Close, but no cigar

I ALMOST had a flat. Almost. It was huge (practically a one-bedroom), in the location I wanted, AND wonder of wonders, it had a washer. I REALLY wanted it and am still sulking over the loss while quietly cursing my agent.

The story goes something like this. Agent sends me pics of a flat to look at, which is decidedly out of my price range (and if I'm honest, it was kind of not that nice looking in the pictures). However, agent said he could get the landlord to negotiate the price closer to what I could pay so I agreed to have a look.

The paint was peeling on the outside of the building, the street was really noisy, and I had to walk up about five flights of stairs, but then we opened the door and the heavens smiled upon us. There was a HALLWAY and A SEPARATE KITCHEN. The studio room was beyond huge and the bed was nowhere near the stove. And it was QUIET. No more listening to cement trucks barrel over speed bumps, or my personal favourite, listening to the recycling man throw bags of wine bottles into the back of his truck at 6 am on a Saturday.

I tried to play it cool but we agreed I would make an offer via email when I got home. We spent all afternoon farting around over price, and I finally capitulated and agreed to pay the top end of my price range WITHOUT BILLS. Mind you, the price I originally offered was WITH bills but nevermind. I was willing to sell my soul for this one. Eating is overrated anyway (kidding, it wasn't that bad).

Sadly, after four hours of back and forth via texting, blackberry email, and phone calls, the agent wrote me and said the landlord wasn't so willing to negotiate on price like he thought. (Remember, this apartment was WAY out of my price range and I only even looked at it because the agent said it was negotiable).

Dumbass. He's on commission and would've gotten a fat check from me, so I know he tried. But still. He's a dumbass. Maybe so am I, because I think I was punching above my weight on this one. That place was totally out of my league and worth what the landlord was asking...

However, I have made a massive breakthrough in that I've come to the realisation that I can no longer live by the "I'm not spending more than 1/3 of my income on housing" rule. Apparently this doesn't actually work when you live in a big city and your salary is so low that people do a double take when they hear what you earn.

If I'm really broke and/or really miserable after 12 months of studio life, I reckon I'll re-evaluate when the lease is up. But in the meantime, when else am I going to be able to selfishly spend money like it's water? Maybe never again. I've saved a lot of money walking to work this past year, not to mention living with four other people is relatively cheap as well. So here goes nothing. I'm upping my search criteria and not even going to CONSIDER living in a basement apartment where the oven also doubles as a headboard.

Stay tuned... :-)