Hunting for property

I'm finally back to blogging. There's so much I wanted to blog but haven't the time. I know my account of the Hokkaido trip has been neglected. Sumimasen T_T But the last 2 weeks have been terribly eventful. And it all started with a phone call from the property Agent N.

"Ms. Miharu, I can't find any property that fits your needs. It is very difficult to find one in the area you want."

That was what Agent N said over the phone on the day that marked the beginning of my nightmarish 2 weeks. I was like thinking "whaddya mean you can't find?" I had given Agent N an allowance of two weeks and in return, that dead-end statement was thrown at my face. I began to suspect her credibility. And I started panicking. What the heck? I need a roof over my head in a month!

The moment I hung up the call, a rush of adrenaline coursed my bloodstream and I started calling every other property agents that are in my phonebook and feverishly browsed thru all advertisements for property rental.

The first fruitful phone call was to Ms. Angel. yea.. I had hope that she would be the angel that will provide me with the accommodation I needed. Apparently, Ms. Angel had a common room for rent (In Sg, common rooms are smaller than master bedrooms in the apartment unit). So I made an appointment to view the room that Saturday afternoon. The sun was out, the day was good, and I started to feel a bit more positive. However, when I started my walk from my hostel to her block outside of campus, an ominous cloud threaten cloudburst. I quicken my pace and armed myself with my umbrella. Barely halfway thru my journey, heaven floodgates gave way. It was pouring hard and the strong wind blew the piercing raindrops in my direction. My jeans were drenched to the calves. I began to wonder if the deterring rainfall was a bad omen. It rained too heavily for me to walk across the campus to the apartment block, so I took shelter at one of the hostel lounges.

And then... my phone rang. It was Ms. Angel. And she offered me a ride to her house since she was on the road then. I felt blessed. An angel to rescue at the low of your life. The bad omen must've been not accurate, eh? I took her offer and true to her word, Ms. Angel came in a Toyota Altis and kindly gave me a lift. She actually came with her husband, and they are a rather young Malay couple renting out rooms in their 5-room unit to students. I thought, "I'm so lucky. This might just work out perfectly for me." Location - walking distance to campus. Cooking, Internet allowed. Kind landlords. I was getting excited.

When I reached her unit at the higher floor, I was taken aback. My glee burst like a bubble. No offense, but the place far from well-kept. It was quite messy, dark and not sparkling clean. Several mental criteria were crossed out immediately. The room was actually quite narrow and dim, although it had quite a good view. Another minus point was that the unit had other foreign tenants. I wasn't comfortable with the arrangement. They asked for $400 for the rental. In my head, my little voice shrieked, "$400?? This unkept, small room?"

However, I thanked them for their kindness, told them I would consider and left. The rain reduced to a light shower and I trudged slowly back to my hostel. Every drop of my optimism evaporated. There's no way I could share that tiny, dim room with my future housemate. And to live with a houseful of strangers (couples included) was the last thing I wanted. My emotional rollercoaster took a dive.

Reaching my room, I continued browsing more advertisements in dejection. That is, until I saw this advertisement:

Add: xx-xxx, Blk xxx (corner unit)
Rate: $300 (room)
Location: 5 mins to XX mall, 3 mins to Interchange, 5 mins to campus
Condition: Very clean, quiet, windy. No owner.
Furnishing: Fully furnished, cable tv, broadband internet, bed, desk, cupboard
Availability: Immediate
Light cooking ok

I called the number given and made an immediate appointment for viewing. Bringing my future housemate, WW & her boyfriend along, I proceeded to view this unit, with renewed hopes. When we reached the area, we threaded amongst the blocks to reach the corner unit. While walking, I surveyed the neighbourhood. It is neat, clean and quiet. "Hmm.. I like this environment," I thought to myself. When we reached the block, I headed for the unit, and was greeted by a less-than-pleasant sight. The neighbouring unit is a house full of guys. And they looked like construction labourers. I began to feel uneasy. I knocked on door of the unit I came for and was greeted by a PRC student. Apparently, we are from the same campus, but of no acquantaince. He showed us the unit, and I took liking to it in an instant. It is spacious, clean, quiet and windy. The two rooms for rent were essentially furnished and quite roomy. The kitchen was also clean and the entire unit was quite well-kept. The bonus point is that the owner is not staying and should we rent the two rooms, we'd be essentially renting the entire unit. $600 for a unit! I believed I had striked jackpot!

Both me and WW liked the unit immediately, we would probably had made the deal if the owner was there. However, the owner is located in China, and we would have to make a call to him to make the deal. So we left the place, feeling ecstatic. I was particularly excited as the rent was freaking cheap and the unit is freaking huge. However, when I reached my room and sat down to think, I sensed something amiss. Why would the owner rent out the whole unit for such a cheap amount? There's something fishy to the unbelievable deal. Furthermore, I was perplexed at the prospect of 2 females living next to a houseload of middle-age guys. It seemed to me the environment was less than secure. In the end, both WW & I decided to email the owner and clarify the questions we had in mind. However, both of us still couldn't help liking the unit.

The following day, I received an international call on my phone. It was the owner!! He sounded like a middle-age businessman, and affirmed that he received my mail and will attend to our questions. When I checked out the reply he sent, I was bowled over by his deal. He favored us over other applicants and is offering us the unit for $700, all included, as a favor for fellow Malaysians. Yes, he is a Malaysian and is kindly offering us the deal of a lifetime to help us poor souls. I was overjoyed and sceptical at the same time. OMG, the deal is the cheapest I've come across! But can he be trusted? I thought over and over until my head hurt. He had wanted us to give him a yes-or-no reply by that night over the phone and it drove me & WW crazy. We were tempted to jump on the offer instantly, but each of us have our reservations. I was worried about the neighbour, whilst WW was sceptical about his motives.

We consulted my parents, seniors, and friends... and a good majority adviced us to beware of the too-good-to-be-true deal. I wanted to believe the owner was being kind, but the insecurity of having too many men next door was something I couldn't really shake off. We called the owner to voice our interests and also our concerns, and he convinced us that it was not too big a deal, at least, for the neighbour-problem. He then gave us another day to make our decision. And all that happened in 24 hours. Pressed to make such an immediate decision, I didn't know to follow my heart or my mind. My heart wants the spacious unit so badly, but the warning bells in my head wouldn't stop ringing. All this mental fiasco lasted till 3am. When I reached lab the next morning at 9am (I'm currently working on a lab attachment under a professor), I felt like a mental mess.

To cut the long story short, we finally decided to give up the offer. I felt like I had threw a million dollars into the sea. The unit was such a good deal. But it's all in the past now.

After that incident, we viewed other rooms available for rent consecutively every night. I've called Agent S, Agent J, Agent K and so many other landlords, I felt like a nuisance. And currently, we've seen another unit that we both like, but negotiations are still being made. I'm beginning to feel worn out and tired of this property-renting exercise and really hope to land on a shelter very very soon.

Up next week is another one full of appointments for property viewing. Wish me luck.
疲れたですよ。

～みはる～