The Tale of the New (rental) House Part 1

My biggest job upon arrival was to find us a place to live. We started in temp housing right in the middle of the city centre, which was great to get our bearings, be close to food and entertainment, but it was noisy and cramped. After a few days of 5am wake up caws from the sea gulls, we were ready to find something in the suburbs. Sure was a nice location though.

Pub literally right outside the front door!

Right on the river with some beautiful views.

Dangerously good burger & cider place less than a block away.

Did I mention the great views?

I started my house research online back in Abu Dhabi months ago so had a bit of an idea of prices and neighborhoods, but I quickly realised how creative photography can be. First a few basic differences in housing hunting that I noticed.

• No one is open on Sundays. Back in the US, Sundays are a prime time for open houses and showings, but not here. Everything happens between 9-6 Mon-Sat.
• There are very few open houses - everything is by appointment with a letting agent.
• The websites are very up to date and accurate. Unlike Abu Dhabi where you could find a place still listed months after it had been rented.
• The market was really busy in July. I would see a place in the morning on a website and by the time I called them that afternoon, it would be rented. Most the places I saw were rented after 2-3 viewings and typically by the first person who viewed the property!
• Because of the  market, the letting agents weren't very helpful or accommodating (except for our last one which we rented from). They just didn't have to try very hard and so they didn't.

My first brutal exposure to the process was a few days after we arrived. We didn't yet have a car, so I figured out the 60 min bus trip to get to this property. Along the way, I realised my Google map instructions were a bit off and the stop I was looking for didn't seem to be on the route. Okay, no problem, jumped off at a large shopping complex and checked Google again to see if I could walk it. I wasn't clear and it was getting close to the appointment time so I grabbed a taxi . . . who took me the equivalent of 3 blocks to get to the house! Ah well, only 5 GBP (minimum fare) and all part of the adventure.

And then it all came crashing down. The letting agent didn't even introduce herself - even after I stuck out my hand and gave her my name and a nice American hello. She just unlocked the door and pointed me inside. And the house! It was so small, so dirty, and so run down, I almost cried! It had looked so cute in the photos.  The whole thing lasted less than 5 minutes. I was crushed and now very worried about how this was all going to turn out!

Luckily, things did turn around the next day. I had two viewings and both were a little closer to town so only about 45 minutes on the bus (which I was starting to get the hang of) and the houses were in much nicer condition and both letting agents were at least friendly if not overly helpful.

The first place was in a cute little gated area and had a large garage and a decent back yard. The trouble was it was so small inside! I just couldn't picture getting our large American furniture in those tiny little rooms!

Cute house and a nice backyard but SMALL

Gated community of 6-7 houses - nice for security

The second place was an amazing location. One of those cute little idyllic villages you picture when you think of England. The house was cute too and while still quite small, I thought we might be able to fit everything in - okay and maybe store a few things in the garage! It also had a great backyard, but it was the neighborhood that had me sold. Sorry, I thought I had a photo or two of this one, but apparently not.

We put our name forward for the landlord to consider us because by this time, I had realised how quickly properties get snapped up. Unfortunately, they chose another couple who didn't have pets. So I blame our losing this house on the kitties. And ya know, they don't feel one bit guilty!

Through this experience, I learned how difficult it is to rent property here when you have pets. Because the market is so competitive, the landlords almost always have a choice to have someone without pets rent their property. And let's face it, who wouldn't prefer tenants without pets?! I actually even heard that some tenants are turned away because they have kids. So now we had a dilemma - do we tell the agent we have pets or leave that until later?

I visited 3 more properties in the next couple of days - all had their pros and cons. One place was in a great neighborhood and a nice park just steps away from the house, but it was one of those terraced houses that are all connected side by side and the only parking was on the street. Seemed like it would be a huge hassle.

Another was in a nice neighborhood again and the house had a great kitchen with eat in area, but no place for our dining table and hutch and there was no way the bed and dresser were getting up those stairs!

So did we find the place of our dreams - or at least something close enough for the next couple of years? Of course we did! But you'll have to wait for Part 2 to hear the details. ;)