…for a move I haven’t yet made.
But I promised myself I was going to move this year. I was going to get a new job this year. I was going to start a YouTube channel this year. And what else? And I haven’t done any of that yet. YET. But I am packing (and not packing) to move this year.
Everything is looking…okay. I have looked at a lot of apartments online. I have requested information on more than a few. I have filled out what is basically the same application for about ten of them.
And I have heard back from the respective landlords on two of them. $20 is the least I have spent on processing fees for an application. And how many people responded?
Well, let’s see… The first, I had to call repeatedly for days until I finally got him on the phone. Should I go into it? I won’t go into it, but I spent three weeks trying to contact him so I could get this apartment (close to where I live, and even closer to the bus lines I use for work) and when I did, he told me someone had already signed a lease for it. I had a bunch of sarcastic questions whirling around in my head, but ai said thank you instead and hung up the phone.
The second landlord, Jennifer (landlady?), is the only one to offer me a tour of the property because she’s the only other landlord/lease manager to contact me. Two. Yes, that’s right, two responses from ten applications. I’m not liking the math, here. It’s been 16 years since my last move, and a lot has changed, apparently, because I applied at one place an got approved. It was simple. Now. Now? Is ghosting a common business practice in 2021?
I request an application or more information on a property and I get no response? I ask for a rent quote and I don’t get an answer or any communication. I fill out an application and I never hear back from anyone. I call the office number, and no one picks up on the other end. I leave a message and then I wait so long, I forget about the message entirely.
Is “no” answer actually an answer? Is that what it’s come to in 2021? Am I supposed to read all these non-responses as “No”? Well, that is what they are, I guess. If lease managers and landlords aren’t returning my calls or replying to my emails, the answer is “no”., But a direct answer would be so much clearer and cut down on time wasted waiting for an answer that isn’t coming.
Plus, it is just unprofessional.
I have no idea (yet) where I am going, how large the apartment is, how much storage space it has, what pieces of furniture will fit in the living room, etc.
And it has me packing with nowhere to move.
Mark Earnest Johnson 