For Carmi (and how the house hunting went)

I am back from Zürich... This Picture was taken yesterday after mid-day... As soon as I saw this I thought, this is a Carmi Picture moment or even a Jac moment... In Case you don't know, Carmi always posts great pictures on his blog with amazing stories. Jac also posts amazing pictures with stories... Both see the world with a unique prospective... They can find stories and thoughtful moments out their window riding home, while on vacation or with a butterfly...

I thought the moment that I was having was worthy of them. For if I had to describe Zürich and how I felt about it in one picture this would sum it up... In one word.. Serenity....

Fire didn't bring his big fancy camera so this is from my small digital camera which doesn't do the view of a quiet lake with a single lonely boat in the middle with the mountains overlooking it

Edit: Thanks for pointing out I had misspelled Carmi :)
Now for the Story...




So We (Fire and I) set off by train to Zürich, Switzerland, Where we would meet a very nice lady hired by Fire's work to help us find a house. As we boarded the train an older woman (45-50) was in my seat. (we reserved our seats) when Fire told her this (even showed her the tickets) She insisted we had to have the wrong seats because there were no signs saying they were reserved. She refused to get up.... Fire went out checked and came back and told her these was our seats.. She finally moved complaining. When the conductor came by she complained to him... (next time stupid lady reserve your seat!)

On top of it, the train was old and fumy.... (I get motion sickness and have to take pills that put me to sleep, and don't always have to take them on trains but this time I had to take one)

We arrive after 10 pm and get to our hotel which is super nice...

(Double bed with large room and Balcony)

Novy Taking a Nap

The Shower made me feel claustrophobic

We went to sleep, in the morning we had breakfast and met with the lady... She was very professional, she knew all there was about the neighborhood and showed us Zürich as well as our Apartment choices. She prepared us a packet with brochures about public transportation, maps and so forth... As well as a list of the Apartments we would see...

1st Apartment (Apartment A) was to take over the rent contract and the Tenant never showed or answered our calls...

So we went to the second house which was the one we had found and listed as our #1 choice from the description...
While traveling in her car she explained how the system works...

With each house we have to put in an application... They consider all the application between a certain time frame.. If the owner sees no problems then the agency will approve our application. If we apply and no one else does for 3 days and the owner doesn't find a problem with our application we have the apartment...

They will not consider any applications 3 days after ours, unless the landlord found something in our application...

For example, we have to list ALL the animals we have, this includes my Tarantula and Fish...
The T isn't a problem but a large aquarium might be... (water damage if it ever breaks)

The fact that neither of us smoke is a bonus...

So we got to the the Apartment

It is completely in the country with a few houses, in a very small group of houses built on a mountain side. A small hike down and there is a huge lake....

I took a look around and said OH WOW

I loved the neighborhood...

(the neighbor hood)

We were not the only one to see the house, a woman with child was there too. I thought oh no...

The apartment itself, well my first impression was that the rooms are smaller than they say (16m², 12m², 10m²) but we had our tape measure and they were that but to my eye the 2nd bedroom seemed smaller than my bedroom, (12m²) and the 16m² a lot smaller than our front room which is 16.92m² and that is 10 m²?

Everyone has in sured me that it is because the rooms are empty and shaped different...
Our rooms are almost perfect squares which makes them look bigger where these rooms are longer...

it is suppose to be 116 m² but that includes the balcony the actual apartment is 107m²
(Novy what are you living in now? 48m² small crap kitchen NO storage)

but back to the Apartment...
I told Fire the ceiling is lower (they said no but guess what they are lower by 30 cm so that is a low ceiling for our highbed. I guess we wont be sitting in bed anymore)

The bathroom is loud, bright orange tiles and the linoleum needs to be replaced. (one small crack in the corner)

The rest of the floor is that nice wood floors like in our front room (which I love easy to clean and always looks clean) Nice Hall closet, Great balcony, Great Living room and dining room...

I liked the kitchen but fire didn't after seeing the other kitchens from the other places

It isn't old but it isn't new either... I would say it is about 3 years old... Freezer is small but big refridge, glass top oven and dishwasher. It has room to move and way better than our kitchen now (so it is a big step up)

I wasn't displeased with the house (only concerned about the rooms. We still have just less than double the room we have now but we may not be able to do with each the rooms as we planned... We will have to see.)

I saw the lady with kid leave and was told she wasnt interested as of right now we are the only ones interested (lets hope it stays that way for 3 days and the landlord is cool with us)


Overall... I was happy with it... It is way better than what we have now.... Fire couldnt believe it was still there after all this time. It is because it's a new area being developed and no one knows it exists, thus it is cheap, even the Taxes are cheaper (in Zürich each town has it's own income tax. So it doesn't matter that you work in Zürich but where you live... Closer to the city the higher the taxes... Oh did I say in Zürich you pay your income tax at the end of the year...)
The Taxes here is 92%

Then came the hook line and sinker...

As we leave she says you also have a small attic for a few boxes and storage (that only came from the first house, because it is rare and very odd for the price, so who ever gets it will get an apt for 1650 swiss franc what is normally 1800 swiss franc)


and a cellar, with heave metal doors to lock, a washer/dryer and 8m² of storage space at least!!!!!

No more storing my winter coats in the house, or xmas boxes out taking up space or computer boxes or Fire's tools...
Also a plug for our fridge to be used for extra freezer space
and we can bring our small eco size washer/dryer combo machine

This will free up space in the house considerably!!!!


So that was Apartment B


....




Next we have a great neighborhood, close to where the House-Finder lived... Also her company and the agency that handles the Apartment application for the owner are sister companies, so we would get priority and she said if the landlord agreed we will probably have that one in the bag (it had 0 applications).

It's a small town (like you see in on TV or like I remember back when)

only it's in th mountains surrounded by mountains






Again the rooms seemed to small to be the size they claim to be. The bathroom was great brand new . same with kitchen

Dishwasher... (did I say I dont have one now and have never owned one)

good size kitchen large freezer big refrigerator... Nice balcony the floors were wooden and some carpet

the only thing I didn't like is there is a semi wall in the middle diving the dining and front room but Fire liked it...

The apartment was nice... Fire like it better ....

Peeking over the balcony at our neighbors yard under us

No attic (as I said that is rare)
the cellar was a small place in the basement with wooden slats, no plugs so we would have to get rid of the big refrigerator we have.... This is standard cellar not as nice and not as secure as the first (the first was like having a small garage all to yourself)

Public washer and we would have a schedule where we could only wash 1 day a week
(so we would have to sell our washer/dryer combo machine)

The price is more expensive 1790 Swiss Franc (i think I know it was 17something) and the Tax is 101%

it is also 100 m²

that is Apartment C

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now to the next apartment

Nice neighborhood surrounding mountains.

First impression when I walked in was

an open kitchen?

In other words the kitchen can be seen from the front door and the dining room...

wraparound balcony with an entrance from the dining room and the main bedroom
only 3 rooms but about the same m² as the others so the rooms are bigger

the kitchen is old and falling apart and they will not fix it he said...

2 toilets

Bathroom 1bathroom 2

public washer -- schedule 1x a week washing...

wooden slat storage room in the cellar no plugs

for 100 Swiss France extra you have an ugly concrete room about 10m²


So it is 1770 Swiss franc plus 100 Swiss franc (if you want that room) and 122% taxes


that is Apartment D
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balcony View

okay the next Apartment the town is nice and by a lake (about a 30 minute walk from the apartments) its flat but has a nice view of mountains

The apartment itself was a mirror image of Apartment B except the kitchen and bathroom is brand new in fact they was just finishing installing the bathroom

it had a bigger freezer
it is also 107 m² wood floors

The man told us that 3 have applied as well but that he has the exact same apartment but with a slightly larger balcony and 20 swiss franc less that will be free in Nov if we don't get that one.

Public washer scheduled washing 1x week

wooden storage in cellar
1750 Swiss franc 110% Tax
that is Apartment E

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the next apartment was right around the corner , closer to the lake and was 1870 SF 110% Tax...

It was great, 2 toilets..

Nice wooden floor, freshly painted walls...
great balcony view, bbq area outside for those in apt

public washer for 5 people schedule was every other Tuesday and Mon weds and Thurs you can fill in your name for wash time

that is Apartment F

We then called it a day. Met Fire's work colleague there and went back to the hotel...

I couldnt sleep... (I was hot not sure if it was the Indian food, wine or room)

Finally I get to sleep and in the mourning we wake up have breakfast pack our bags and store them (because we have to check out of the hotel)

and then we walked around Zürich the city part... At the Big Lake there is when I saw the first picture...

at 1pm the House-finder lady came to get us and we saw two houses.. Old Country like towns but we weren't interested in the house as beautiful as it is the roofs slant so it limits the space you are paying for... taxes were at the max % and they were 1900 SF

So we put in an Application for Apartment B and E... If we are rejected or their is no answer She will put an application for that is Apartment C which we most likely will get then...

If not then we will consider the more expensive one rather than the broken kitchen one...


Now the Language... They speak what is called Swiss-Deutsch (Swiss-German) it sounds like what you would get if you mixed Swedish with German so its like the Swedish Chef trying to speak German... Some also speak French and Englicsh... TV is German, Swiss-Deutsch, French



In all apartments we are allowed a dog... Fire and I went through a breeds list...

Fire wants - An Athletic Dog, preferably a black dog and he doesn't want a tiny dog or a massive dog


I want-- a friendly dog, a big dog I can wrestle with (something along the lines of a Golden retriever)

So on a list he chose:
Alaska malamute
Belgium Terurem
Bouvier Fluer
Boder Collie


my list was:
Golden Retriever
Burmese Mountain dog
St Bernard


We both liked what we read about the Newfoundlander... but the picture in the link was... Well it looked like a thin skinny dog (yuck)

So the Apartments wanted to know what dog we are getting (because certain dogs like rottweiler and such are not approved always)

I said I want something big like a St Bernard or Mountain Dog and Fire said NO TOO BIG!

so me I was pushing for a Golden retriever and Fire said no I want an active dog let's go for a Newfoundlander

I say its too skinny... He said well the picture here isn't good let's check some breeders sites in Switzerland

drum roll.....

The Breeder

You should have seen Fire's face.. I get my big dog he gets his black dog... He gets an athletic dog and I get one with the same temperament as a Golden Retriever

They have outstanding abilities as water rescuers. (Fire says this is good since I am afraid of water and have for years feared I would die by drowning) Character: The Newfoundland is a sweet, elegant, and courageous breed. They are the embodiment of dignity and carry themselves in a stately and noble manner. The Newfoundland is a deeply devoted and extremely delightful companion. They are considered to be one of the friendliest breeds. Temperament: The Newfoundland is generous with love and affection. They are very sociable and friendly to visitors they know. They have a keen sense of responsibility and are excellent with children. They become so attached to their families that they cannot ever adapt to a new home or environment. They are generally good with other pets. This breed thrives on human companionship. They are gentle, heroic, and docile.

So I sent an email to the breeder... Asking about one of their puppies.. I can't wait :))






In other News the Repair man came today to finish fixing our refrigerator a different man and he asked to use my bathroom so he was very polite...

Later I will show pictures of Zürich

I promise ;)

This post has been edited by Novy:

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WE GOT THE FIRST APARTMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I AM DOING THE HAPPY HI-NI DANCE