After being in Louisville, Kentucky, for a couple of weeks, I decided to check out the rental apartment market—just for kicks. Would I have a similar experience to the one I had in Colorado? Lots to choose from in lots of sketchy areas, or units getting scooped up so quickly I wouldn’t even have time to check them out? I hopped onto rent.com to take a look.
There were lots of places available—as expected—and every photo looked great, per the usual. I read the descriptions and saw two buildings I thought looked promising. Using the website’s auto-fill form, I easily sent off two inquiries with the click of my mouse. Less than five minutes later, I received an email—which was quickly followed by a phone call. Whoa, I thought. Someone is either REALLY desperate or gets a REALLY high commission. Or maybe she just enjoys her job…
Whatever the situation was, I had my first showing scheduled for 11 a.m. the very next day. Cate, the sales manager, was just as nice in person as she was on the phone and via email. As she showed me around, I walked past “hard hat only” areas while she explained that the construction was all part of a $10 million renovation project. Once completed, every single unit in the 29-floor building would be renovated. There would also be new amenities, including a rooftop pool, fitness center, yoga room, movie theater, restaurant and dog park. (A fitness center AND a dog park?! Whaaat?) I played it cool, but I was impressed. After all, my apartment complex in Hawaii didn’t have very many amenities, except for a pool—which I stopped using after my coworker and I saw duck poop floating around in it.
The actual unit I was interested in hasn’t been built yet, so she showed me a model, which was adorably decorated and made me miss working at Hawaii Home + Remodeling Magazine. Keeping in mind the fact that an actual rental would be completely empty and NOT decorated, I focused on its true features, like the granite island on wheels. It was movable, adjustable and had storage underneath. Pure genius! I loved it.
As we left the model unit and headed back toward her office, Cate told me that residents are encouraged to decorate their space as they see fit, and are allowed to paint, put up wallpaper, drill holes into the wall, etc. “Really???” I asked. (This was unheard of in Hawaii! If you dare to put a single nail into a wall, expect to have a nice chunk of change taken out of your deposit when you move out.) “Yeah,” she replied. “We want you to feel comfortable, so you’ll want to stay here.” She then proceeded to talk about about the 24/7 concierge. “He’ll always be in the lobby, in case you ever need anything,” she said. “The goal is to run the building like a hotel, so you always feel like you’re accommodated.”
Hmm…, I thought. A concierge? Who would want to live in a building that’s run like a hotel? Who wants to be in a place where there’s always something to do, and always someone you can call if you need something? Um… ME. That’s who. I would definitely like to live in a place that’s run like a hotel.
Obviously, I was sold. Two weeks after arriving in Louisville, I decided I liked it enough to stay for a bit. I submitted my application and put a hold on a soon-to-be built apartment. That’s right—I’m moving to Kentucky, y’all!
Leaving the HI Life 