No way. On August 13, 2016 at her Speechwriter-Ghostwriter blog (Mary) Jane Genova wrote about E-Rentals - No longer do you have to invest time, money in flying out there to lease. She claimed:
“If it's a temporary rental we need, that can be done digitally. No, we don't need to spend the money and time to fly out to wherever to have a roof over our heads in our new lives.
When it comes to relocation, we can go about leasing an apartment or even a house via the Internet. The whole process can be electronic. After all, we will likely not stay in any initial housing option. After we get to know the area, work, and build a social network, we may decide our address should be in another part of the city. Or even outside that city.”
Her advice about research is hilariously superficial and incomplete. Some of what is missing can be summarized via a 1987 comedy movie title: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. Here are examples I ran across in my career and vacation travels. A careful look on Google Earth can help avoid those three problems, but you still need to be there and stop, look, and listen for others.
Planes
For a couple years I lived outside of Northbrook, Illinois in an apartment complex located between the diagonal Milwaukee Avenue and I-294, the Illinois Tollway. When I looked at the apartment I saw that the back of the complex bordered the Tollway, but my building was not objectionably close to it. Early on the first Sunday morning spent there I found what I’d missed. My building was right under the takeoff path from the main runway for the Chicago Executive Airport NW. A twin engine business jet headed southeast at low altitude can be surprisingly noisy.
Trains
Under the Train Horn Rule engineers are required to use horns to signal they are approaching a public grade crossing. A couple years ago for a vacation we stayed at a motel in Sandpoint, Idaho. The AAA Tourbook notes that:
“One of the West’s great railroad towns, Sandpoint is known as ‘The Funnel’ for the major rail lines that converge there. More than 40 trains a day draw rail fans to the city. A brochure, ‘A Rail Fan’s Guide to Sandpoint’ is available from the chamber of commerce.”
Sure enough, freight trains blew their horns within earshot at about 3:30 AM and 4:30 AM.
Automobiles (and Trucks)
Tractor trailer rigs with diesel engines usually have compression release engine brakes, commonly known as Jake brakes. They make a loud, chattering “machine gun” exhaust noise when slowing on downhill runs. Some cities ban Jake brakes, but I could sometimes hear them on the Illinois Tollway from my apartment near Northbrook. Poorly muffled cars and motorcycles also can be miserable.
Barking Dogs, etc.
When we initially went hunting for a rental house in Boise, we rejected several otherwise reasonable places based on hearing loudly barking dogs in adjoining back yards. Obnoxious neighbors with loud car stereos also can be objectionable.
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