Apartment Search: Day 1

So today I went and looked at my very first apartment. It was in my price range, had all utilities paid for except electric and internet. It also met my criteria for being close to downtown and in a historical neighborhood of Des Moines. It also is family run, which is really great as I've had much better experiences renting from families or individuals than with big property managers. I was also told that there are some "lifers" in the building. By that the property manager meant little old ladies on fixed incomes. Which translated to me as cool grandma's living down the hall. It's within walking distance to the library, Gateway Market, and some cool parks. The building was finished in 1922 and has a cool old style elevator which is still used and a antique intercom system ( not in use) that looks something like this

(I think it adds character)

Those are the pros. Here are the cons:

It's not super big but I knew that going into it, after all it is a studio. However it has a Murphy Bed. For those who may be to young to know what that is I shall illustrate.

(Does not add character)

Now while that one doesn't appear so bad, rest assured that is because it is new. This bed is not new. The bathroom is teeny tiny like so tiny I don't think I could put my tower that holds my make up and hair bins in it. That would be the biggest tragedy of all. It's a little run down looking, not at all what I'm used too. Did I mention the bathroom was teeny tiny?

Perhaps I'm being to picky, and I literally cannot afford to be picky. After writing all this down I can now see that the pros are greater than the cons. I haven't had to apartment hunt since spring 2006, so I'm a little rusty. Now that I know what I'm in for, I just need to come up with a game plan and be better at really really looking at the space. I'm seeing another one in the same building Friday afternoon, so I'm going to come up with a list of questions and do my best at looking at every inch. Wish me luck!