the housing quest continues

I don’t want to jinx it, but we looked at the place by the beach just now. 3br, 2ba for $2700. And I think we should take it, if we check out.

LOCATION: A. It’s RIGHT BY THE BEACH. It’s close to some of my favorite bars. It’s so pretty, there would be Zen in abundance. The libraries, both for LA City and Santa Monica, are a few minutes away. There’s many a bar strip within stumbling distance. Oh, and the farmer’s markets are close as well. Fresh fruits and vegetables for all sorts of diets.

INTERIOR: C+ It’s definitely a building that was built in the 70s to house SoCal surfer types. It’s not terrible – it’s just cheap building materials. However, a quick scrubbing down to remove the surfer boy dirt (especially in the bathtubs, yikes) and it would be fine. Interestingly enough, there is also a bar – a huge, solid, 1970s wood and tile BAR-type bar – in the living room, and a real, working, standalone wood burning fireplace for those cold beach-side evenings as well.

LAYOUT AND OTHER ROOMS: B+ Rooms are not that small, and the best part is that the master bedroom is PERFECT for Carly. Walk in closet AND a hallway with shelves between the bedroom and master bathroom. Tons of room for your clothes and shoes. Both bathrooms have bathtubs as well.

OTHER: No yard – but who needs it when the beach is right there? No space for parties, but we have friends’ houses for that. No washer dryer, but there’s laundromats nearby. Andrew – we would have to check and be sure we could get DSL or cable internet in there.

Also – we have roof access. And it’s a ROOF, with no rails, but you pull down an attic trapdoor with a ladder attached and climb up, and you can see half the Westside, including the ocean. Carly, how about yoga on a roof at sunrise? How about meditation at sunset? The sunsets from that roof would be absolutely amazing.

Overall, despite the slightly slanty tendencies of the building, I think the location outweighs it. I can trade off taking my piles of laundry to the laundromat on weekends if I can be on the beach at 10am on a Saturday. Not to mention, Golds Gym, where I work out, is nearby. I might get to spinning again.

Final concern – it was dark in there. Burned out bulbs, the guy said. But there just weren’t many ceiling fixtures, and I didn’t get a good look at the wiring. But there’s enough parking, we can get someone to throw our parties for us at his house, and we would be living the absolute fucking epitomy of the SoCal beach lifestyle. (albeit not in a pool house in Newport)