270 Days Left!!- Home Hunters...almost.

If you already didn't know, Dusty and I have a loving relationship with HGTV. We can often be found sitting together watching Love It, or List it (NOT Love it, or List it too because it is just not the same), House Hunters and every other remodel, renovation, property searching show they have. There are good things and bad things that come with watching such a channel, good being things like getting an idea of places or spaces that we could imagine ourselves in and conversations about decorating, our "Must Haves," and so on. What could the bad be you ask? Well, quite simply that I want to go find my first apartment (our first home together) NOW, not next year, and quite frankly, that is just not possible.

Even with knowing that the odds of us getting an apartment right now and still being able to pay for all of our wedding expenses are 0% (not even a million-bazillion to 1), it doesn't stop me from loging in to my Zillow app on my phone or searching the Apartment Finder website to see what is available in our price range. It is lots of fun and easier to handle then when I tricked myself into thinking we could move straight into a house (short version: we can't). The problem still remains that things that are available NOW may not be availible in Febrary-March of next year.

To try and prepare for our first home search, Dusty had a great idea to make some forms that would allow us to gather some information about each place we consider and make it easier to compare when making the final decision. I had a great idea to hire someone to film our apartment search and make our own version of House Hunters and be on HGTV! While my plan was brilliant...we decided to go with Dusty's plan.

If you do not get this reference, go watch Meet the Robinsons right NOW!

Now the question is, what information should we look for in a living space? Here is what we know:

• We only want to live there for about a year or so while we save as much as we can for a decent down-payment on our first house.
• We only need a 2 bedroom for this time span.
• If we are only staying a year, school ratings aren't a huge deal. If we stay longer, they are.
• We want to feel safe in our location.
• We want just basics so that we can save as much as possible, but don't want to live in a wreck either.

Here is where you come in: What do you look for when selecting an apartment? What should be most important? What do you wish you knew about your apartment or lease before you signed it?

All help given will be appreciated greatly!

That's all for now, I will let you know what our forms end up including, and I can picture some "Must Have" lists popping up in here somewhere.