Two months ago I had to move out of a space I called "my place" for two years. It's what its owners called a "Luxury Apartment" on all their marketing literature. It was a nice two-bedroom, two-bath affair that boasted of modern (and matching) kitchen appliances--dishwasher included, and high-end fixtures. It was in fact quite luxurious with its pool, fitness center, indoor patio that made you feel like you're not in LA, hallways that smelled nice 24/7, and of course its amazing location, location, location. My roommate and I lived in Hancock Park, one of the better areas in LA where mansions and hedges abound.
We got the apartment right at the time when real estate was not at its best and so rent even for an apartment like that was more than reasonable. From 2009-2011 we basked in the joys of living in the heart of LA where everything was twenty minutes away, I used a futuristic FOB key to swipe myself in, and where my 2000 Toyota RAV 4 parked next to a Bentley in the basement garage (yes, by the way, parking was included in the rent). It was awesome.
But alas when the time came for our lease to be renewed again, the owners thought that it was about time that they put the place at par to its actual market value. So they notified us that they will be raising the rent by more than 20 percent. Just when we were about to request if they could lower the rent for loyal, good tenants like ourselves, they come at us guns blazing with a price hike. And just like that my roommate and I knew that it was time to move.
Moving apartments meant not just moving spaces, it also meant moving on to a new life. In as dramatic as it sounds, it is actually an end of an era for us. It coincided with a time when my roommate and I just finished grad school and are officially trying to figure out how to make it in Hollywood as filmmakers.
Gone will be the days when we both knew what's gonna happen next. It's not the easiest of periods for me, but it surely is the most exciting in how ridden it is with uncertainty, competition, joys over the smallest of victories, being aware of random acts of kindness from people you least expect it from, and pleasures over getting a great deal.
Gone will be the days when we both knew what's gonna happen next. It's not the easiest of periods for me, but it surely is the most exciting in how ridden it is with uncertainty, competition, joys over the smallest of victories, being aware of random acts of kindness from people you least expect it from, and pleasures over getting a great deal.
One great deal we found, for example, is the new apartment we moved into. I was really sad to leave the fancy place behind because I knew I might not get as great a place as that. Actually what I was afraid of is that, for the price that we were willing to part with, I expect that we would be would be short of slumming it while we were in this transitional phase. But still we remained optimistic!
Most people actually scoffed at all that we required and what we were willing to pay because it didn't compute: Located in Hollywood, two bedrooms, two baths, and garage parking. But my roommate and I searched and even when it got frustrating, we believed that something great would turn up.
And is it turns out, we were right. While it was smaller, the building was older, and it didn't have all deluxe amenities the old place had, we found a place that fit all the basic things we wanted (yes parking included), for the price we needed (a thousand dollars less than what the old apartment would have been), and with windows that opened to wonderful LA. It's on the top floor, with high ceilings, bright and airy, in the middle of Hollywood, walking distance to Santa Monica, Sunset and Hollywood Boulevards. We love it!
And the biggest bonus of all: On a clear day, out of our balcony window, our view opens to the Hollywood sign.
And the biggest bonus of all: On a clear day, out of our balcony window, our view opens to the Hollywood sign.
You know what they say about when God closes a door, He opens a window? Well God clearly opened a really spectacular window for us. Quite literally too. The Hollywood sign? Really? That was just an icon in my dreams before, and now, it's right there, in my back yard (Well sort of my backyard). So cool.
I don't even know why I was so worried about so many things that came with this move. Because if this is any indication, things may not turn out as planned, but things do turn out better. Yep, things are definitely looking up!
The view from my balcony at sunset. Glorious.
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