O-town housing stress

I submitted a rental application on a Tuesday afternoon in Orlando. I was called Wednesday afternoon, after I’d arrived in Tampa, and was told that I had been approved for an apartment, and that I would need to submit my holding deposit if I wanted to secure the specific apartment I was interested in. I overnighted my deposit, and assumed that everything was good to go. Except that now they seem to have forgotten that they approved me and are demanding every possible document under the sun from both me and my mother (she’s my co-signer, required as my graduate assistantship salary apparently isn’t enough to get me approved to rent). Additionally, the apartment manager, while quite friendly, seems to have a very low IQ and to be thoroughly incompetent. As a result, despite the fact that I was told I had been approved for the lease of a specific apartment, for which I sent in a holding deposit to secure, it now seems that I have neither been approved for nor secured said apartment. Glad I hadn’t rushed out to buy the hammock that I planned to put on the patio I thought I was going to have.

I had really wanted to get everything taken care of regarding my living situation early so that I wouldn’t have to worry about it at the last minute before starting grad school. I had been so relieved that my rental search was over, and now it seems that it isn’t at all. I’m trying not to stress about it, but I just can’t help myself.

My current options:

* Call and sweet-talk the nice apartment that I blew off because of its absurd pet fee ($1000 – seriously? For an unfurnished el-cheapo apartment?) and see if there’s any hope of getting in there.

* Wait to see if any of the apartment complexes where I got on a waiting list call me.

* Get an apartment with a friend who might only end up being in Orlando for four months. Let him deal with the leasing issues.

* Rent the house belonging to my friends M&A (who now live in California), and get a roommate, as the rent is too much for me to afford alone. (I might possibly live there with the friend who might only be in Orlando for 4 months, but if he left after four months, I’d still need to find a roommate.)

* Buy a “distressed property” in the O-town ghetto for under $10k and hope no one kills me while I’m living there. (I am actually serious, although getting in touch with realtors for these properties is turning out to be a whole different problem…)