Nearly there…

We went to view a very nice flat yesterday. Three rooms, close to the train station (only 2 tram stops away), gorgeous wooden floors, and a brand new kitchen just about to be installed.
Today, the man called Jan and offered to us. We had to make a decision by 8 p.m. After much umming and erring and working out of finances, followed by a phone call to Jan’s mum for advice, we decided to take it. We have a meeting at the house tomorrow morning, where we shall be given the contract. Then we have the rest of the weekend to look over it and make sure everything’s satisfactory. If all is to our liking we’ll sign it then, on Monday, return it. And then the flat shall be ours. Finally the search is over! I think a bottle of sparkling wine shall have to be opened tonight…

Yessssssssssss!

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Take a deep breath…

I’m home from work, have eaten my lunch and soon it will be time to go and view the first flat.
The one Jan is probably not coming to view with me (he has now said he’ll try). the one where I rearranged the appointment so he could come with me.
I currently feel sick with nerves. I don’t want to go and view a flat on my own. Usually I let Jan ask all the questions while I just smile and try to look friendly. I’m useless at talking to people I don’t know – even more useless if they’re German and I need them to be impressed by me so I can have the flat I’m looking at. The person showing me around this one is (I think) the current tenant – I got my current flat because the people who lived here at the time recommended me to the landlady. Jan was with me then and did most of the talking. This time I’ll be all alone…
Cross your fingers for me please.

Just five more minutes…

I have not wanted to get up the last two mornings. It’s not even as if I went to bed particularly later, or slept particularly badly, but for some reason when my alarm started beeping at me I was just too tired to do anything but hit the snooze button. Then, five minutes later, hit it again… and so on and so forth. Until it got so late that I was forced to skip breakfast and run for the tram. Not the best start to the working day!

Jan is away again this week, so I’ve been ignoring the dishes, the rubbish and the wash pile for the past few days. He’s back on Friday though, so I already know what the plan for tomorrow evening is… Nevertheless, I’m hoping the next two days go by fast. We’re going to view a flat on Saturday and I’m very excited about it. It’s not free til June, but we need to get in early before the selection process starts (welcome to flat hunting in Germany…). Apparantly it’s a nice place, and it’s closer to the train station than my current flat… which would mean an extra five minutes in bed without having to resort to the snooze button. Fingers crossed the current tenant likes us 🙂

So I have a flat…

That’s the good news. I signed the contract on Saturday. No going back now.
The bad news is I have to pay the deposit on Thursday, when I go to pick up the key. This is bad because the deposit is 3 months rent, or in other words almost all of my wages. I could manage it though, just about, if I actually had my wages. Unfortunately they don’t go in until the beginning of next week. So I’m resorting to plan B, which involves taking the cash from my English bank account. Yes, that would be the bank account that is already in the minuses and which no longer comes with an interest free overdraft because it’s been too long since I graduated. Not exactly the ideal solution, but the only one I have. Unless some rich relative decides to die in the next 2 days and leave me lots of money. Preferably lots of money that I can have immediately. Hmm, maybe that idea is slightly unrealistic…

The hunt for a place to live continues

I didn’t get the flat I went to see yesterday. At least I assume I didn’t. The girl never called, and if I had got it she wanted me to go and pick up the key today, so I’m thinking that’s a no. Actually I was pretty sure I wouldn’t get it anyway. Another girl was going to look at it yesterday who is the daughter of a friend of a friend of the landlady, or something. Fairly obvious who the landlady would choose then.
But, but, but… this evening I spontaneously went to look at another flat. I happened to look at the quoka website 45 minutes after the advert was placed online, answered it and received an email almost straight away inviting me to come on Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday at any time. I then wrote back explaining that afternoon is no good as I work and asking if I could come on Wednesday evening at 6pm, or would that be too late. The girl replied that time was really no problem and in fact I could come this very evening before 9pm if I had time. So I called the boyfriend, got him to come and meet me, and went to view the flat. I like it a lot. It’s full of little nooks and crannies. There are two fairly big rooms, one for living, one for sleeping. The shower is hidden away in a little corner in the bedroom. The kitchen is in between the bedroom and the living room. It’s quirky, more spacious than most of the other ones I looked at and (very important this) within spitting distance of a tram stop that I would be able to use for getting to work. It’s run by a so-called Hausverwaltung, a property management scheme, who I have to call tomorrow morning. Then it will once again be a matter of waiting to see who they choose. So don’t’t go uncrossing those fingers just yet guys…

What, where?

I’m currently looking at flats on a website called Quoka (www.quoka.de in case anyone out there is in Germany and looking for a flat). It’s most interesting. I searched for 2 room flats in Karlsruhe and it’s coming up with things in places I’ve never even heard of. Like where on Earth is Hambrücken and why does this website seem to imagine I might want to live there?I’m also loving some of the things people write on their adverts. “Ideally situated 2 1/2 room flat” (ideally situated for who exactly? And what pray tell is half a room?) “Light-flooded, generous-sized 2 room flat” (Light-flooded huh? What, even at night?), “Interesting flat in Knielingen” (Uh, is it just me or does the use of the word “interesting” really make you not want to go and look at that flat?). Some of them do sound pretty good though. I can’t wait to start visiting them. It’s going to be so exciting! I’ve never actually had my own flat before.

It seems this is going to be a year of firsts.