So, I start a new job in Biloxi a week from Monday. I'm currently on the coast looking for a place to live. I have to make a decision in the next day or
two so I can move in next weekend. Due to my desire not to live in a shitbox yet not pay a grand a month on rent, I went to cragislist and found people looking
for roommates down here. After culling all of the obvious "no's" via email and phone calls, I narrowed it down to four places. I saw three today
and will see the fourth in the morning. One of the three I saw today sucked ass, was basically in the ghetto and they had three dogs and three cats. So, I
struck that one off immediately. The other two places are my problem. I really like both places enough that I can't decide which to one to go with
(assuming the one I see tomorrow isn't better than both).
I've gone in circles with this all day, so I thought I'd come to the most obvious source of wisdom on the internet to hopefully gain a different perspective on the situation and, thereby, come to a conclusion.
House A: An old, small house about four blocks from downtown Ocean Springs (which is basically a coastal version of downtown Oxford, imo). The inside is nice with hardwood floors, fresh paint, nice furniture and is very clean. My room already has a bed and dresser. They have a about a 60'' LG plasma screen with an entertainment system, speakers, etc. The bedroom is pretty small. There is only one bathroom and there would be three of us living in the house. The roommates would be a Peruvian who waits tables at a restaurant at Beau Rivage and a French guy who apparently plays poker for a living. They both kite surf and enjoy long walks on the beach. Actually, the Peruvian guy was pretty cool. He said the French guy isn't around much as he is "working" at the casino from about 11am to 3 or 4am pretty much every night. The neighborhood is nice and quiet and well within walking distance of the bars, restaurants and Tato-nuts of downtown Ocean Springs. It's a short drive over the bridge to Biloxi where I'll be working. The rent is $500 including utilities, cable and wireless internet. He's asking for a month's worth of rent for the deposit. So, I'd be out $1000 moving in.
House B: A large three bedroom house in a nice neighborhood with mostly new houses north of Pass Rd. and west of Popps Ferry in Biloxi.
There would be four people (including me) living in this house - a girl from Wisconsin and her boyfriend live in one room and a girl from Virginia lives in the other room. The only one I met was the girl with the boyfriend. She's not bad looking for a girl from Wisconsin, especially mowing the front yard with a push mower as I pulled up. Of course, she has a boyfriend living in the house. My room would be huge - probably the largest bedroom I've ever had. Walk-in closet with built-in shelves. Pretty much everything about the house is big and spacy. There's more room than they can use. They don't really have any furniture. They did have a couch and recliner in the den and a card table in the kitchen. Other than that, I'd have to haul my bedroom furniture down along with a kitchen table and probably an extra chair and couch. The backyard is awesome. It has a swimming pool (the real deal not inflatable or above ground) two picnic tables and a bar on the patio. It even has a couple of large shade trees. The rent would be $500 not including utilities. She said I would never spend more than $50 on utilities. They pirate their neighbor's wireless internet. They don't have cable or satellite but had talked about getting it (they would have to get it if I moved in). To simplify things, I'm going to call this $560 a month. There is no deposit.
So....
House A
Walking distance to downtown Ocean Springs
Quieter
Less traffic
Smaller house
Smaller bedroom
Fully furnished
$500 deposit
Legit wireless internet
Less drama with two male roommates but no chance or desire for a random getting drunk and laid night.
House B
Nice neighborhood
Not as quiet as OS
Not walking distance to anything other than the mailbox
More traffic
Probably closer to where I'll work
Much larger house
More room/more privacy
Much larger bedroom
Large backyard with pool
No deposit
$50-$60 more I'll have to shell out per month
No furniture (extra work moving in and extra work moving out when I find a place of my own several months down the road)
More potential for drama with having two female roommates (though she claimed they are very laid back) yet there might be a chance of getting drunk and laid by random chance.
So, there it is. What should I do? To be honest, now that I've typed all of this out, I'm leaning in a certain direction now. I'd still like to hear from Nafoom, though.
Edited to add: After reading through this, I would easily go with the house in Biloxi if not for the location of the house in OS.
I've gone in circles with this all day, so I thought I'd come to the most obvious source of wisdom on the internet to hopefully gain a different perspective on the situation and, thereby, come to a conclusion.
House A: An old, small house about four blocks from downtown Ocean Springs (which is basically a coastal version of downtown Oxford, imo). The inside is nice with hardwood floors, fresh paint, nice furniture and is very clean. My room already has a bed and dresser. They have a about a 60'' LG plasma screen with an entertainment system, speakers, etc. The bedroom is pretty small. There is only one bathroom and there would be three of us living in the house. The roommates would be a Peruvian who waits tables at a restaurant at Beau Rivage and a French guy who apparently plays poker for a living. They both kite surf and enjoy long walks on the beach. Actually, the Peruvian guy was pretty cool. He said the French guy isn't around much as he is "working" at the casino from about 11am to 3 or 4am pretty much every night. The neighborhood is nice and quiet and well within walking distance of the bars, restaurants and Tato-nuts of downtown Ocean Springs. It's a short drive over the bridge to Biloxi where I'll be working. The rent is $500 including utilities, cable and wireless internet. He's asking for a month's worth of rent for the deposit. So, I'd be out $1000 moving in.
House B: A large three bedroom house in a nice neighborhood with mostly new houses north of Pass Rd. and west of Popps Ferry in Biloxi.
There would be four people (including me) living in this house - a girl from Wisconsin and her boyfriend live in one room and a girl from Virginia lives in the other room. The only one I met was the girl with the boyfriend. She's not bad looking for a girl from Wisconsin, especially mowing the front yard with a push mower as I pulled up. Of course, she has a boyfriend living in the house. My room would be huge - probably the largest bedroom I've ever had. Walk-in closet with built-in shelves. Pretty much everything about the house is big and spacy. There's more room than they can use. They don't really have any furniture. They did have a couch and recliner in the den and a card table in the kitchen. Other than that, I'd have to haul my bedroom furniture down along with a kitchen table and probably an extra chair and couch. The backyard is awesome. It has a swimming pool (the real deal not inflatable or above ground) two picnic tables and a bar on the patio. It even has a couple of large shade trees. The rent would be $500 not including utilities. She said I would never spend more than $50 on utilities. They pirate their neighbor's wireless internet. They don't have cable or satellite but had talked about getting it (they would have to get it if I moved in). To simplify things, I'm going to call this $560 a month. There is no deposit.
So....
House A
Walking distance to downtown Ocean Springs
Quieter
Less traffic
Smaller house
Smaller bedroom
Fully furnished
$500 deposit
Legit wireless internet
Less drama with two male roommates but no chance or desire for a random getting drunk and laid night.
House B
Nice neighborhood
Not as quiet as OS
Not walking distance to anything other than the mailbox
More traffic
Probably closer to where I'll work
Much larger house
More room/more privacy
Much larger bedroom
Large backyard with pool
No deposit
$50-$60 more I'll have to shell out per month
No furniture (extra work moving in and extra work moving out when I find a place of my own several months down the road)
More potential for drama with having two female roommates (though she claimed they are very laid back) yet there might be a chance of getting drunk and laid by random chance.
So, there it is. What should I do? To be honest, now that I've typed all of this out, I'm leaning in a certain direction now. I'd still like to hear from Nafoom, though.
Edited to add: After reading through this, I would easily go with the house in Biloxi if not for the location of the house in OS.
"Someone with midget expertise might know. I've met several
in person and don't trust them. My biggest fear is to be driving home from work and one of those bastards pop up from the back seat and start biting me or
just anything. I die from a heart attack as soon as I see him. Most of them are very angry." - ScaldedbanditReb
