Found a house on Craigslist!

*Disclaimer: I did not proofread this due to laziness and the length of the post. If I have made spelling or grammatical errors, please look passed them, I apologize.






I was pitched the idea to add to my blog every Wednesday, since I have Wednesday's off. Not a bad idea at all.


Per my previous blog posts recounting the weeks before I actually left Indiana, I had mentioned that I had 3 major obstacles that I had not completed, yet. I needed to buy a new car to actually make the 1,250 mile journey down. I needed a job to sustain myself, of course. And finally, I needed a place to live. An intelligent individual would have perused Craigslist and Apartment Agent's for several weeks trying to find something within the budget, likeness, and safety of said individual. I, on the other hand, decided to find the place with the lowest price that was accepting of out-of-state visitor's as quickly as possible.


In all honesty, I actually found a place with these 2 guys that seemed laid back and cool, 2 weeks before I was leaving. The problem was, after our "phone interview" he stated that I "sounded like an awesome dude" and would "talk it over with the third guy" and call me back. *cricket, cricket* 6 days go by and I don't hear anything from these guys. "Great" I think to myself. "What the eff am I supposed to do? I leave in 7 days" So, I hastily jumped BACK on Craigslist and found someone posting a 3 bedroom house with 1 vacant room for $275/month. "Not bad at all" I say. The previous house was asking $500/month. I call up the number and speak to a female about the room available and she states she needs to speak with her boyfriend and get back to me. Well, she's calling me back 3hrs later. Perfect! They invite me to their house and we instantly have something in common as the boyfriend is from Iowa and we reminisce about the "Midwest". So, 7 days before I'm to depart on this epic of journey's, I finally find a place to actually live!


The guys with the first house actually ended up calling me back the day before I was to leave. The reason for the delay was that they had a close friend that needed a place to stay and they offered it to him after speaking to me. The guy declined 5 days later and then they fell back to me as the next candidate. I apologized and thank them but informed them that I found a place to stay. 


Fast forward to my arrival in front of the Craigslist House.


I get out of my car and walk up to the door. The outside of the house is pale tan colored brick. The driveway is literally cracked in half horizontally, as if a mini earthquake were localized underneath. The concrete closest to the house was 6 inches higher than the concrete toward the end of the driveway. And old late 90's teal Toyota Camry the sole car parked up by the garage door. Later, I find that this car hasn't moved in at least a year due to some rather.... interesting circumstances. Bottom line, you don't park in the driveway, street parking only.


I knock on the door and the female I had been speaking with about the house opens up. She is much shorter than I, at 5'3 with short dark brown hair, almost black. She has black glasses with dark eyes. She was fairly petite, wearing skinny jeans and a sweater.  Appearance wise, I am not attracted to her, which is good since I would be living with her and her boyfriend. I introduce myself and she invites me inside. 


I walk inside and the first thing I notice are the dingy carpets. What used to be a light gray short cut carpet, was now dull and littered with dark black circles randomly throughout the entire living room. "Great, nasty carpet" I think. To the right is a piano with mail piled up on the bench and piano keys, area. Next to the piano is a chair. It's like a large pale yellow chair for 1 or 2 people depending on girth. Magazines, books, papers, dog toys cover this chair leaving little to no room to sit. To the left was the the TV area. There was an entertainment center with massive speaks place in it. This area was cluttered with a VCR, Nintendo Wii, a 27 inch tube TV, DVD Player, record player, more speakers that were not connected, and a couch. The couch I can only describe as a style of "Modern" I suppose. It was definitely hipster to say the least. Very awkwardly shaped, stiff, and uncomfortable. A coffee table in front of the couch held assorted items such as glasses, bowls, plates, and miscellaneous objects. A strange smell permeated throughout the house which I can only describe as, skunky.


The house was very small and with all the clutter, the area's seemed even more constricted. The living room lead to the kitchen and to a hallway which you could turn right to go down. I walked into the kitchen to meet this girl's boyfriend. He was in the kitchen cooking something. Turns out he's actually a decent cook.  We get introductions out of the way and just chit chat for about 10 minutes. He is also wearing black glasses. His hair is very shaggy and black in color. He's pretty thin, himself. He's about my height, almost. I would say around 6'0. He's also rocking skinny jeans and a blue flannel shirt (odd). He seems pretty easy to talk too, but I can talk to anyone.


I'm finally shown my bedroom. The room is empty, save for a futon that I had arrange with the previous occupant of the room to leave for me for a fee. He also left a nightstand which was pretty awesome. The room I stayed in was pretty clean, actually. Only a few spots on the carpet and some random loose change laying sporadically. The carpet was the same type as in the living room, except it was light gray and quite fluffy. A predecessor of the living room's former self.


The room the couple stayed in was just to the left of my room. Their room, much like the rest of the house, was a cluttered mess. Random items all over the bed, floor, walls, dresser, everywhere. There was a computer desk right when you entered which is where the boyfriend stayed pretty much all the time, I later learn. This room was where the intense smell was emanating from.


The room to the left of them was the other occupant. I literally only spoke with him about 4 times over the next 2 weeks. He was gone or asleep almost all 14 days. We ended up talking and hanging out a few times. He was from Louisiana and would just fill me in on the culture, there. 


The kitchen and the bathroom were probably the worst. The kitchen had pots and pans everywhere, dishes strewn all over the sink and counter tops. 


The bathroom wasn't too bad until you stepped into the shower. Above the shower on the ceiling, nothing but black spots all over, which I learned was Black Mold. It actually ended up effecting me after a couple months which sucked. The bathroom was  very small and had a plastic organizer about 3ft tall against the wall across from the toilet which took up lot of space.


Now, I could continue this way in great detail, only to find out 4hrs later that I have only described 1/8th of my entire experience in this place. I won't due that, because I don't want to sit here and continue on in such a mundane fashion. I'll try to touch on the major stuff and try to filter out the small stuff. Though it would make for "some" interesting reading, it's just not needed for the overall effect.


I lived there 3 months and the following transpired. I found out the smell I kept smelling was actually weed. Marijuana, if you want to be politically correct. I've been around weed before, I just didn't recognize the smell. Had a buddy who smoked which doesn't bother me. I don't smoke because it effects me negatively, it's gross, and I hate inhaling things. Doesn't bother me of people who do smoke, however. Well, Austin is pretty huge for it's leniency on pot. A ton of people do smoke down here and if you DON'T smoke, you're the odd one out. Quite different than it was back home. Ok, cool, so they smoke, whatever. It doesn't bother me and they were smoking in their room, not near me, all good. 


Fast forward a month and the guy in the other bedroom starts chit chatting with me while the couple is out and about. He asks me "Don't you think it's weird that he has a bunch of strangers over frequently throughout the week?" I start to think about it and he was right. The boyfriend would constantly have visitors that would walk to his room, they would push the door half closed and talk. After 10 minutes, the stranger would leave. Rinse, repeat with about 10 people over the course of a week. "He's selling weed" the roommate states. "Holy shit... I never made the connection!" I say, startled. We're both drinking and basically agree that we each need to find a different place to live in case the house was busted and they tag everyone with known possession. 


That was one of the first dramatic secrets I found out. Next, I find out why they don't leave the house too often. The female walks everywhere and the boyfriend only drives to the gas station for beer and to the bank about once a week. He was ALWAYS home! Found out that he was unemployed and had been on unemployment for upwards of a year and a half. He was not actively looking for work and was half-assing his college classes that he was attending. Basically, it all comes up and he states that he and his girlfriend have extreme social anxiety issues and weed is the only thing that calms them. He was literally hitting a bong every hour. I can't imagine the consistent levels of THC he held, daily. Then, at night, he would throw down a six pack with me. Insane! I then asking about the driving situation and how I had observed him not leaving the house too often. Found out that the female had several parking violations that she tried fighting and lost. Turns out she had a warrant for her arrest for other fee's dealing with her automobile. He, had expired Iowa tags, no valid driver's license, and he, too, had a warrant for his arrest for driving issues due to speeding tickets. I was floored! These guys were a piece of work.


I got along with both of them, decently. I just didn't have the greatest respect for them. I almost always ate out instead of trying to cook in the kitchen. Oh, I also killed 3 cockroaches in the kitchen, as well. The response I was given was "Oh, yeah, they're everywhere down here." In the past year since I left that house I have not ONCE seen another cockroach in ANY of the places I have lived.... interesting...


Most notable frustrations: The internet was turned off 4 times in those 3 months up to a few days at a time. The water was turned off due to non-payment, once. I ended up having to shower at work during those days. The couple fought all the time. Shouting matches in their room and in the kitchen, quite often. Made common actions like going to the bathroom, very awkward. We had 5 people sharing 1 bathroom which was annoying.


The lease ended in April of that year but I wanted to get the hell out of that house. I found a place, again on Craigslist, that was a few miles south of Austin. I made arrangements and moved out March 1st. Beyond all of the nuances that occurred, the folks were nice, just not my type of people. Very hipster-y with a lot of things not in common with each other. I was glad to get out of there. It was definitely an experience. 


I'm sure I'm leaving something out, but I can't remember. We never had any issues with police, thank goodness. I ended up driving the female to work 4 days out of the week because she didn't want to walk. She said she would compensate me for gas. After 3 weeks I approached them and she acted all offended when I stated she said she would pay me SOMETHING for my time and gas to run her to work and pick her up consistently due to her legal issues. I think that's about it.


I was thankful I found that house, to be honest. Yeah it sucked, yeah it was terrible and cluttered and gross. It pissed off my brain's need for organized cleanliness. But, the fact that they were only charging me $275/month saved my butt. I received my first paycheck from Progressive the DAY I ran out of all of my money I brought with me. I withdrew the last $1.45 from my checking account to grab a Pepsi on the way to work and was paid the following morning. It was truly a blessing for it to work out like that. If I had gotten that call back from those guys with the first house, I would have run out of money and would probably not be here still, I fear.


I feel that it was a necessary sacrifice to live here in Austin. I feel as if I was charged an entrance fee to become a resident. 


"If you can last in this terrible habitat, you can stay"


Well, you can suck it. I found a job. I withstood the horrors of sucky living conditions. And I have been happy ever since! Save for my job, of course.


Hope you guys enjoyed my very first 3 months in Austin! It was a crazy experience but I made it through! Hopefully I can dive into the house I moved into after this one, next week!