It's All About Me
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Category: It's All About Me
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Published on Saturday, 24 July 2010 18:00
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Written by Elizabeth Best
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When it comes to real estate agents, renting and house hunting, I've had it rough. Crazy flatmates, neighbours who thought I was the Devil (seriously), landlords who have measured the length of our lawns and landlords who have told me I am not allowed to have a boyfriend. But as any renter will know, none of that... NONE of it, compares to the hectic process of finding and applying for a new house.
Over the years it seems to have gotten infinitely more difficult to house hunt in December/Jan. Leisurely Saturday mornings perusing the listings have been replaced by a tactical precision excercise in which renters approaching the front line need a game plan, battle armour and plenty of ammunition. Last time we were looking we were completely caught off guard by what it took to get the house we wanted. We turned up to the property as per our appointment, and fell in love with the house. We went straight home and hurriedly filled out our application that night, compiling a complete dossier on ourselves to submit to the agent. We turned up as soon as the agency opened, only to be told someone else had submitted their application the night before and it had gone to the owners already. Lesson learnt... be prepared.
The next house we loved we were sorted. We had all our documentation in the car, ready to go the second we decided we wanted the place. But as we walked in the door, we stopped in horror. There before us was a line full of people... applications IN HAND, waiting to deliver them to the property manager. 'What the hell?' we thought. 'Now you have to have everything done BEFORE you see the house?!" As I sat at my desk that night, my hand cramping under the strain of filling out applications for the 12 properties we were to view the next day, I wondered 'Is this really what it's come to? Im applying for houses I don't even know i will like!"
The next morning, we took our applications, neatly assembled with a single staple in the left hand corner, dressed in our Sunday best, and drove to our next inspection. There was no mistaking which house it was. People spilled out onto the street in their masses, a sea of eager renters, all with the same plan as us. Someone even came up and asked us how much we thought the house would go for. He'd thought with the number of people in attendance, that it was an auction, not a rental inspection.
So, when we decided to break our lease last month, it was NOT a decision we took lightly. The hours of inspections, the hurried lunch time appointments, the mad scramble for documentation to prove you are who you say you are, not to mention signing your life away and that of your first born child. We trembled in fear at putting ourselves back out on the market. But we needn't have worried. For as horrendous and painful as every other experience had been, this one was the polar opposite.
We arrive at the first inspection, battering ram at the ready to push through the crowds of desperate students, but there was no one to batter. I checked my diary... did we get the time wrong? The agent pulls up, unlocks the door, and we realise something magical has occurred... we are the only people at the inspection. It has to be a blip... some kind of strange coincidental cosmic happening. We thank the agent and leave for our next appointment, applications neatly in hand, filled to the brim with proof we can afford anything. And again, we are the only people to step across the threshold. The agent eagerly shows us around, pointing out all the amazing features we too can have if we were to be in there, and even suggesting we may want to try offering LESS rent, as the owners are open to negotiations. What the? And suddenly, there it is... You can practically smell it... The sickly scent of desperation hangs in the air. We leave quickly.
And then, only a few days after we started looking, we find the perfect house. As we were early to the inspection, we rush back to the agency to make an application, sure that the masses would be converging on the house as we sped off. Even after the application was submitted and all the requisite hoops jumped through, we still went to inspections because you NEVER get the first house you apply for.
Except that we did. Just like that. And throughout the week we fielded calls from agents wondering if we had decided to make an application on their properties, the desperation seeping down the phone line.
And then we realised... it was mid-year. The students all had houses... By breaking our lease we were inadvertently searching in the down season. And thanks to our shiny new 12 month lease, so it shall always be. Ah bliss... Let's hope the tenancy is as smooth as the hunting process.
