Well, I got back from Raleigh an hour ago, about an hour later than anticipated. Phoenix (Sky Harbor) airport seems to suck in the evenings. The two times I recall passing through there have been too many planes trying to leave at the same time. But I digress…

The trip can be considered a success, as I accomplished what I went to do: find a place to rent. My parents flew down from Delaware to help me in the hunt, as I only allocated 2 days in which to search. Saturday night I made my long list, from the Apartment Guide my dad found at the airport, plus what I had found on the various websites. Sunday morning, before most opened at 1pm, we drove around and eliminated several and generated the short list.

Saturday afternoon we visited as many as were open. The first one (The Lodge) we visited blew me away, and set quite a high standard. It tried to market its social activities and _resort_ stylings. The units were nice, albeit somewhat small, but it was near the new mega-mall. The only other left in the running was Alta Springs, which was near a very nice development.

This morning we went to look at one more, Notting Hill, just to find out they are currently filled. The sales person recommended we check out a sister property in Durham, which we did on a long shot. Dad nearly u-turned after some mixed signals were passed, but we did visit and were all blown away. All of the property of Alta Trace is very nicely kept and the units are quite spacious. The main issue for me was the location, as it is only really close to downtown Durham (my least favourite city). It is roughtly 15 minutes to Raleigh and Chapel Hill, and probably around 20 minutes to work with no traffic. I and my parents gradually convinced myself that this was close enough not to shut me off from frequenting places I might be interested in. And fantastically, it is convenient to a large number of big highways, 40, 70, 55, 54, and 147.

So, surprising myself, I signed an agreement for an 8-month lease on a 1209 sq/ft 2BD/2BA apartment. So, now I’ll be living in Alta Trace, on Lion Stone Drive in Durham. I’m fairly sure of the unit I’ll be getting, and I agreed to move in September 20th! So woot, I’ve got an apt. And yes, it is quite an apt apt.