Living Conditions.....

I've been looking for a new place to live for the last month or two. My lease is up in May and I want to get a new place by myself for the first time in 3 years or so. No more living with girlfriends, roommates, friends etc. I lived alone for 9 years and want to go back to those "glory days." Don't get me wrong, I've had some really great experiences and had a great deal of fun the last few years, but I want to do the alone thing for a while. The next person I live with is going to be the person I plan on marrying. I suppose I won't necessarily have to be engaged to them, but I'll have to be sure it's headed in that direction.

So, I tried finding a place on my own, without the help of a real estate agent. I was not having much luck. So on Wednesday I called a real estate agent in my town and she told me about a few places that were listed with her agency. Yesterday, we went and looked at some of these places. What I found amazing is that nobody bothers to clean their apartment when they know people are coming over to view it. Maybe they don't care because they are moving soon, but why wouldn't the landlord MAKE them clean it up? Yesterday I saw everything from sinks full of dirty dishes, garbage pails overflowing and smelling, a girl's dirty thong on the bedroom floor, an unflushed toilet, dirty clothes thrown everywhere......as I saw all this I wondered how people live. How could they live in conditions that are disguisting? I know I am a bit of a neat freak, but I am talking real dirty places. The thing is, these places by the ocean are not cheap.....an average ONE bedroom apartment is about $1200.00 where you really don't get much at all. I've always treated the places I've rented like I've owned them and always left the place in BETTER condition than I found it. I've always done small improvements and increased the value in some way for the owner. Most of all, I've kept the places spotless. Some of the bathroom tiles in these places looked like they have not been cleaned since the tenants took over the apartments. How could people hop in a shower that dirty? I've always wondered why when people come to my house they always say how nice it's kept and how clean it is. To me it's normal. But now that I've really seen how some people live, I suppose I can understand. It's fine if people want to live a certain way, but when other people have to view the apartment, at least have the courtesy to put your dirty underwear in the hamper!