S 03, EP 05: The Railroad Style Train Wreck

Finding a new home is hard for anyone. Toss in a pandemic, lots of extra needs, and scammers, and you've got a recipe for a podcast episode. Mandi shares part 1 of this journey.

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Transcript

Mandi: Mandi Frantz here welcoming you to my podcast - Find Your Beautiful: Life Through the Eyes of a Christian Disabled Woman.  

[Upbeat Background Music]

Mandi: Jumanji! Hopefully you all shouted that out along with me as soon as Midnight hit on Friday morning. I'm more than happy to be in a new year. I have a ton of hope that this year will be better than last. But unlike many people, I think it would be a big mistake to completely forget 2020. History does tend to repeat itself, so it's important to learn the lessons the first time.

As I reflect on 2020, I can't ignore the last 6 months of the year and the craziness that was going on in my life. It's really unfortunate that some people really are cruel. In a time when we needed to support each other, people were still taking advantage of their fellow humans. In today's episode, I'm going to share a bit about my journey hunting for a new home and offer some advice to anyone who may be in a similar boat. This episode is actually going to continue into next week because the story is just so big, I could only share part of it here. So let's get started. 

    

[Mandi voices Ad (ads change and will vary)]

[Doorbell Sound Effect]

Mandi: As if things weren't stressful enough being locked at home for months, transitioning to homeschooling my 6 year old, entertaining my 3 year old, and working from home, I got the notice. After paying my rent in August, I received a letter from my landlord notifying us that he would be increasing the rent in October. To be fair, this month makes 8 years that I've been living in my home and we've never had a rent increase. The apartment also was rented at a significantly under market rate. In fact, I found this place on Craigslist! Exactly, if you just cringed, I did too. I visited with my husband and the owner was quick to show us ID, and even his passport to prove he was legit. Thankfully, he is real and it wasn't a scam.

However, he did pick a pretty awful time to raise the rent. On top of this, the increase wasn't just a little. He wanted to raise it by $590! The building is privately owned so yes, he is allowed to do this, but I went ahead and researched my rights. I learned that while he could raise the rent however much he wanted, the length of time I lived here made it so that he had to give me at least 90 days notice. This essentially bought me an extra month. And thus began my hunt for a new home. 

Remember way back in my first intro episode when I talked about the 3 societal strikes against me? Well, the strikes are mounted maybe even a little higher when it comes to finding a home. First, and possibly most importantly, the building must be wheelchair accessible. I'm going to clarify this a bit more because this journey has taught me that this concept means different things to different people. There cannot be any steps, or lips, into the building. Ok, maybe a very small lip is ok, but you get my drift. This means even if there is an elevator inside the building, it will not work for me if there are any steps to get to it. I know this next one, hopefully, seems obvious, but I promise that it isn't to some people. There can't beany steps in the apartment itself. No, not even 1. No steps for wheelchairs! Hmm, maybe we should hashtag that. The hallways need to have room for my chair too. Look, living in NYC where development companies are trying to squish us together like sardines to make an extra buck, I get that most places won't be ADA compliant. However, when a person who is taller than 5'5" and weighs more than 100 pounds can't walk through the hallways or has to squeeze through doorways, this is unacceptable and clearly not wheelchair accessible. ok, I think I've driven it home enough, the place must be accessible. 

Second, I have 2 children. Thankfully they're still relatively small, so they can pretty easily share a room if necessary, but we need at least 2 bedrooms. Studios and 1 bedrooms will not cut it. It's honestly not fair to my boys who have had their own rooms to be forced to bunk up with their parents, nor is it healthy for anyone. Everyone needs space and with a decent income there's no reason we should have to downsize so much. Oh yeah, there are my fur babies. I have a cat and a dog. They're pretty much siblings and you can find them sleeping snuggled up to each other often. I didn't realize how many buildings don't accept pets! So many specifically don't want dogs. 

Third, and more or less the last strike, is the insane income requirements so many buildings have. I honestly don't know how single parents live here. We are a 1 income family, but a decent income. I've told you before about the crazy catch 22s for people with disabilities and employment. Anyways, most buildings require an income of a minimum of $75,000 and most are at about $80,000. And this is for a 2 bedroom place. Well, if you could call it a 2 bedroom. This is where I tell you about the railroad style train wreck.     

Ok, I'd been searching for months for a place. Everywhere that I reached out to either ended up not being accessible, didn't accept pets, or never replied. I was getting anxious and this anxiety made me consider stretching my budget, giving up my pets, maybe just moving far away. I finally came across a place that was listed as accessible and while a bit of a budget stretch, seemed feasible. The agent was responsive and I scheduled an appointment to see it. I was excited because it was in a nice area and I thought it could be the one. We arrived, masks on and social distanced from the agent, and were ready to see what could be our new home. As soon as the agent opened the outside door to the "ground floor" apartment, there it was, the first step. Ok, I thought. This we can work with. A portable ramp would fix this in a jif. But then the door to the apartment only opened 75% of the way. Why? Because there was a wall behind it that was too close. My small travel chair managed to squeeze through, and made it through the extremely narrow hall. The first room we entered, which appeared at best to be a master bedroom was claimed to be the living room according to the friendly agent. And then I saw the next step, yes step, up into the kitchen. Well, my travel chair is small and light enough that I could be tilted. So up into the tiny house kitchen I went. And then the agent says, "Well I thought there was an issue with the pictures, but I guess not. There really is a slant in the kitchen." There sure was! My wheels were sliding down to where the cell of a bathroom was. I didn't get to see the bathroom because I couldn't fit. And of course, there was another big step to the 2 bedrooms that were separated, or adjoined, by a door. As we were leaving the agent said, "This is a railroad apartment." It was more like a train wreck.

Luckily, that agent was kind, even followed up a few times after. However, let me tell you about how God works. A few weeks ago, I found a nearly perfect apartment. It was only about 10 minutes away from my current residence and truly a ground floor apartment. It was built in 2017 and everything looked pretty brand new. There was even a fenced in yard that was paved. I was dreaming of Summer barbecues. The closets were huge with a nice sized bathroom and even space for a small home office. I immediately reached out because the price was great. I scheduled a viewing and went to see it in person. The first red flag was that the agent wasn't very responsive. Unlike other agents I had connected with, he didn't seem very interested in getting the place rented. When we went to visit, he didn't answer the phone and wasn't onsite. We saw another couple coming out and we had visited an apartment before where we self-toured. So we let ourselves in and someone was in the apartment. He let us walk around and open closets. He said he worked with the agent for many years. I recently read a book called The Gift of Fear and it's all about trusting your intuition. Everything seemed great with this place, but even then something just felt off. Well, I didn't listen to this little voice and I was honestly excited about the place. I immediately reached out to start the application process. They wanted a lot, but I pulled it all together quickly. By the end of the week, I received an email saying I was approved for the place. This was followed by a text saying the same and asking my preferred move-in date. I said January 1st and he said he was going to send the lease. I had about 2 weeks to pack so we started packing. This is when things started going downhill. The lease never came that day, but it was a weekend and I figured I would hear back that Monday. I reached out Monday and got no response. Tuesday, I finally got a text saying I'd definitely get it that day, but it never came. On Wednesday my husband called and actually got this guy on the phone. He explained that we needed the lease asap. About an hour after the call, I got an email from him saying that there was an issue with the lighting and gas company. He said the meter was locked so he needed more time. I immediately replied asking what the new move-in date would be, but got no reply. My husband sent a text asking if this meant we could not move in January and got a response that read, "No, unfortunately not." When we asked what the new date was, we got radio silence. And despite several efforts we made to reach out, we've never heard back. Luckily, I only paid for the background and credit check, so while I was out about $80, I hadn't lost too much.

The story gets crazier with this guy, if you can believe it, but you'll have to tune in next week to hear the rest of this saga!      

[Bling]

Mandi: Before I officially wrap up, I want to share a few tips for wheelchair users who are house hunting, and for people in general. First, don't worry about feeling rude when explicitly expressing your needs. You need to spell out everything you need when it comes to accessibility. Next, take time to do your research. Thankfully we have tools like Google now. Look up the agents' ID, use Maps to see a street view of the place, and look up the address to see as much info as you can. My last tip for today is to always visit places with someone. You know I'm super independent, but I'm not cocky. I always visit new apartments with my husband so we can look out for each other. 

One more announcement today: the FYB Shop is now open! If you've been wanting to support this podcast and spread the Find Your Beautiful message, the Shop is a great resource. You can rock some branded apparel and there will be more available soon (for some guys out there too!). 

This podcast is also available on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and any other place you like to listen! Visit my website linked in the description to get access to all the platforms.  

[Mandi voiceover to 'Compton' music]: On my next episode, I'm going to bring you up to date on my house hunt and tell you what I discovered about the scammer.  ‘Til next time Beauties!