Movin’ On Up
Part of Eric’s move package included a few months in a corporate apartment. It was nicely furnished and centrally located, but ultimately a little too small. We were also getting anxious to find a place of our own because our shipments of “stuff” (clothes, some furniture, pots, dishes, books) from the US arrived.
Finding an apartment in Austria was a little daunting, but luckily the team at Eric’s office helped set up appointments and took us around to look at them. What we found was surprising, but we soon learned a few things about flats here. First off, most of them come with an unfurnished kitchen. This means that there is basically just a room with a sink. Some have cabinets and some don’t. A few, like the one that we ultimately chose, even had a stove. It was a little strange to us, but apparently most people take all the appliances with them when they move out, and the new people buy their own when they move in. Not a problem, but it’s an expense we didn’t expect.
Another expense is the amount of money you need to put down to actually move in to an apartment. You have to go through a realtor who gets 1-2 months rent as a fee. You also have to pay 1-3 months’ rent up front as a deposit, and then finally actually pay the rent. It all adds up to quite a bit, and they generally want cash (bargeld). There’s also a contract that we had to sign similar what you find in the US. However, I barely understand the terms in English, so the German one was incomprehensible. In the end we signed it, so I just hope we didn’t commit ourselves to a 300 year lease instead of 3 years!
We finally did find an apartment that wasn’t too far from downtown, wasn’t in some crazy guy’s attic, and was in relatively good condition. Coordinating the deliveries for our new appliances and furniture purchases, as well as our CA shipments was a little tricky, but I’ve learned quite a few new words for “appointment,” “third floor,” and “the lift is too small.” In the end, every thing arrived, carried by some huge Slovakian guys, and we moved in. It doesn’t quite feel like home yet, but having a few familiar things from our old house is nice. And getting to pick out some nice new stuff was fun too.
More soon about European appliances… Here’s the outside of our building (behind the tree).
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