My choices of contractor are disorganized and expensive, or shall I say beyond my budget. Disorganized is within my budget, and has refs, and a very, very positive attitude, but the disorganized demeanor is maddeningly off putting. Beyond budget did my kitchen so there is already a relationship there. But the price quoted was above what I took out as a 2nd mortgage, and short of working a 2nd job I can’t see where else I can come up with the extra cash. I’m beating myself up for not interviewing more, and I’m wondering if I should postpone the project so I can try to raise more money or interview more contractors.
Another issue is housing during construction. I want to do the project before the Summer intern invasion, so I’d have choices. Plan A is find a place via Craigslist or the City Paper and stay there for 3 months (or hop from one temp situation to another) while the house is under renovation. Plan B, stay with Aunt in Hyattsville (all other area relatives are so non-metro I won’t even consider them) and commute back into the city via bus and train. I would prefer to stay in Shaw, or places that are Shaw-adjacent, or right on the Green line*, so I can closely monitor the work. I can’t monitor jack in Hyattsville. So if you know anyone renting out a small cheap-cheap room, nothing fancy, ’cause really all I need is a bed, a shower, and a microwave, in Shaw or a Shaw adjacent place. If you know of such a place available in April shoot me an email mari @inshaw
*When I say right on the green line, I mean, 5-10 mins walking (not driving or biking) from the station entrance.
Have you tried http://www.sublet.com? There are two listings in Shaw that might work for you, but I guess they are kind of expensive.
Sometimes http://sabbaticalhomes.com has interesting stuff, but it appears to only have whole houses at the moment.
The database of UMCP’s office of off-campus housing might be worth browsing, as well. http://www.och.umd.edu/