No longer will I spend countless hours trawling the postings no Craigslist.
No longer will I have to plan free time around house viewings.
No longer will I put things on hold until I have a permanent address.
No longer will I rely on the generosity of others to live in Vancouver.

No, my friends, I’m moving out. I finally found a place. Today, Daniel and I finally had an application accepted. On Friday we pick up the keys to our 828 sq ft, 2 bedroom, 1 1/2 bath, 29th floor apartment in the Martello Tower on Beach Avenue.

We went to see the apartment today around 2:30. This time we had a prep talk beforehand and a gameplan. We went in, made small chat, and had three big points we wanted to drop: 1) We were willing to take over the lease as soon as possible (it was advertised as available immediately); 2) We were well-paid professionals; 3) as professionals we worked 9-5 and didn’t like it noisy at night – this may have been a bit of an exaggeration, but we wanted to quell any fears that we were party animals.

The apartment is nice. It has a weird shape, because all the units are pie shaped in a circular building. But the two bedrooms are equally sized, the kitchen is decent (although the appliances were older), and the view was stunning. The location in general is amazing. The apartment is right across the street from Sunset Beach, and walking along the seawall I can get to Stanley Park or work in 20 minutes.

I was so bent on trying to convince her that she should rent to us, I didn’t even notice much of the details. I knew it was nice and the price was right – $1640 including heat, hot water, and air conditioning. There’s an outdoor, heated pool that looks like it belongs in a resort hotel.

In the elevator I made it clear that we were interested and asked if we could fill out an application and even give her a deposit right now. She seemed semi-interested, but ambivalent. I knew she had lots of interest, her cellphone kept ringing the whole time we were viewing it. She was showing it from 1-5. She gave us an application to fill out, and we sat in the lobby filling in the personal details and credit check information.

When we brought it back to her, she went over it and seeing how much we both made, she seemed more interested. After confirming we were sure about the 1 year lease, she said we could give her a deposit. I started to fill out a cheque immediately, and Daniel asked: “Umm…does that mean we get it?” When she answered yes, we were stunned. It was all wrong. We were supposed to love the place, fill out the application, and then be passed over for someone else. She liked us and wanted us to have it. I was elated and excited, but because I had given up hope weeks ago, I couldn’t help thinking something was wrong. Doubt started to creep in that we had jumped on it too soon. But I soon realized I was just surprised and everything about the place was great. Well, it didn’t have a dishwasher or balcony, but it was still pretty good.

We wandered around the neighborhood and found the necessities like the local grocery store, fruit and veggie market, bakery, and liquor mart. We went to the local watering hole and had pints of beer and nachos to celebrate. Daniel rented a bike and we cruised the area. I really like the location. And I’m ecstatic the search is over.

The views from our unit (well almost):
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I’ll post my own pictures when I get a chance to walk around with my camera.