kidattypewriter

Sunday, April 06, 2008

An encounter with a disorganisation

As you might know, I've been looking for an apartment, which basically means I've been logging on to Domain late at night (if I'm not too tired after work), turning up at apartment inspections (if they're not too far away, and if I can make it), and lodging my application for those apartments that I did turn up to (if I can remember, in my disorganised fashion.) After a month and a half of this on-again off-again process of looking I finally found a place. A real estate agent would describe it as 'cosy', 'cost effective', and 'close to train, tram, and bus'. Of course, if you translate this into convention English, you get 'shabby, tiny, and noisy from early morning through to late at night'.

I attribute my success in this whole process to finding a real estate agent who is even more disorganised than I am. Let me tell you about it: at the inspection for the apartment, the real estate agent didn't turn up until half-an-hour after he was supposed to. (He was apparently 'caught in a traffic jam'). That thinned the numbers at the inspection a bit. The day after, I tried to fax my application through, and the receptionist on the other end kept on picking up the phone and breaking the connection (the postal worker eventually had to call them and tell them to not pick up the phone). The day after this, my boss got a call at work from an agent, and somehow the agent walked away with the impression that I only earned two hundred dollars a week (even though I'd faxed through a copy of my weekly pay slip that showed I worked full time. I had to explain it to them on the phone when they called me later).

And the list of mistakes doesn't stop there, either. The reactions of others when told about this real estate agency? "Worrying". And this from my mother: "That's good news, I suppose. Thanks for telling me that, I think." (I replied to this: "I am sort of reassured by your half-hearted congratulations.")

I looked forward to telling you further tales of mismanagement and bungling by my soon-to-be real estate disorganisation! It is, indeed, a good flat that will suit my needs very well.

4 comments:

Shelley said...

They sound like the good sort of real estate agents. You know, the ones who don't really notice that you haven't paid rent for six months and who never actually get around to arranging inspections.

Oh and congratulations.

Caz said...

Whoa hooo!!

Congratulations Timmy, I'm very pleased for you.

Out of 361% of renters currently in search of accommodation relatively close in proximity to the state of Victoria you are one of the lucky 7.5% successful seekers / applicants.

You should be proud, very proud.

Anonymous said...

"ONLY earned $200 a week." Gosh, you make some of us feel inadequate.

TimT said...

Ha! Sorry 'bout that, Maria. Actually, that was probably about my weekly earnings in Newcastle, though it was strange to have them asking this when some of the documents I sent through showed I worked full time.

Thanks Caz!

Nails, thanks, and good point, though the flipside of the coin is they'll probably be damn slow when it comes to sending plumbers/workmen round to fix problems. We'll see. They seem to be operating out of one small office in Fitzroy; they don't have any other offices to their name.

Email: timhtrain - at - yahoo.com.au

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