As you may have gathered by the title of this blog post I hate househunting in Edinburgh.
I really truly do.
In fact, I'm supposed to be doing it now.
But my mind won't let me stress it out for at least another half hour
so I'm doing this instead.
These are the reasons why I hate househunting.
1. Three of the one bed flats have no beds. No big deal you would think until you realise that James doesn't officially start work for another month and I am still unemployed so forking out for a bed isn't such a great idea as we've a deposit and two months rent (At least) to pay for. Don't call your flat fully furnished if it does not have a bed. Is that not pretty obvious??
2. One of the flats we looked at had two hallway closets. One was converted into a toilet. The other a shower. This is NOT a lie.
3. One flat was so small that my usually very polite James announced that he could probably reach the toilet bowl from the couch if he concentrated hard enough. The letting agent got the hint pretty quickly.
4. Another letting agent tried to tell me that the HUGE black markings across the bathroom were a shadow. I informed her it was mould. She said no, it was not a shadow, the tiles needing grouting. I informed her that the surface of a tile doesn't. Yuck.
5. We saw a lovely flat yesterday and were told that we would have to pay £100 to see if we were suitable tenants. This was non-refundable and we weren't entitled to an explanation if they decided that we weren't. I guess that was said to the other couples who went to see that flat yesterday also. Nice little money maker isn't it.
6. Another company has told us that when we apply for the apartment we must pay a deposit. If we change our mind once the deposit is paid the costs will be taken from this deposit up to the value of £368. With a £30 fee for reposting the apartment. Pardon my terminology here but what a load of Bollox.
7. Because James and I haven't shared 5 homes together we were told by one agent that we needed a guarantor. I kindly informed the lady that at the age of 27 I stopped relying on my parents a decade ago and that it was impossible. She smiled smugly and said "oh".
I was always aware of politicians talking about the poverty trap in the UK and about the over reliance on council housing. You know what, I totally get why people stay in council housing. If it is this bloody difficult to rent somewhere privately then why bother? I honestly think that if James didn't have his job right now we would probably have booked flights to Estonia or somewhere already.At least there we could last for probably six months without work!
We are both patient people but idiotic messing about does both of our heads in. Grrrrrrr,,,
Rant over.
Thanks for listening.
I really truly do.
In fact, I'm supposed to be doing it now.
But my mind won't let me stress it out for at least another half hour
so I'm doing this instead.
These are the reasons why I hate househunting.
1. Three of the one bed flats have no beds. No big deal you would think until you realise that James doesn't officially start work for another month and I am still unemployed so forking out for a bed isn't such a great idea as we've a deposit and two months rent (At least) to pay for. Don't call your flat fully furnished if it does not have a bed. Is that not pretty obvious??
2. One of the flats we looked at had two hallway closets. One was converted into a toilet. The other a shower. This is NOT a lie.
3. One flat was so small that my usually very polite James announced that he could probably reach the toilet bowl from the couch if he concentrated hard enough. The letting agent got the hint pretty quickly.
4. Another letting agent tried to tell me that the HUGE black markings across the bathroom were a shadow. I informed her it was mould. She said no, it was not a shadow, the tiles needing grouting. I informed her that the surface of a tile doesn't. Yuck.
5. We saw a lovely flat yesterday and were told that we would have to pay £100 to see if we were suitable tenants. This was non-refundable and we weren't entitled to an explanation if they decided that we weren't. I guess that was said to the other couples who went to see that flat yesterday also. Nice little money maker isn't it.
6. Another company has told us that when we apply for the apartment we must pay a deposit. If we change our mind once the deposit is paid the costs will be taken from this deposit up to the value of £368. With a £30 fee for reposting the apartment. Pardon my terminology here but what a load of Bollox.
7. Because James and I haven't shared 5 homes together we were told by one agent that we needed a guarantor. I kindly informed the lady that at the age of 27 I stopped relying on my parents a decade ago and that it was impossible. She smiled smugly and said "oh".
I was always aware of politicians talking about the poverty trap in the UK and about the over reliance on council housing. You know what, I totally get why people stay in council housing. If it is this bloody difficult to rent somewhere privately then why bother? I honestly think that if James didn't have his job right now we would probably have booked flights to Estonia or somewhere already.At least there we could last for probably six months without work!
We are both patient people but idiotic messing about does both of our heads in. Grrrrrrr,,,
Rant over.
Thanks for listening.
You should have come to Glasgow! Although I'm sure it probably isn't much better here. What a carry on! John's 26 year old brother and his wife had to get his dad to be guarantor for them, even though they are both working. It's ridiculous! I thought the whole point of getting your own place was that you're no longer reliant on your parents?
ReplyDeleteI really hope you get something soon, good luck!
Thanks for the nice words! We're thinking of just getting a flat share for a while and see what we can find then. It really is so frustrating! As James says, we're doing everything right here so why is it so hard? That is crazy about John's brother and his wife! It just makes no sense does it!
ReplyDelete