Oh boy, what a day we had yesterday. Our day started bright and early -- and I do mean bright; the sun shines relentlessly here in Izmir -- and we spent the day walking around the Bostanli neighborhood of the Karsiyaka district looking for an apartment to rent.
It was harder than I thought. I had only set aside four days to look for, find and settle on an apartment, and two of those days are travel days. I sort of thought we would wander around the neighborhood that we like, check out the "for rent" signs hanging in apartment windows, call, and find one in a matter of hours. It was increasingly clear on our first day, Wednesday, that that was not going to happen.
In all, we saw 11 apartments yesterday that ranged in price from 600 TL to 950 TL ($390-$622). Along the way, we learned quite a bit about what your money will get you in the Bostanli district of Izmir. At 600 TL, you can get three bedrooms and a salon (3+1) but it is going to be pretty ugly -- we're talking cracked cabinets, peeling wallpaper, linoleum floors and some nasty bathrooms. We discovered that the kind of apartment that we wanted -- 3 bedrooms, maybe 2 bathrooms, non-slanting floors, walls that stand up straight -- you know, normal stuff -- that we really should be looking in the 800-850 TL price range.
We also quickly figured out that we really couldn't get around using a real estate agent. Their offices are everywhere, and owners rarely seem to rent out places themselves. So we just decided to bite the bullet and go with it.
And then in the early afternoon on Thursday, we found an apartment that we really liked. The building had an elevator (not just a luxury in 40 degree heat), large bedrooms, a lovely kitchen with ample cabinet space and even a marble-topped workspace, and lots of cabinets in the bedrooms. The asking price was 850 TL and we were hoping that the owner would go down to 800 TL. Since we were working with a real estate agent, we headed back to his office to work out the details.
The agent called the owner and told the woman that he had found two lovely tenants (us) who wanted to rent her apartment. He explained that we were American and both of us had jobs. It was here that I whinced. I have found that when some Turks find out that we are American, they assume we have deep pockets and try to charge us more. The landlord said she needed to think about our proposal of 800 TL a month instead of 850.
When she called back a few minutes later to say that she would accept 800 TL, Jeff and I did a silent cheer in the agent's office. But then she dropped a bomb: she wanted $1000 as a deposit. That's 1000 US DOLLARS. As in, some 1500 TL, which is double the monthly rent.
We were aghast. How could she ask for that much? That's ridiculous!, we thought. Then we were incensed. I immediately assumed she was asking for such a high amount -- and in dollars, no less -- because we were American. I sensed prejudice, not the "these black people will change the complexion of our pool" kind but the "ahhh, a foreigner; she must have money" kind. We told the agent to forget it, we didn't want to work with an owner like that. She would be nothing but problems in the future. (Interestingly, the agent called back this morning and said the owner had changed her mind and she would accept 800 TL as an deposit. By then, however, we had already found a different apartment, and besides, I would NEVER work with a woman who first asked me for $1000 anyway.)
So, somewhat reluctantly, we settled -- and I really do mean that we felt as if we were settling -- on a 700 TL apartment that we had been shown earlier that was on an ugly street in an old building that didn't have an elevator. The thing was, the apartment itself was lovely. It was just the location of it and the look of the building itself that put us off. The price was right, of course, but we still felt a bit reluctant telling the agent that we would take that one instead.
We verbally agreed to take the apartment, but didn't put down any money to hold it. We felt as if nothing was set in stone and so we decided to keep looking. We saw a few other apartments, none of which struck our fancy, and then we stumbled upon one listed for 950 TL. We decided to take a look anyway, figuring maybe the price would go down to 900 TL or even 850 TL.
And, oh boy, was it ever nice. It had everything that we wanted: 3 bedrooms, a separate space for the litter box that is NOT in a bathroom, 2.5 bathrooms (full disclosure: in one of the full bathrooms the toilet is actually IN the shower stall, which is really weird, so we're considering it a half bath), a huge salon, a wraparound balcony, a small balcony to hang up laundry and -- the best part -- a GORGEOUS recently remodeled kitchen with an oven and a dishwasher. Swoon! Oh, and an elevator! That plays music! Weird, I know....
After that, things were super easy, way easier than I thought. We negotiated with the real estate agent -- a vivacious woman who I hope to become friends with -- to pay the agent fee and deposit today and to pay the owner the first month's rent on August 1. Score one for Jeff and Babs!
We're signing the contract this afternoon, and I hope to be able to take some photos of the apartment after that, which I will post here for your enjoyment.
I just have one more thing to say: YIPPPPEEEEEE!!!
