SOLD!

Day two: House three. Jessica. A very happy young gal who is getting married and needs someone to take over her contract for summer/fall. SWEET! This street level condo, one block from the Bayou is offering a single bedroom with as private bath, HUGE closet, bed, desk, bookshelf,dresser and big window that looks out at the street. A washer, dryer, large shared living space and large kitchen, plus great roomies in the basement. To throw a bone our way, Jessica dropped the price for the summer contract by $50.00 per month! WaHooo!

Next came Creepy Landlord Guy. Upon entering his office he remains seated as he throws keys at my daughter through a counter window. (In your best Eeyore) "All the apartments are the same. Go all the way to the end of this hall, then all the way down the next. #114 is open." So we walk down to #114, unlock the door and promptly smack it into the closet that faces the door. To the right is a large kitchen. We didn't realize there was a living room to the left until we shut the front door because there wasn't a space between the door and the closet to view the room from. The kitchen leads to a communal bathroom sink type area with rather sticky drawers that SCREECH when they are being opened. There are more cupboard closets across from the sinks that line the mid hallway. Equal bedrooms are on either side. Both mirror the other and are large and have two twin beds in each. The closets have fold down tables that act like desks. The trip here is that almost every cupboard door is off a hinge, or two. The carpets and drapes are grimy and dingy and I don't want to describe the bathroom and shower. UGH. So we return the key to Eeyore. "Did you say on the phone that you had singles?" "Yeah, if someone wants a single we just add the other beds into the other room. The apartment ALWAYS has at least 4 and the majority have 6 people." (Great, so the princess who has a huge private room to herself gets the resentment of the others whom she has inconvenienced. Read: The other roomies take every opportunity to cough in her food.) No thanks.

House #5 was the internet preview choice number one. Great location, fairly new and reasonably priced. After seeing in person, not so much. That and watching the "Kramer" neighbor drinking chocolate milk out of the jug while telling us how much she LOVES this apartment kind of messed with the illusion.

House #6. Party Central. Enter Art School Barbie and her friend Sick in Bed Midge. Barbie gives us a quick tour. Her room is Gynormous with a double bed et al. Really nice rooms but shared bathrooms. Still, all in all, a very nice place. Art school Barbie has displayed her talents via the acrylic sofa sized painting of a freaky surfer girl. Over the kitchen table she waxed cultural and went for the Asian characters and symbolic red and gold square objects in black frames. Magazine and movie choices are edgy. But hey, this is college right? The hallway is papered with Abercrombie and Fitch male models... hubba hubba. There are sundry art objects everywhere and the ward is TOTALLY COOL!

House #7 is another great find. Here we have the H&G co-ed ideal for the truly matured gal entering adulthood. Beige leather sofa, on a non-traditional angle to offset the structure of the square floor plan. Fine art and tiny sculpture. Immaculate and smelling of a crock pot roast. Bedroom out of a model home with private bath. Mom and Dad own the apartment and she is graduating. It was probably THE perfect choice so far - except the price is a tad too high.

We called almost every phone number listed in the Provo Real Estate market. Marge was the main contact for the majority of places we were interested in. When we were finally able to contact her, she informed us that she didn't show the homes, she just handles paperwork. "If you are interested in seeing a place you just need to walk up, knock on the door and tell them you want to look at the place. Then decide and call me back." For this she gets a boatload of money for managing half of Provo. It's a nutty way to conduct business. "Hi, I'm a complete stranger from out of state. Let me in your home unannounced to look through your closets and lingerie drawers."

We decided on number 3. Just like in the funeral business (more on that later), number 3 is the best seller. Both nieces and their hubbies approved the location, price and even knew the ward. One of the nephew-in-laws has one brother currently living across the street in the men's apartments and another younger brother on the way in the fall. She will have plenty of family around for support. There is also a warning about a particular men's building where illicit action is currently taking place and a stern warning to avoid these "men" during church and other activities. Thanks you guys, family is the best!