three bad reviews over the course of a few years then take it with a grain of salt. If people are leaving one star reviews every month than there may be cause for concern.

And certain experiences are also to be expected depending on your price range. People leave negative reviews for getting nickle and dimed or perceived shakedowns, but thats basically standard across the board.
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It could be worse. I live in Tokyo and I once applied for a decent apartment that I could easily afford. I submitted all the requirements to the real estate agent (bank statements, payslips, proof of employment, etc.). Also, I was the only one applying for the place at that time. However, I didnt get the place. The landlords reason? Its that I wasnt Japanese. Thats it. Again, I was the only one applying for the place, so this landlord would rather lose months worth of rent (plus the hefty deposit) than house a non-Japanese.

Got really bummed by that one, thankfully I found another place with a non-racist landlord.

The Japanese are extremely xenophobic so can't say I'm surprised they did that. Out of all the countries I've been to, Japan is the one where I was made to feel most uncomfortable.
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Give Jeff Goldblum a call.
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