Seasoned from our first Apartment Hunter episode Jean and I thrust back into the fray with lower expectations and reluctantly higher price margins. We rested on Sunday but preparations began soonafter.
Coworkers and friends have been offering loads of advice including:
- Bring the first month's rent in cash and a completed lease application to the viewing
- Offer to pay $10-15 more a week in addition to the advertised rent
- Go to the mid-week viewing as they're not as busy (usually)
- Live with your parents
Preparation for Saturday began on Monday with Jean combing the property leasing website. Viewing announcements seem to begin as trickle and surge as the week progresses. She found a couple of mid-week viewings. The first was a property near campus on Tuesday afternoon. I didn't attend by Jean reported back that it was nice but had been crawling with people. Thursday evening brought us to the Potts Point area of which the residents seem to be a hodgepodge of backpackers, homeless, hipsters, retirees and yuppies. The area immediately surrounding the nearby King's Cross railway station is pretty seedy but within a couple of blocks the bars and strip clubs fade into leafy residential blocks. For getting around via public transportation the area is difficult to beat.
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| A high end Hobbit hole |
The apartment we viewed on Thursday had been advertised as being stylishly classic or lavishly styled or some weird combination of adjectives that had no relation to the property itself. If I wrote the advert I would describe the apartment as dark, hovelesque and resembling a government subsidized hobbit hole. Jean had been diligently keeping notes on all the properties outlining positives and negatives. This apartment was largish, had a good location and was within our newly adjusted budget. The minuses were that there were no appliances in the kitchen apart from a two burner hob and the living room window looked out on a central arbor, which consisted of small patch of grass and one, anemic tree that didn't quite block the view into the neighbor's window across the way. There were only a handful of people at the viewing and none seemed that impressed with the lavish style.
By Friday, Jean had put together a detailed game plan for Saturday. (If it seems like my wife is doing an awful lot of the apartment hunting legwork, it's true. Still stunned after my quick dip into the Sydney property market last week I suggested we go back to Laos, pay $6 a night for a hotel room, and ride around on motorcycles for a while longer. Fortunately, Jean thought better)
Saturday morning found us back in the Potts Point neighborhood. The first two units were in the same building as the hobbit hole we'd seen on Thursday. I think this was when the separation between positive and negative points began to blur. "Mold on the bathroom ceiling" jumped columns to read, "Only a little mold on the bathroom ceiling." The sad arbor became a positive when we found one of the other units had a stunning view of the alley and the building's rubbish bins.
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| Texas Flag |
Easing away from the aforementioned train station the environs improved dramatically. The next two apartments were in a block surrounding a leafy courtyard. I don't remember much about these two except for in chatting with the current tenant of one unit we found out that he was from Chile. Coincidentally, Chile has a flag very similar to the Texas flag. Even more coincidentally, I had a Texas flag with me. After rummaging through my backpack, I brought it out and unfurled it for him. He agreed that they were similar. Then I noticed that perched on the his desk was the exact same camera as my own which I subsequently produced for his inspection. We discussed the strength and weaknesses of the camera and that concluded the show-and-tell portion of our day.
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| A Chilean Flag |
Altogether, we looked at seven apartments Saturday. Jean was smitten with an eighth floor unit overlooking the water. I still thought going back Laos was a pretty good idea but would settle for the last apartment we looked at because it was relatively cheap, had a big kitchen, and was close to the grocery store. Returning to Rachel's that afternoon we spent a couple of hours submitting electronic applications on the leasing website for our two favorites and the one Jean had viewed on Tuesday.
On Sunday we rested. Jean picked up the chase on Monday though. The agent for my choice informed her that they weren't accepting electronic applications but if we could complete another application and fax it over in the next half hour we could add ourselves to the already large pool of applicants. The agent for the property Jean had viewed on the previous Tuesday said he hadn't received our application and wasn't accepting any more.
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| The View of the bay |
That left us with the eighth floor, bay view apartment. It took us some time to get through to the correct agent but Jean found out that we were the only applicants so far. She played phone tag with the agency throughout the week. The agent couldn't get in touch with the property owner for a while, there was another form to fill out and proof of identification to be resubmitted but by Thursday we had gotten the green light from the agent.
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| Keys in hand |
On Friday morning we turned up at the real estate office with a list of questions we had put together the night before. After going through our list, going over payment procedures and reviewing the lease agreement we signed the contract. The agent handed us the keys and we were out the door. Jean and I almost skipped down the street. At long last we had an apartment! Hurrah! Hurray!
Arriving at the block we bounded up to the security door and into the lobby. The elevator doors glided open. Up to the eighth floor we went with excited anticipation bound in our stomachs. Bing! The doors opened and we bounced down the corridor to the door of our new apartment! Our new (unfurnished) apartment!
Jean marveled at the view while I opened and closed every drawer and cabinet in the kitchen. Looking around the empty spaces the glee subsided somewhat as the realization dawned that we had a lot of work ahead of us to make it livable.
There is a light at the end of the tunnel though. I have an affection for lists, spreadsheets, and logistics in general. In addition to planning a return to Laos I put together a detailed apartment assembly list. Now, it was just a matter of collecting all the things on the lists. As we're out of time though you'll have to look for our adventures in housewares in a future installment. Note: There is no Bed, Bath and Beyond in Australia.
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