My dislike for real estate agents
This weekend I rediscovered my dislike for real estate agents. I'm sure some of them are very nice people, but they aren't the ones I've met. The one's I've met are either stupid or arrogant and pushy and frequently both. It drives me nuts. This re-realisation comes about thanks to my spending about 4 hours seeing (and trying to see) various one-bedroom apartments. I had appointments to see places, all of which were cancelled because they'd already been rented out. And all of which I had tried to make an earlier appointment to see, but couldn't. Bah!
Then I went to get keys to see some places (from those few real estate agents who will do that). First the girl kept telling me that the places I wanted to see were only by appointment (despite them being listed on my list as available now), which I accepted. But I couldn't make an appointment to see them that day and they are only available for appointments between 9am and 4:30pm - bit hard for a girl who works 8 hours days to fit in with that sweetie. So I'm effectively taking a morning off this week to see 4 places that I was able to book in. And then there were the places that I couldn't book in because that agent is on holidays and no-one else is showing the places. Very helpful! And so I finally managed to get some keys out of the girl and trundled around looking at them. Two of them were definitely out! One was a bedsitter (despite being advertised as a one bedroom place) and I'm not interested in having a place that I can't entertain in. Been there, done that. It's just not worth it. And one was just feral and had no carspace and no street parking.
But the third was pretty good. It had polished timber floors throughout and ceiling fans for summer, but I couldn't get into the communal laundry/storage area to check it out and I really want to be able to see what's there and how secure each area is before I sign on the dotted line. And I told them that when I went back to collect the keys. Thankfully I had a different girl this time and she seemed to display a small amount of intelligence, which was a bonus.
But I think I've reached the realisation that I probably need to upgrade to a higher priced unit. So I'm now looking $20pw above my previous price limit. And a couple of the places I've found looked perfect - aircon, carspace, dishwasher and washing machine included, and pets okay. Not that I have a pet, but I would like to get one to keep me company in a one-bedder. So now I'm back on the rollercoaster trying to get info out of real estate agents again! *sigh*
Anyway, that was the un-fun part of the weekend. As for the fun part, well Friday night I had dinner with the Tall Guy, Genie and the Teacher before we all pottered off to The Zoo for a gig. First up was David Dondero, a US solo artist who failed to impress. And I think that was the whole crowd, not just me. Actually, I think that most of the crowd wasn't even listening - we were, we just didn't particularly like his stuff. He was way to country for me. Second support were The Devoted Few, who I had heard good things about and lived up to expectations. The lead singer sounds a bit like the lead singer of Placebo and the band is pop/rock at its best. They seemed to have quite a following in the members of Speedstar, who were all in the audience (actually, maybe one was missing). The Teacher was a very happy girl and eyed off the bass player with lust. I was too cash-poor to buy their CD at the gig, but it's been added to my list.
The headliner for the night was Darren Hanlon. Once again, I'd heard good things about him and I had a couple of his songs on mix-tapes I'd been sent over the years, which I love. And he was great - got a perfect score from me. His music is great, with humourous lyrics and upbeat catchy tunes. His musical style reminds me a little of Paul Kelly but with the humour and variety of a band like Taxi thrown in. I thought he was great. The fact that he looks a bit like an accountant version of Russell Crowe crossed with Matthew Newton didn't hurt either. Another one for the CD list.
Saturday, I did the apartment search during the day and was then buggered by late afternoon. I was supposed to go to a No Booze Party, but the Law Student (who's boyfriend was throwing the party) texted me and said that it was a bit of a wash-out, so I didn't go. I spent the night in bed watching TV instead.
Sunday I did much the same as Saturday night. I was feeling exhausted and maybe a little bit coldy again, so I don't think that was a bad thing.
But Sunday night, the weirdest thing happened. My flatmate came home and opened the door and then he didn't come in and there was silence outside. I started feeling a bit cold, so I hopped up to close the door and he was making out on the front verandah! I have to admit that I didn't really look, I just closed the door and went back into my room, but why would he make out on the verandah? He has a whole apartment (and bedroom) just inside... weird. He seemed to get pretty snarky when I closed the door as well - he came inside just after that. Maybe I interrupted something... *snickers* Too bad!
Listening to: Belle & Sebastian - Fold your hands child, you walk like a peasant
Then I went to get keys to see some places (from those few real estate agents who will do that). First the girl kept telling me that the places I wanted to see were only by appointment (despite them being listed on my list as available now), which I accepted. But I couldn't make an appointment to see them that day and they are only available for appointments between 9am and 4:30pm - bit hard for a girl who works 8 hours days to fit in with that sweetie. So I'm effectively taking a morning off this week to see 4 places that I was able to book in. And then there were the places that I couldn't book in because that agent is on holidays and no-one else is showing the places. Very helpful! And so I finally managed to get some keys out of the girl and trundled around looking at them. Two of them were definitely out! One was a bedsitter (despite being advertised as a one bedroom place) and I'm not interested in having a place that I can't entertain in. Been there, done that. It's just not worth it. And one was just feral and had no carspace and no street parking.
But the third was pretty good. It had polished timber floors throughout and ceiling fans for summer, but I couldn't get into the communal laundry/storage area to check it out and I really want to be able to see what's there and how secure each area is before I sign on the dotted line. And I told them that when I went back to collect the keys. Thankfully I had a different girl this time and she seemed to display a small amount of intelligence, which was a bonus.
But I think I've reached the realisation that I probably need to upgrade to a higher priced unit. So I'm now looking $20pw above my previous price limit. And a couple of the places I've found looked perfect - aircon, carspace, dishwasher and washing machine included, and pets okay. Not that I have a pet, but I would like to get one to keep me company in a one-bedder. So now I'm back on the rollercoaster trying to get info out of real estate agents again! *sigh*
Anyway, that was the un-fun part of the weekend. As for the fun part, well Friday night I had dinner with the Tall Guy, Genie and the Teacher before we all pottered off to The Zoo for a gig. First up was David Dondero, a US solo artist who failed to impress. And I think that was the whole crowd, not just me. Actually, I think that most of the crowd wasn't even listening - we were, we just didn't particularly like his stuff. He was way to country for me. Second support were The Devoted Few, who I had heard good things about and lived up to expectations. The lead singer sounds a bit like the lead singer of Placebo and the band is pop/rock at its best. They seemed to have quite a following in the members of Speedstar, who were all in the audience (actually, maybe one was missing). The Teacher was a very happy girl and eyed off the bass player with lust. I was too cash-poor to buy their CD at the gig, but it's been added to my list.
The headliner for the night was Darren Hanlon. Once again, I'd heard good things about him and I had a couple of his songs on mix-tapes I'd been sent over the years, which I love. And he was great - got a perfect score from me. His music is great, with humourous lyrics and upbeat catchy tunes. His musical style reminds me a little of Paul Kelly but with the humour and variety of a band like Taxi thrown in. I thought he was great. The fact that he looks a bit like an accountant version of Russell Crowe crossed with Matthew Newton didn't hurt either. Another one for the CD list.
Saturday, I did the apartment search during the day and was then buggered by late afternoon. I was supposed to go to a No Booze Party, but the Law Student (who's boyfriend was throwing the party) texted me and said that it was a bit of a wash-out, so I didn't go. I spent the night in bed watching TV instead.
Sunday I did much the same as Saturday night. I was feeling exhausted and maybe a little bit coldy again, so I don't think that was a bad thing.
But Sunday night, the weirdest thing happened. My flatmate came home and opened the door and then he didn't come in and there was silence outside. I started feeling a bit cold, so I hopped up to close the door and he was making out on the front verandah! I have to admit that I didn't really look, I just closed the door and went back into my room, but why would he make out on the verandah? He has a whole apartment (and bedroom) just inside... weird. He seemed to get pretty snarky when I closed the door as well - he came inside just after that. Maybe I interrupted something... *snickers* Too bad!
Listening to: Belle & Sebastian - Fold your hands child, you walk like a peasant
posted by OLS |
Monday, November 01, 2004 | 12:19 pm
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