Shifting out soon

My current lease with Broadview will end by 28 Feb 2007. They are raising the rent to $705 from $670, including only water and gas. Let me quote you a sentence which I found amusing "Management strives to keep costs at a minimum, but in order to maintain the high standard of living and service to which you've become accustomed, we find it necessary to increase rents at certain intervals". What nonsense! I am not buying this, so I am shifting out.

For the past two weeks, I had been looking for a place to rent for another year. I began sending out advertisement to the Chinese Association mailing list, asking around and searching the internet. A good website was http://baltimore.craigslist.org/ where I found several places. Some were located in an unsafe neighbourhood or the common area was messy where you had to share with five strangers for cheaper rents. Other considerations were the timing of shifting in, the number of housemates, duration of lease, proximity to workplace.

After weighing the pros and cons, I decided to rent a room from a 2 bedroom/2 bathroom condo unit at $650/mth which includes electricity, water, gas, cable TV, internet, local phone and private laundry. I have my own bathroom. My room looks out into the greenery and it has sunshine coming in. I cannot stand living in the basement where I cannot see the sun. As the landlord just bought the unit last July, everything is new. All I have to do is to bring my luggage and cooking items. The condo has tight security, a rooftop pool and gym facilities. Also, I will be a stone throw away from the shuttle stop where I go to work.

To conclude, I will give up my 'freedom' to share with someone whom I hope we can be great friends (instead of coming back to an empty apartment) and paying lower rent to maintain the high standard of living and service to which I've become accustomed.

PS: Those who want to bet on 4-digit system, try 1011 which is my new unit number.