Detailed Account of My Moving Experience to Norman, Oklahoma

You know that I looked long and hard for a rent house. I found this company that specializes in rent property in the Norman area. Mostly for students, but I figured I really didn’t need much more house that your common student since I would be living alone and I don’t need a lot of space. Only trouble was that everywhere I looked I either didn’t like the place or it didn’t meet one of my main criteria. I had to sit down and line out what I wanted, what I would live with, and what I needed and how much I was willing to pay for each. I had to rewrite this list when I discovered just how much more expensive it was going to be living in Norman. I wanted a house in the 300-400 dollar range, but for that it would have to have air conditioning or central heat and air, a clean kitchen, a decent sized bathroom, good carpet, 2 bedroom and be in a decent neighborhood. The problem was finding all of this inside the $300-$400 range.

I completely tapped the property management company’s resources and still didn’t find what I wanted, so I started looking the paper. I hated that. No one would return my calls. If they did it was just to tell me the property was already gone. I found a nice couple that rented out several of their places and lived off the revenue (they were both retired), but they were like parents. They seemed really skeptical about how I would treat their little baby (the house). It was like being mothered. That turned me off even though I was considering the house – but that reason and the fact that it was about $25 above my range. I’m glad I didn’t take it. Later I found the house I now live in. It is a Coltrane property that had just become available again. The carpet was dirty, the walls had green goo on it in the shape of a pentagram, but I figured I could get them to clean it up. They did clean up the goo, but the carpet was left to me. Doesn’t really matter though since I probably would have had the carpet professionally cleaned no matter whether they did it or not. It worked out. I’m happy with it. I gave them the deposit on Monday and told them I would move in over the next weekend (July 4th weekend). It was $200 for the deposit – cash.

Next were my utilities. Stan, a friend at work was good help since he had just moved here not two months ago. He told me where to go and about what I would pay. Stan’s credit is pretty bad though, so it turned out things were much cheaper for me. He had to pay deposits up-front where they just added to the first bill for me. The City of Norman (sewage, water, trash) was about $24 for my first bill which included a $10 deposit. Oklahoma Natural Gas’s first bill was about $77 which included a $20 initial charge and I forget how much for deposit. Electric was the most. My first bill was about $150 which included a $75 deposit and $10 setup fee. I had two phone lines installed so my first phone bill was about $101 which includes $44 for setup, about $26 for the extra week at the first of the month at the old place and the charge for one months’ service. It was a pain having to be at home to get cable installed and the gas turned on, but none of the other utilities needed me to be there. If you run your own cabling inside the house then the Phone Company doesn’t charge you for that. Cable was $24 setup, $35 for next two months and $45 for every month after that. They really messed up on my order and they gave me some credit for doing all kinds of things wrong and my second month was only $17 – I didn’t complain. Salesman was clueless though.

My sisters were very interested in my moving so they volunteered to come in that weekend and help me clean it – they were a major help. I bought all kinds of cleaners with them helping me carry them over to the house and they cleaned all afternoon while I helped. It is a major help when anyone is willing to do anything even if it is small to contribute to a successful move. I’ll never forget their help as well as my best friend, Grant, who owns a janitorial business and helped me clean my carpet, install my phones, air conditioner, washing machine and helped me move – we used his company van.

Other than that, I advise spending as little money as you can, you’ll need it for deposits and all the things you need that you don’t realize at first until you need them. I think I should have waited before spending the $330 for a new washer. Don’t expect to get everything done in one day, plan a whole weekend or like in my case, a whole 3 day weekend. It was extremely helpful – except for stores being closed due to the holiday. Take the day before the weekend and get everything you might need.

Since then it has just been a matter of having enough time to unpack. I also find that I am needing more furniture. It is more a case of moving into a bigger place. It just seems to empty. Also, I want to stay here so I am trying to make it more comfortable for myself. I need a dryer, a tall bookshelf, a sofa and later I will want a larger TV, a recliner, a tall reading lamp, coffee table, and a complete entertainment center. I always suggest making lists of the top priorities and marking them off as you accomplish them.

Grant has offered me one of his older working table top arcade games to use as a table – a great addition to a bachelor pad. Not that I am anything like your standard bachelor, but I am a gamer and having an icon of computer gaming as my kitchen table would be an interesting decoration.