more apartment hunting

Ro and i spent 6 (yes, six...) hours with realtors on sunday. we had 2 appointments (2pm and 4pm) in the same town with 2 different agencies.

the first one was a woman who kept calling Ro by the wrong name (his last name is kind of unusual and easily mispronounced) even after he wrote his name and furigana on the information sheet. since i didn't write anything, i was just Girlfriend. ha.

she took us to an apartment that was 1 minute from the station and it was SO cute!! the apartment was like something from somewhere other than japan. the building was built in a square, with a little courtyard area in the middle and the doors to all the apartments. the building was two tone orange (which sounds gross, but it was kind of "tropical" feeling) and had a big palm tree-looking tree in the middle of the courtyard. one of the doors had a christmas wreath on it.

the inside was much smaller than other places we have looked at, but the layout didn't waste any space. the LDK wasn't really big enough to consider both a dining table and a sofa with a coffee table (for some reason Ro thinks you HAVE TO have a coffee table if you have a couch), so we'd have to buy a bigger coffee table and put cushions on the floor for meals. there were windows in the bathroom and toilet room, and the sun came streaming into every room but one. and that room still had a big window that let light in. the area is kind of hilly so even though it was a first floor apartment, it felt like the 2nd floor when you looked out the windows. there were only 2 closets and some shelves over the washing machine hookup, but no other storage space.

as we left, we walked up the hill (instead of down, back the way we came) and around to a set of stairs that wound back down the hill on the other side of the building. you could see the whole area from the top. it felt so open and spacious.

long story short, i fell in love.

end of the long story made short? it's too small for all the stuff Ro and i have (emphasis on the "i" part of that...) even if we get rid of a lot of stuff.

we went back to the office and got details about the application process and Ro asked a bunch of questions before we left to walk around the neighborhood for about 20 minutes.

our second appointment was with an agency almost right across the street from the first one. the guy who Ro had talked to last week when he made the appointment had been transferred and was no longer in that office. turns out it was just one station over, so he came over to take us to a few apartments.

we got in the car and drove for quite a while (due to hills and one way streets and train track crossings) before arriving at the first apartment. i actually don't remember much; the two bedrooms were tiny, and i doubted whether a double bed would fit in either of them. the LDK area was decent size, but there were only tiny cupboards above the sink. that's all i remember.

so, we drove to another big apartment complex and saw one more apartment. the front bedroom was HUGE! of course, small by american apartment standards i'm sure, but it would have room for a queen sized bed and a dresser or two! the only problem: no air conditioning unit. summer would be unbearable and in winter we'd be icicles. the bathroom was new but rest of the apartment was older (the front room and bathroom had been renovated) and felt kind of dark and gloomy. but, it was very spacious. it was a 3LDK. we stood in that apartment talking and asking questions for what seemed like a long time.

the realtor didn't bring any layout copies or anything to refer to regarding rent or size or address. Ro and i felt like maybe he should have been a little bit more prepared and got a bit of a lazy vibe from him. he seemed a little too confident in his selling ability.

Ro and i asked if we could walk back to the station, to see how far it was, and see the area. there were mostly big apartment complexes, a neighboring one had a big park and dirt area. there were swings and a slide and a kid and his mom playing soccer. i noted how nice that space would be. Ro noted how dark it was, and that these are the kind of apartments you see on the news as the scene of a murder or other crime. he was right, but i told him if brought stuff up like that, there was no WAY i was moving in. it was 8 minutes to the station. not bad.

we met the agent back at the station, and i thought we were going to get some information about other apartments back at the office, but we went and ended up just hearing the same information about how few "family type" apartments there are in the area and yada yada yada. he had brought us back to the office he had been transferred to, and seemed to be pushing apartments in THAT area, NOT around the station we originally inquired about. i sort of tuned out, and politely nodded while Ro asked some questions and the agent tried to pull more and more apartments from his big filing cabinet. in the end, Ro just came out and said, "we're kind of tired, we're going to head home, we'll be in touch." the agent drove us back to the original station and we said goodbye.

we walked back to the first (cute but too small) apartment and looked around again. we both like the location (even though it was only one minute from the station, it was surprisingly quiet) and the outside feel of the place, but agreed it was too small for us. we walked further up the hill and looked out over the city. i wished the apartment was just one room bigger and felt a little heartbroken. but i think i've come around to the idea of leaving shitamachi, where i live now. the area we went to on sunday has hills and great views and felt so very different than the flat, densely packed tokyo. moving will be a pain, but i'll be closer to work and hopefully have a decent view out my window instead of being able to touch the building next door, like i can now.

the hunt continues...