Moving During the COVID-19 Pandemic

In the few short weeks at the beginning of March, prior to the shutdowns, I received a job offer from a local concert venue. I had just rage quit my former job at a major grocery store, and was looking for something with more growth opportunities. I eagerly attended orientation, filled out the necessary paperwork, and got my schedule to start training.

At that time, I had moved out of my parents house and was living with my boyfriend in his family’s home; we were trying to save enough to move out, and this new job was supposed to help that. Sadly, I never got to start that job as the day before my scheduled training, I received an email from stating that I had been furloughed until further notice; now this was something I didn’t even know existed, being 21 at the time and only ever having 2 jobs. I asked around for advice and got met with the same answer: get on unemployment. I made my claim, expecting this furlough and shutdown to end after a month or two.

As everyone now knows, the shutdowns lasted longer than anyone could have predicted, but life still went on. My boyfriend Seth and I were still eager to move into our own place, and we figured our combined savings could get us started. We searched Apartments.com day and night for new listings, and did some virtual tours. Eventually, we mutually decided on one particular apartment located in Moreno Valley, California; we called for more information and were met with the high price of $1600 for a 1 bed, 1 bath, 900 square foot apartment. After running the numbers and adding on utilities, it became clear that this complex wasn’t in the cards for us at that time, and so the idea of moving out was put on the back burner.

We spent another month or so in quarantine boredom, when I got a call to help my dad, brother and sister in law; they had been in the process of moving to Arizona, and had officially found a home they wanted to rent. They started the paperwork, and now needed all hands on deck to help pack up my childhood home. Seth and I spent countless days in Riverside, fitting all of our possessions into 2 moving pods and a few cars. I began talking to my dad about the appeal of Arizona, to which he replied “the prices.” I was intrigued to know more, so I did a quick search on Zillow and found 3 bedroom, 3 bath HOUSES for a cheaper price than the apartment we had looked into a month earlier. Seth and I were baffled, but figured a trip to Arizona would reveal why the prices were what they were.

We made the 6 hour drive out to San Tan Valley, Arizona to help unpack some of our belongings into their new house. We explored the area as best as we could with most places being closed, and we even did a few self tours of some houses we liked. At this point, I was convinced that I wanted to move to Arizona, but Seth wasn’t so sure. I stated my case and he stated his, and when we returned to California we once again put the idea of moving on the back burner.

With my family still in the process of moving, they needed our help once again to move the last of their stuff. Seth and I made the drive, intending to only stay for one night. As fate would have it, about an hour into our drive home my brand new car broke down; we spent the rest of that day at the dealership in Mesa, where we were told the parts needed to fix the issue would take 2 days. My brother drove out and brought us back to their house, but the two day prediction turned into a week and a half of waiting, giving us even more time to experience San Tan Valley and the surrounding cities.

We finally made it back to California with a love for the city of Gilbert, so that is where decided to focus our searches on. We had narrowed it down to about 3 apartment complexes we liked and began running the numbers; this time, it seemed a lot more doable than in California. In the meantime, Seth was applying to jobs and was actually recruited for a position he was really interested in. We made one more short trip out to Gilbert in order to see the apartments in person before any final decisions were made.

This was our first challenge caused by COVID, as many of the apartments were not allowing tours; those that were offered a self guided tour through the model apartment, but not for the rest of the complex. We made the best of the situation and decided on one apartment that stuck out to us more than the others, even if we hadn’t seen or experienced it all in person. When we returned home, Seth had a phone interview for the previously mentioned position, and even without an answer from the employer (definitely on a whim) we put down a deposit for a 1 bedroom, 1 bath space at the apartment we loved.

A week had gone by since his interview, and despite not hearing back from the employer, we decided to move forward with the application process. This was another challenge, as applying was solely done online; while in some ways it was convenient, it was also hard to compile and send all of the documents needed. As proof of income for the time being, I wanted to show my unemployment but I couldn’t send in a screenshot of my statements from EDD; I had no physical proof of income besides my claim status and weeks paid. Eventually I ended up just using my bank account statements which showed EDD payments, and that seemed to work out fine.

About 4 days after we had applied, we received notice that our application was accepted and we could continue to move forward in the process of making the apartment ours. Seth still hadn’t heard about the job, but was confident about getting it. We paid all of the fees, set up electric and internet and got a move in date for August 14, 2020. We decided to move out of California on July 20th to give us time to furniture shop and explore other parts of Arizona we had not seen.

We proceeded to begin packing what little stuff we both had, and as the 20th started sneaking closer, Seth finally got the call he had been waiting for. It was a huge relief to say the least that he had a job waiting for him in our new city, and it made the move even more exciting. His first day would be August 1, which gave us plenty of time to furnish the space and see some sights.

When the 20th came, my dad and brother drove out to help move some of our stuff, to avoid having to pay for a U-Haul. Due to our apartment not being ready for another 3 weeks or so, we stayed with them and enjoyed trips to the Salt River, Tombstone and Jerome. In between our exploring, we set out time to find and order furniture, which would be the biggest challenge of all.

We went to the major furniture stores, trying to find the right living room and bedroom set for our tastes and our budgets. This was when we encountered the biggest challenge of all; due to COVID, all of the furniture stores were behind on orders, creating wait times of 2-3 months. For the living room set that we decided to go with, we were able to get the tables and love seat on August 18th, only 4 days after our move in date; unfortunately, the actual sofa would take another month to arrive, leaving us with an unfinished living room and only one small sofa to use. Even worse, our bedroom set, which we purchased on the same day as the sofas (July 24th) has been pushed back a total of 3 times. We were originally scheduled for a September 20th delivery date, which quickly moved to September 30th, and then eventually to October 7th. When October rolled around, we got a call once again stating that it had been pushed, with the new estimated date being November.

Currently, our bedroom sits empty besides our frame, mattress, and the totes we live out of. While the rest of our apartment has slowly been furnished, it appears we will have to wait another month (or even longer) to finally finish the bedroom. This issue was something we didn’t even anticipate when we first moved out to Arizona, but it has become an irritating barrier preventing us from finally having a furnished place to call home. There is hope that in November our set will arrive and the apartment will be complete, but again it is just an ETA and could be pushed back like so many times before.

Despite all the challenges we faced before, during and after our move, Seth and I feel that we made the right decision. Moving during a global pandemic isn’t the most conventional thing to do, but it ultimately brought us to a new start, in our own space. We already have jobs, are building new friendships, and enjoying a life of privacy, creativity and independence together. In some ways, the challenges we faced only worked to our advantage as they pushed us to broaden our horizons to find a new state to call home.

My hope, like everyone else’s I’m sure, is that COVID-19 cases will start to dwindle world wide, slowly easing us back to a world similar to the one we lost all those months ago. But in the meantime, let me be an inspiration that if you want something, don’t let anything stand in your way. There will never be a perfect time for everything, and while challenges will make you stumble, you can achieve what you want with the will power to succeed!