The search for an apartment - Part II

So I finished Part I as we were heading back to the West Village to see another apartment.  The phone conversation had been something like this:

the dude - I have a great apartment being shown tonight at 7pm if you can come and see it.

me - is it a no fee apartment?

the dude - yes

me - how much is it?

the dude - what is your maximum?

me - well how much is it going for?

the dude - why don't you tell me your maximum, its a great apartment, going to go very quickly (bla bla blah)

me - $x

the dude - oh, well its on for $100 more that that but I'm sure we could negotiate down. Very good landlord, wants good tenant (bla bla blah)

Ok, so we were on our way, I had arranged to meet this guy at some intersection and realised 1/2 way there that I had left my phone at home, oh dear how were we going to find him?  While we were waiting we were getting worried we missed him but with hindsight, how silly of us, of course he would be late. We eventually met him and he wandered us into the apartment.

It was the typical pitch, and I had written it off for some reason (maybe I was just worn out from the search) and so didn't take much notice.  When we got outside and started talking about it, Ash gave me the positives about the place, and comparatively, there were many. Knowing we were running out of time to sort something we decided to go for it.

This story could drag on so I'll keep it brief, basically in 2 different trips we gave a deposit, an application fee and our application with supporting documents.  We agreed to a price (the max $ I had given on the phone) and because we had our dodgy radar blaring I even asked to see their real estate licence.   We were supposed to hear by 3pm Friday if the landlord approved our application, at which time we needed to show up and pay the rest of the upfront costs.   We were keen to hear, because that meant I wouldn't have to continue looking on the Sat.  3pm, nothing.  Ash phones, oh yes, I will call you back in 45 mins.  4pm, nothing.  Ash and I decide it was best to wait to hear from him.  5pm, nothing. Ash phones, oh yes of course, yes you have been approved and I have a deal for you why don't you come to my office and we can talk about it.  Wait - what do you mean a deal?  Well the landlord has reduced the monthly rent but (wait for it....) there's now going to be a fee. How much is the fee.  Oh, lets not talk about it on the phone, come down to see me and we can go through it.

When Ash phoned me, I was furious - the cheek of the guy!!! I was ready to say go stick yourself just for the principle and he had gotten under our skin as a sleazy, unreliable, smooth talking guy.  We worked how much we were willing to pay, in order to work out even over the 12 month period, and we went in and had to negotiate with the guy.  Ash did really well.  I think there was smoke coming out my ears! But we did walk out having signed a lease.  All up a good result.

To finish the story off, Mr dude promised us an air-con unit and that he would try to get us in to the apartment a few days early.  He came through with neither and is always difficult to track down.  I had a small doubt if we would get the keys at all, but we made contact with the super (24 hour caretaker of the building) last weekend and she at least knew we were coming which made us feel better.

We moved in this week.  I hadn't remembered how big it was - at least it seems that way but we don't own any furniture yet.  How lovely it was to sleep for the first night on our new bed.  Now its just time to clean and do some serious shopping!  This weekend - an important purchase, a TV :)