Category Archives: My Projects

What’s going on professionally and maaaaayyybbeee personally.

Moving Action Plan

I thought that posting this might help me be accountable and stay on top of my timeline.

One Month Out


1. Hire a moving company. 

This may not be necessary for everyone. However, I am going to be living on the 5th floor of an apartment building. Not really a big deal because there’s an elevator right? Wrong. The lease states the elevator is not to be used for moving. There’s simply no way that my dad and I can carry my furniture up five flights. The last time I moved I got my hand smashed going from first floor to the moving truck. 

Also, the parking around my building is horrendous. There’s no way that we could find a parking spot, let alone maneuver my dad’s truck through the rather narrow streets, with a trailer attached. We are not professionals. We’re going to meet the company outside the city at a box store parking lot to transfer my stuff.

Enter, the internet. I used Yelp to find out what three moving companies were rated the highest. I contacted those companies to receive an estimate. I ended up choosing the one with the highest rating because not only did they receive the highest rating, they were $20 an hour less expensive and were going to send one less guy than the other company that responded to my inquiry. We’ll see how it goes and whether or not I can recommend them.

2. Gather supplies

I’ve been accumulating moving supplies. Luckily, my mom saves bubble wrap so that’s not going to be a problem. I’ve also been collecting boxes from my friends and family. 

I bought some boxes from Home Depot as well. They ranged in price from $.69 to $1.29.

Three Weeks Out

Think about packing. Meh, I’ll do it later.

Two Weeks Out

1. PACK! and take inventory of the items I’m bringing along.

2. Get renter’s insurance based upon the inventory I have taken whilst packing. (closer to the end of the week.

3. Redo my furniture. I’ve picked up a few pieces over the past couple of years that I’ve been meaning to refinish.

a. $10 end table to be decoupaged with music??? old book??? Haven’t decided yet.

b. $10 two drawer filing cabinet to be decoupaged with free copy of a mythology text.

c. Restore my grandparent’s old bed to its former glory.

d. stain a night stand that I got for free.

One Week Out

1. Pack up the trailer.

2. Call my building manager. I called him as soon as I signed the lease, but he wanted to deal with me closer to the time of my move in.

3. Set up my utilities.

4. Get my car tuned up.

5. Going away party.

Finding an Apartment in Chicago: My Quest for Documentation of Utilities Included in My Rent

This has been a learning experience. I would love if people commented and told me about their own experiences, if a bigger market just works like this, advice for the next apartment hunt, etc.

I have recently found and signed a lease for an apartment. I went through one of the apartment finding services. I found the business through google. I would absolutely suggest, if you are able, to skip a service and go it on your own. That’s what I will be doing the next time I need to find an apartment.

Take this all with a grain of salt, my opinions are my own. I’m not mentioning, by name, what service I went with or who my landlord is. The former is because I’m not comfortable causing negative ramifications in a person’s career for something that, in the end, turned out ok, and the latter, because I don’t want people to know where I live.

First, why I chose to go with a service rather than going through Craigslist or a newspaper. I chose to get some help in my search because I’m not that familiar with Chicago. I went in with a list of neighborhoods that I would live in and a list of must haves. Those must haves were: dog friendly and near transit. I also wanted to be near a grocery store. I could have googled every single location listed on Craigslist that appealed to me in order to determine neighborhood, dogs welcome, and proximity to transit, but I think it would have taken me a very long time. Thus, I thought I was being more efficient by getting some guidance.

The day of apartment hunting started off just fine. We spent an hour, maybe a little over, talking about what my wants and needs with regard to an apartment. I was told repeatedly how great they were, why everyone should come to them, etc. I’m not really sure what the pitch was for, I was already there. Anyway, about an hour and a half into my appointment my agent and I left to scope out some apartments.

The first two were no goes, they did not meet the criteria that I wanted. The third place I visited was great. We saw a few more places before heading back to the office. All in all, I think I saw around 7 apartments in the span of two hours. Volume, thus, was pretty nice and way more than I could have done trying to hop Red Line to Blue, etc.

My issue with using a service, then, has nothing to do with the going out and looking, it’s the getting me to sign papers phase and afterwards that’s bothersome.

I had a clear front runner from the moment we walked into apartment number three. After I told the agent and his supervisor which apartment I was interested in, I then asked what utilities were included with the rent. Heat, water, sewage, trash, and maybe cooking gas but they weren’t really sure about that. (NOTE! After going through the last couple of days, this sticks out to me as a red flag).

That’s great, I thought. In my last place I had to pay electric, water, etc. (Heat was electric). I mentioned that it was great and that I was definitely interested, but I wanted to think about it. They informed me that waiting probably wasn’t a good idea, I could lose it. They gave me a few private minutes to talk over the decision with some trusted advisers that I called. I decided to go with the apartment.

I had to pay the first month’s rent to hold the apartment and another fee to fund my credit check. I asked to see the lease before I made any decisions and signed anything, but that was not possible because the lease was between me and the landlord, they don’t have one. I thought this was pretty strange considering how much I was required to put down to even apply for the place. But, I wanted the apartment so I signed their paperwork and paid.

The next day I received the lease, via email, from the landlord. Low and behold there was a provision that directly contradicted what I had been told was included in the rent. Specifically, this provision stated that absolutely NO utilities were included with the rent. (NOTE! There was a Welcome to the Building page in the packet containing the lease (listing phone numbers of utility companies) that stated Heat and Cooking gas were included, however, there was no where to sign, etc.) I wanted what the agent and his supervisor had told me was included in the rent in writing. I absolutely do not think this is too much to ask. I was not interested in signing a binding contract that stated that I received none of the utilities even if there was a verbal understanding.

What ensued was about four days of back and forth with the service trying to figure out what was and what was not a part of rent. Eventually, I was told that they don’t read the leases to know what is included in the rent. I thought this was outrageous. They told me that, if I just had to have it in writing, if they were me they would just pencil it in, but they can’t send me instructions because they’re not lawyers. Umm, no. That would have made it a counteroffer and I didn’t want to lose the lease over a couple of penciled in comments.
[Serious inquiry: Am I wrong that it’s poor practice for an agent not to read the lease of a property he is trying to lease? I understand that reading all the boilerplate isn’t necessary, but I would think knowing what the rent covers is essential in pitching an apartment. Keep in mind that I was living and renting in a much smaller market and could not imagine that an agent peddling a product was spouting off about what he thought, rather than what he knew. I would like peoples’ opinions, comment below.]

Next, after contacting the landlord directly, I was told he does not change the language of the leases to reflect what utilities are included in his various properties because he just has so many that it would be a pain to change.  [Serious inquiry number 2: For renters in larger cities, does your lease contain what utilities are included?]

I finally, FINALLY, got an email that said that heat and cooking gas were included…no mention of the other utilities. At this point, after talking with my trusted advisers, I decided that I wanted the apartment, and if I had to pay for water and the rest I would just have to suck up the cost. I sent back an email thanking him for the reply and asking who I needed to contact about getting water, etc. hooked up. I got another email shortly thereafter saying not to worry about those because they are included in the rent.

What frustrates me is that it took four days for someone, be it service or landlord, to confirm what was actually included in the rent. And, it took a string of emails to get the full picture.

Am I being too demanding wanting what my rent covers in writing? Have you had similar experiences? Comment below.

Kicking this Off

I’ve started this blog to not only document my life as an actor in Chicago, from apartment hunting all the way to, hopefully, booking, but also to share what I learn along the way. I’ll be posting about everything I can think of including but not limited to: website design, marketing, business, acting methods, favorite performances, film reviews, living in Chicago, etc.

Thanks for stopping by, this thing is going to get rolling rather quickly. I’m apartment hunting at the end of the month. Stick with me and we’ll see how this goes.