"Here's the bathroom. That's the shower. There are tiles on the floor. And over here is a kitchen. See that six foot tall, three foot wide large box like object with two handles with the word 'Amana' written on in? That's the refrigerator. It's a big refrigerator. You can put food in it for shabbat. Or if you're having a party, you can also put food in it. Here is a sink. You could put a table here. Or you could put it here."
Shut. Up.
I've seen a lot of acceptable, some nice, and some very nice apartments in Raanana. I nearly took one that was stunning, but I would have ended up paying more than I wanted to pay, and he appeared to be taking less than he wanted to accept, and we were still haggling over terms (not the price). I decided to pass, after all.
The agent who showed me today's apartments takes a month rent from BOTH seller and buyer, which is simply ridiculous; I thought agents only took from one or the other. He didn't provide much in the way of service, other than to show up late, get in my way, make promises I know he won't keep ("I'll tell the owner to put in central a/c for you!"), and annoy me.
Which is a pity, because the first apt he showed me I would take at the listed price, but after paying his fee, the price bumps up to 10% more (a month plus VAT divided over a year's rental), and that's above my price range. There are so many apts listed for rent, with dozens as nice and equivalent in price to the ones he showed me, that I can afford to be picky.
More days of uncertainty. Wish I didn't have to move at all.
2 comments:
Bizarre. In the US, almost every agent is getting a finder's fee from the rental owner, so their services are free to the renter. There are even companies solely designed to be the middleman, like moveforfree.com. (I'm not affiliated, and in fact, have no idea if they're still in existence.)
I routinely saw agents get screwed over by fickle renters who, after finding an apartment, put someone else down as their locator.
An apartment hunt, like a job hunt, is a major pain.
Good luck!
Ra'anana is not that far away, at least from where I live.
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