Success! We have a flat, and it has electricity and (hot) running water and locks on the doors and everything! Turns out the answer to the question "how do you get a flat in Paris when you don't have the paperwork most landlords seem to desperately need, because you're a foreigner" is "find a sane landlord who has two braincells to rub together who can see that you're not trying to trick them into letting you give them large amounts of money in exchange for a shoebox, you really are going to pay the ludicrous sums of money they're asking for".
It's actually a beautiful little flat on a courtyard about half an hour from my new job, with skylights and big windows and a lovely open-plan kitchen living room, and a big bedroom. And I love it, til something goes horribly wrong, of course ;-)
We've gone and bought a whole load of food, and TATI has provided pillows, a duvet, cups, a chopping board, knives, pans, everything one could ask for in a new flat. And the rest of our stuff is coming at the end of this week, so soon we'll have a flat full of things again, and it will be glorious.
Our next major task is to find internet. At the moment, aside from very brief trips to internet cafes, I have no way of finding out what is happening in the world. No telly, no internet, no phone. It's quite liberating, in a way. But I do feel rather cut off from the Real World - I should now go and look at the news in case anything exciting is happening...
ETA: See, I go offline for one weekend, just one, and in it I miss a Royal Wedding and Osama bin Laden being killed. What else could happen while I'm lacking in news and internet? (Readers of the latter part of my last expat blog will remember how many long, long months it took for me to get internet in London. The whole world could be different when I come back online properly!)
Showing posts with label flat hunting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label flat hunting. Show all posts
Monday, 2 May 2011
Monday, 25 April 2011
Finding a Flat: Day 2
Dear landlords,
I'm 27 years old. I've lived on my own for nearly the last decade. I've been employed for the last 6 years, continue to be employed, and have documentation to prove it. I don't, however, have 3 previous payslips, because this is a new job. It is not because I'm not going to be earning any money while I'm here, it's because I have this odd attachment to having somewhere to live whilst working, and so I need to find somewhere to live when I'm not supposed to be in the office. Like now.
I also don't have any relatives in France. Even if I did, see above about having managed to rent places independently for nearly a decade - I do not see why on earth my parents should consider it anything other than ridiculous if I were to turn round and ask them to act as guarantors. And since they aren't in France, they don't count anyway.
Please read our paperwork, realise that we're not going to default on the rent, and allow us to give you large, large sums of money in exchange for somewhere to live.
Lots of love,
Me
Does anyone have any suggestions about how to break this deadlock? Have we just found particularly picky landlords so far? (I hope so!) I'm almost willing to go along with the infantilisation and ask my parents to act as guarantors, since it'll be pointless as we're not going to default on the rent, but they aren't in France so this doesn't really solve the problem. How do other expats manage? Any suggestions welcome!
I'm 27 years old. I've lived on my own for nearly the last decade. I've been employed for the last 6 years, continue to be employed, and have documentation to prove it. I don't, however, have 3 previous payslips, because this is a new job. It is not because I'm not going to be earning any money while I'm here, it's because I have this odd attachment to having somewhere to live whilst working, and so I need to find somewhere to live when I'm not supposed to be in the office. Like now.
I also don't have any relatives in France. Even if I did, see above about having managed to rent places independently for nearly a decade - I do not see why on earth my parents should consider it anything other than ridiculous if I were to turn round and ask them to act as guarantors. And since they aren't in France, they don't count anyway.
Please read our paperwork, realise that we're not going to default on the rent, and allow us to give you large, large sums of money in exchange for somewhere to live.
Lots of love,
Me
Does anyone have any suggestions about how to break this deadlock? Have we just found particularly picky landlords so far? (I hope so!) I'm almost willing to go along with the infantilisation and ask my parents to act as guarantors, since it'll be pointless as we're not going to default on the rent, but they aren't in France so this doesn't really solve the problem. How do other expats manage? Any suggestions welcome!
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