Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Update: Our Search For A Home In India…

We’re still waiting to hear about the flat that we found on Saturday.  We took another walk through it last night and made a list for the landlord: new paint; replace the refrigerator, stovetop, water filtration unit and mattresses; and add a clothes dryer.  From here the agent talks to the owner of the flat, who decides if he’s willing to spend the money on our requests and then comes up with an amount for rent.  We’ll then try to get his price down, yada yada.  The whole process reminds me of buying a car in the U.S…”What?  You want heat and keys with this vehicle?  Let me go talk to my manager and I’ll see what I can do.”

Anyhoo, that’s where we’re at.  In the meantime, here are a bunch of pictures of what will be our home for the next 2-3 years, and if it’s not to be it will give you an idea of what we’ve been looking at.
Here is the hall (aka Living Room).  The entrance into the flat is to your right.
 Another view of the hall.
This is the dining area…
…and again showing the staircase leading down.
The kitchen is also on the upper level.
There is one bathroom on this floor and it contains a clothes washer inside a cabinet.
One of the things we really like about this particular flat is the terrace.  It’s large and fairly private.  Please note the drying racks.  When I told the agent I wanted a clothes dryer he pointed out that there were already two outside…and that, my friends, is India.
Views from the terrace.
The foyer on the lower level.
The ‘pink’ bedroom (Note the thickness of the mattress; seems to be the standard here)…
…and bathroom in it.
The ‘green’ bedroom…
…and the bathroom just outside it.
The master bedroom….
…and the master bath.
**Note:  Paul just received an email.
Rent: 1.1 Lakh ($2,480.00)  Deposit: 12 months rent. 

Ah, the negotiations begin…or more than likely our search.

7 comments:

Badass Geek said...

Looks like a pretty awesome place... if it becomes affordable. Yowch.

Anonymous said...

WOW. That's Sydney rent. I had no idea rents were so expensive there. Actually, it's not a bad place. I really like the terrace too and the view is really nice. I hope you get it.

Meg said...

That is HUGE rent! Yikes! And 12 mths deposit? Cos people just carry that kind of money around? I mean it's a nice flat and all..but WOW!

Unknown said...

Boy, that's a lotta rupee. Somebody's greedy. Somebody sees rich folks from Amnerica and the price goes up. Funny. Landlords there are just like landlords here.

Unknown said...

And you didn't say, "sure, I'll just write you a check??" holy moly! But the view is nice anyway...

Kat said...

Western toilets for the win!!

Nej said...

The terrace is beautiful!!!!!!!!!!