Today I met with the relocation agent to do some flat-searching. The relocation agent was a nice South African lady named Dawn, and she picked me up at 10:15 at the subway station and off we went! She had a nice color brochure printed up with an itinerary, pictures, and descriptions of the places we would be visiting today. First, we went to Clapham, which is within London. The flat in Clapham was the exact opposite of what I had specified on the questionnaire, but whatever. It was not within walking distance of the train station/underground, it wasn't modern, it wasn't really in a quiet area (it was right across the street from an elementary school!) and it was filthy!!!!!!! I forgave the filthy part a little bit because there was still something living in the flat, but my goodness! The carpet was so dirty and there were stains on the walls and so much clutter and the furniture was outdated...I felt like I needed to wash my hands when I left. Needless to say, I was a bit concerned after we left this flat and was afraid that maybe the whole day would go this way, but things definitely got better after we got that one out of the way.
The next area that we visited was Walton-on-Thames, which is a nice little town located in Surrey. The first flat we visited was located right across the street from the train station, which was a definite plus since that meant that Victor would not have to walk far in the mornings and the evenings to and from the station. We arrived to this flat about 10 minutes early and the landlord had not arrived yet, so we waited in the car with the windows down. We were sitting there chatting when out of nowhere a cat tried to jump through my window!!!!!!! I had seen the cat when we first parked but he was so far away that I didn't give him a second thought and then out of nowhere he was in my face trying to scratch my eyes out!!! Well, I'm sure he didn't have malicious intent and he wasn't that close to my face, but it was just strange. He got about halfway in the car but he couldn't get a good grip so he ended up falling back down. Needless to say, we rolled up the windows after that. The bad thing though is that I am very allergic to cats and when he tried to jump through the window some of his fur came off and landed in the car, so for the rest of the day my eyes were watery and my nose was stuffy and I was itchy. Anyway, this flat was much better than the first flat, but not quite what I was looking for.
The next flat we went to was also located in Walton. I just fell in love with this flat as soon as I walked in the door!!! The last person had already moved out, so it was spotless and it smelled good. It was a modern, fully-furnished apartment with stainless steel appliances in the kitchen with a washer/dryer, 2 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms and one half bath. It was only about a 4 minute walk to the train station and close to alot of restaurants and shops and the grocery. The only thing was that it didn't have a dishwasher and it was a little more than what we wanted to pay. Doesn't it always work out that way? Here is the link to the website if you want to look:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-8005851.rsp?pa_n=1&tr_t=rent . We went to a couple of other flats in Walton, but you know nothing ever measures up when you have already seen what you really want.
So out of the 10 flats that we viewed today, I have narrowed it down to the two that I highlighted above. I don't know which one to choose because both of them have pros and cons. I will show the properties to Victor once he gets home and then hopefully he will help me choose. They both cost the same...I love the first one, but it doesn't have a dishwasher and the town is a little bit smaller than Woking...I think saying that I love the second one would be a stretch, but I really do like it alot and the furniture is nicer, plus it is within walking distance to the town centre. The town centre has a big shopping centre, 6 cinemas, 2 theatres, the grocery store, etc. Both areas have direct trains that go to both Basingstoke and London. Decisions, decisions. We will definitely be making a decision tonight and then letting them know tomorrow morning because property goes so fast out here and if you hesitate someone else might snatch it up with their grubby little paws (hee hee).
Renting a flat in the UK is similar to buying a house in the US. They have an asking price and then you put an offer on the flat you want and see if they accept your offer. Luckily the relocation agency acts as the mediary between us and the rental property, so they will be doing the negotiating, which is fine by me because I don't like all that back-and-forth mess. So we will be letting them know which one we want tomorrow and once they accept our offer we have put down a deposit (usually one week's rent) to hold the flat. We will then have to complete an application and provide references. Once all of that goes through we will have to pay an "administrative fee" of about 180 GBP, as well as 6 weeks worth of rent PLUS the first month's rent. The 6 weeks of rent is a security deposit, so I think we get that back when we move out. Unfortunately, since I won't be here next week Victor is going to have to do all the paperwork himself.
Anyway, we finished up around 6:30 and I got back to Chelsea about an hour ago. Victor had a 7:00 meeting that was pushed back to 7:30, so hopefully he will be headed home soon. We are supposed to be going somewhere for dinner since we have eaten in the past few nights, which leads me to think about the grocery stores here: Their food is really good and fresh! They don't really have frozen meals here, but they do have refrigerated meals that you can heat up in the microwave and they are really good! Their produce is really good here too, and the food prices really aren't bad at all as long as you don't convert the price to USD in your head. :)
Tomorrow I will try to get things rolling with the flat and then I think I'm going to do some exploring around London. We'll see how it goes!
