I am the proud mother of an independent daughter. She and her girlfriends moved in to their second shared college apartment this weekend--one that they found, inspected and signed the lease on without any parental input. We were included in the search for the first one (the one they just moved out of) but this time they knew what they were doing...
We just found out that they don't have a dishwasher! Not the end of the world of course, but pretty funny considering they did not notice until their first full night in the apartment.
I think of this as a teaching moment. I am pretty certain that none of these young women will ever accidentally rent a place without a dishwasher again! The interesting thing about this oversight is that they made some conscious decisions in selecting this new apartment:
1) It needed to be closer to campus
2) They were willing to give up an in-unit Washer and Dryer
3) The bedrooms are smaller and condition is best described as old.
They just assumed that if they found a place that met their needs and they were willing to sacrifice (no washer and dryer!) it would be ideal in every other way.
This won't be the last learning experience that these girls have when it comes to decision making, but I am guessing it is one of the first really big decisions that they have to live with the repercussions for an extended period of time. So begins the process of teaching them to be well-informed real estate consumers.
The truth of it is that all of us start out expecting that every house will provide us with 'just what we want.' The fact that houses usually fall short is the reason that there is an industry called real estate!
Of course, when I talked to my daughter this morning, she was so happy with the location that--at least for now--she doesn't care about the hand washing they will have to do.
I am sure over the years, my daughter and her roommates will reminisce fondly about that 'cute apartment with no dishwasher' and it will always remind them of how careful they have to be when selecting an apartment to rent or purchasing Real Estate. Chalk this oversight up to lessons learned and the beginning of three educated real estate consumers.
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