Apartment hunting down under

New country, completely new customs. As usual, I was warned that finding accommodation here was complicated. Just like in Essen, when a Dr. Biologist told me it had taken her so long to find something and thus spread unqualified panic. The end of the story? 7 viewings, 7 apartment confirmations and the agony of agony. To be fair, I'm also exactly what landlords are looking for. A middle-aged man, with, shall we say, a regular income, non-smoker, no kids, no pets, no drama. And here in Australia? It's all a bit different. First of all, when you look at the rents, at first glance, everything is normal, until you realize that the rent is paid weekly! Then the bill looks different. Anyway, that's also in the budget, after all I earn quite well. Don't worry, I'm still not rich, because it goes out as quickly as it comes in. Saving is for people with heirs who want to live forever, I want to experience something in the short time that remains and leave nothing behind. The good thing is that at the moment it's coming in faster than it's going out, which is a good thing. It used to be different sometimes and who knows how it will be later. So I was getting tired of the AirBnB life, sharing a house with 2 strangers and a shitty bed and an internet that keeps going out. Oh, I lived in shared flats for 10 years, I did my bit, and I just love having a loo that I don't have to share. Not to mention being able to wiggle naked to the shower whenever I feel like it. So I had no choice but to start looking for an apartment and as things are different here and I have no idea what to do, I got myself an agency that arranges viewings for me and, most importantly, puts together my application folder and then hands it in. A real application folder, no, no tenant self-disclosure, no Schufa, they want letters of recommendation and since I have no history here, I was allowed to ask my old landlords if they would sign a letter for me. To be honest, I worded it naturally and it included that I was clean and tidy, paid my rent on time and left the apartments in a proper condition when I moved out.In fact, the two landlords were then also contacted by real estate agents to whom I had applied (wrong passive: to whom I was applied?). They happily forwarded the emails to me and perhaps I was able to inspire one or two German landlords. I'm very happy that I got on so well with my last landlords, there were others where you had to get in touch with a lawyer before they finally paid out your deposit. There are a few who really think they can do anything to you. Um, I'm writing here in Australia, but more on that later.....

My agency screened me from top to bottom, in addition to letters of recommendation from my ex-landlords, I had to provide bank information, birth certificate, visa, letters from employers, even the old rental contracts, and much more. It took a few hours, luckily I took all the important documents with me in my bag or found them in an e-mail inbox. Eventually they were satisfied and the first apartments were sent to me and inspections (that's what they call them) were booked for me. I went there myself as I hadn't booked the service and I was shocked. The first apartment was untidy and dirty. The current landlords were cooking and the other potential landlords who were there with me simply walked through and took photos of everything. That was very disconcerting for me. A nice apartment in itself, but the condition. The area would have been great, right near the city ferry. On the same day, 2 hours later, next viewing. As I was waiting in front of it, a woman came up to me and eavesdropped, I knew this guy from Germany. She asked very specific questions and immediately told me that this apartment was too big for me, I should take a one-bed apartment, she wanted this apartment for 2 people who wanted to start working in her company. While I was also busy looking at the apartment, she was busy talking to the estate agent, who in the end reluctantly wanted to give me an appointment to view another apartment. So that's how it goes, the apartment was quite nice, with a tower room, so I stayed until the lady had left and (I can be quite charming when I want to) now worked on the estate agent for my part. The next few days I had a few more viewings, the end of the story, I applied for 5 apartments and could have had 4 of them, including the one with the tower room. That's how complicated it is here. In the end I decided on an apartment (3 rooms with balcony) in Indooroopilly (you won't believe how it's pronounced) within walking distance of a mall, where I'm currently sitting and writing these lines because I still don't have internet at home, don't ask, they're fast at selling, not at installing, but it was Alfred. In addition to being within walking distance of all the shops, I'm relatively close to various gyms, the cinema, DIY store, 3 km to the Cityferry, 900 m to the train station and Mount Coot-Tha is on my doorstep. It doesn't really take me long to get into the city and the best thing is that the cycle path to my company starts just around the corner, with a section that leads directly over the Brisbane River, it's fantastic. Every morning 14 km and hardly any contact with the highway. The one I have is enough to be dangerous. So the strategic location is perfect and the most important thing? On a hill and not at the bottom where there is a risk of flooding. I got a little taste of that last week. Thank you Alfred! The storm itself wasn't bad, fortunately. What was really bad was the rain. 36 hours of continuous rain and I was still stuck in the AirBnB, 36 hours in a small room with a crappy mattress and an on/off relationship with the internet. day when the company was already closed in the best weather. On Monday I was allowed to sign my tenancy agreement and then a completely different story was revealed to me: in Australia it is usual for the landlord or a representative to inspect your apartment every 3 months and take photos of it. They probably check cleanliness etc. You have to imagine that every 3 months, at least with advance notice. I was also warned that every scratch in the apartment should be documented in the handover protocol. I made the handover protocol today, online, to the honor of the real-estate, almost everything was entered. At work, however, they explicitly pointed out the fly screens to me and lo and behold, they have slight flaws and were not listed. Neither were the fingerprints on the ceiling (lamp replacement). I documented everything, I was allowed to take my time and not like in Germany where it says, freshly renovated, same back blah blah. Yes, freshly renovated here too and even with a kitchen, here there are only apartments and houses with open kitchens. Only the fridge you have to buy yourself, some apartments even come with a washing machine and dishwasher. Long story short, in that sense.