Pre-planning meeting

Okay, I admit it. I may be swinging over to the dark side.

I actually went to Craigslist.

(Please forgive me)

So, the deal is that I'm starting to look at apartments - or, to be more accurate, starting look at places to look for apartments. That's the trouble, really. Most of the places you'd look just don't have that many listings for where I want to be, or when they do they're on the high end. That's because they usually charge the rental companies to list or fees when a place is rented through them, so only the higher-end places will afford it.

I've probably been through 10 or 15 different sites and options, and they all have variations of the same listings. So, I decided to go the more local-rag-mag route. I figure Craigslist falls in about the same category (at least for rentals).

So, yeah, that's the logic. And boy howdy does it seem to be right. I mean, there's probably less "management" of the listings on Craigslist (there're a lot of duplicates), but there are so many more listings that it doesn't matter. I'm not quite ready to start hitting the pavement - I need to wait a week or two for funds - but at least now I've got a lot more options.

... Everyone here's probably getting sick of me writing about moving and/or debt. So, here's something different.

Where should I take my vacation this year? I've already scheduled off 6/25 through 7/4, so I've got 9 nights to play with. Here are some of the options.

1) Go someplace I've been and like (namely, Maui, Guerneville, or Big Bear)
2) Go someplace similar to a place I've been and like but still local-ish, but to where I haven't specifically been (like, Yosemite, Florida Keys, maybe the Caribbean)
3) Go someplace completely new (?)
4) A staycation at (hopefully) my new apartment

So, (1) is obviously the safe option. I've actually checked out Guerneville, and the resort I like is all booked up (already!), so it'd have to be Maui or a cabin in Big Bear. I just don't know if I want to go back to Maui again. It's fun, and it's relaxing, and there's still a couple of things I want to do there, but it's pretty expensive (and I should be spending most of my money on the new place, at least for a while).

(2) I've been seriously considering. Namely, I've been checking out clothing-optional gay resorts in Key West and Ft. Lauderdale, as well as some stuff in the Caribbean. Still expensive though not quite as bad as Maui/Hawaii, and mostly new.

The problem with (3) is that, with most of the places I want to go and haven't been to yet, I haven't been to them yet because it takes so long to get there that a week's vacation isn't really enough. Plus, now we're talking really expensive, especially since I like flying first class. I suppose I could change it up and go to NYC or someplace like that (I generally don't "do" cities on my time off).

The adult answer would be (4). It's the cheapest and the most practical. But part of me is tired of being practical and wants a little bit of silliness.

I think I'm leaning towards Maui again or somewhere like Florida, if only because I feel the need for a full-body tan and, frankly, I don't do enough "gay" things. I'll have to keep an eye on flight prices to Maui; I actually might be able to swing a free flight one way with the miles I have on Hawaiian, so that's an option too. To Florida, I could almost guaranteed swing a free flight (I've got almost 90k miles on American).

Anyone have other suggestions?

3 comments:

TwoLives said...

In the Bay Area, the most "legitimate" site for rentals is Craigslist. Yes, Craigslist M4M listings are seedy but, other than word of mouth, Craigslist is the best resource. You'll know that is true in your area if you see lots of property managers posting their listings on CL.

I assume you have to give 30 days notice to your existing landlord? What is your target move date? 6/1? If so, you can start looking toward the end of April.

I suggest that you check CL daily for new listings and price changes. Doing that will give you an excellent feel for the market. For example, the "hottest" rentals will come and go in a day or two. It would be helpful to know if the places you like best come and go quickly. If so, that means you may need to be more aggressive than you otherwise would be.

As for your vacation...before I got to the tanning part (which you can easily do at home) I was going to suggest Yellowstone or rafting down the Colorado. I wonder if there are any gay rafting or camping vacations. That would be fun. Probably a different kind of guy than the ones who frequent Maui or Florida. Another stay-cation could be San Diego.

If you fly anywhere with a sub $300 plane ticket, you should save your miles. 90k on American might get you a round-trip ticket to Europe. How about the South of France or Greece or Spain in the Fall? Or, Gran Canaria. You can't get much more gay friendly than that place.

Austin said...

I'm planning on overlapping the old and new places, so I can move in any time.

The types I'm looking for aren't really doing well - LA rental market is pretty suppressed right now; rents are down for anything larger than one bedroom (I'm looking for 2 or 3). But yeah, when I get to that point, I'm going to be checking more often.

I suspect places rent faster in SF simply because it's such a smaller market with higher demand.

Can't really get a full tan at home - LA, Ventura, and Orange counties are all anti-nudity on the beaches, and most of the cities are against it even on private property if there's any chance you can be seen.

I've been to Yellowstone, though it's been years. Haven't been rafting; that might be fun, though I tend to not really like swimming.

And yeah, I know to save my miles when the flight's cheap. But, I usually fly first class, so (for example) my tickets to Cancun are about $800, whereas Hawaii's about $2000.

My next "big" vacation is hopefully going to be a cruise in the South Pacific; I have to start planning that this fall. That'll probably end up costing me $12-15k, the way I like to travel, but it'll be amazing.

Thanks for all the suggestions/info, though :)

TwoLives said...

After I hit send I remembered that you usually fly first class. That makes a big difference when it comes to using the airline miles. As much as you prefer first class, I think it makes much more sense to fly coach for short trips and save the miles for longer flights.

As you look for a new place, you might think about backyard and/or deck privacy. If you find the right place you could tan whenever you like.

I'm a bit surprised that there's not a single clothing-optional beach in any of those three counties. Well, Orange isn't a big surprise.

Another stay-cation idea besides San Diego is Santa Barbara. There must be some clothing-optional beaches around there.

If the rental market is still soft, landlords may be very flexible about when they want the full move-in deposit. They may not require the full amount until you move in, even if that is two or three weeks in the future. Theoretically, if you're going to have enough for a deposit by May 1 you could start looking now. If you want to, that is.

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