In my own past, I've always been quite blessed in the house-hunting department; when I first left home to go to university, I was, as most students are, supplied with university accommodation. It was a pretty depressing little room, shared with a rather monosyllabic young Christian with a penchant for eating the fat on steaks and a communal toilet used by around twenty strangers. Fortunately, within a couple of weeks, I managed to get myself moved to a much more pleasant abode, an eight-person flat with my own en-suite. I'm not a fan of sharing toilets; I have a shy bladder at the best of times.
My proper first experience of "house-hunting" thus occurred near the end of my first year, when my friends Michael, Adam and I realised we really needed somewhere to live for the following semester. The three of us had met at registration, and had instantly bonded over a David Bowie badge on Adam's pre-hipster blazer. From that point we had been an inseparable trio and had decided it would be pleasant to get a place together. Fortunately we were right. We took the first place we looked at and subsequently spent a very happy three years in what we christened The House of Tasteful Men.
Since then, every house I have lived in has been supplied by employers, and as such it was not until this past week that I experienced the nightmarish hell that is finding a new home.
Admittedly, giving myself a day to find somewhere to live three hundred miles from my current base was probably not the smartest first move, but hey, it's always been easy before, so why shouldn't it have been this time?
Here's why:
1. Everybody is looking for value for money
An obvious first statement, but why would you pay X amount for a squalid little bedsit when you can get a furnished flat for the same price? You wouldn't, obviously, and that's why chances are that nice cheap and cheerful flat you've seen on the website, or even looked at a mere half hour ago, has already been let. Even if you've already paid the admin fees. More on that later.
2. If a house is nice, someone already lives there
Think about it; the only reasons to move from a house you like (actually, to move at all) are for a new job or if you're having kids. The nice houses are gone. People ain't moving in this crummy economy.
3. Houses on with multiple agents
Personally I feel this should not be legal. Having found a flat on Friday, a tidy little loft apartment, I immediately returned to the letting agents, paid my holding fee and that was that. I returned home feeling accomplished and thereafter spent the weekend relishing in relief only to be informed on the following money that the house had been on with two agents and that the landlord had decided to go with the other. Since then, I have been pulling my hair out trying to find somewhere from afar. Not fun.
4. Estate agents do not care
At first meeting, your agent may seem like the loveliest fellow in the world, someone determined to fulfil your needs at any cost (preferably the lowest to you). Unfortunately, like most salesmen, this is a complete ruse to try and lull you into buying into whatever they may happen to be selling. In the end, the only thing important is the commission. We've all seen Glengarry Glen Ross, we know how it works.
Fortunately after stressing myself into the worst flu I've had in years and crying like a baby for three days straight, the school I'm going to work for has found me a lovely condo-style apartment with pool and gym facilities, so turns out I didn't need a ruddy agent after all! Looks like Grae's movin' up to the big time!
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