Places I Do Not Go: With the flow

(Apologies in advance if the person this email back and forth was developed with does not want what they wrote shared on the Internet.  Identity is kept anonymous, unless you know 1 of the 2 people I know who live in Miami, then it is pretty obvious.)


I'm a planner; I plan.  That's what I do.  It is a big part of the reason I've made it this far in school.  Very few deadlines ever creep up on me because I make sure to check and double check and triple check to be sure that I know when they are coming.

This is why I can barely even understand how Miami functions as a city.  No one there seems to plan ahead for anything ever.  I've been looking at apartments on Craigslist since, well, since February, but that is beside the point.  I knew I likely wouldn't get one nailed down until July, so like the planner I am, I booked my flight, found 1 of 2 friends to stay with, and rented a car.  I am so very ready to apartment hunt.  I have a big, long list of possible buildings I'd like to live in.  I have a sense of what areas I'm open to, and importantly, which ones I am absolutely not.  

So, I have been in touch with 3 realtors.  Sidebar--apparently this is a thing in Miami, realtors show apartments/condos for rent on behalf of the renter, and they charge the renters to do so, not the tenants.  Rad!  I love being treated like a semi-big-deal for free.  Except...

So, again, I've been in touch with 3 realtors.  Each one of them says, "You are starting too early, call me back (2 weeks before your trip--which is NOW), (1 week before your trip), (2 days before your trip)."  My response is, "Oh yeah, I don't expect you to have places to show me in mind yet, I just want to nail down July 2 and 3 as times you can show me places, because that is the ONLY time I'll be in Mia before I move."  They respond, "Right, well, contact us right before you arrive, and we'll set something up."

WHAT?!  How do you even function if everything is so spur of the moment?!  I am viewing this as an ominous reminder that Toto, I have a feeling we aren't in the PNW anymore.  I booked my first place in Eugene 3 months before I'd moved.  I booked my first place in Portland 1.5 months before I'd moved.  I'm a planner; I plan.

So, I just wanted to be 1000% sure that I wasn't loosing my mind, so I contacted 1 of 2 only friends in Miami to ask if he would mind sharing the name of his realtor--who was obviously successful at finding him a place, given that he is not currently homeless.

This is how it went:

Me-- "Hey Dude.

I'm having a heck of a time getting someone to commit to show me apartments on 7/2 and 7/3, they keep saying it is too early to schedule, but as I'm a planner and that is TWO WEEKS AWAY, I'd like to get this settled.

Do you remember the name of the person or company you used?

THANKS!
E"

1 of 2-- "I know you don't want to hear this but any realtor is going to tell you the same thing.  You're just going to have to go with the flow."

Go with the what?!  If there is one place I DO NOT GO, it is with the flow.

Apparent Survival Tip # 1: Let go. And go with the flow.  It is possible that Miami functions in a way that is counter to every fiber in my being, but something tells me I'll be the one changing.