Re-searching

by Posted on

Well, I’ve done some more thinking on my flat search and have decided to increase my accommodation budget. The decision was made after looking at a flat on Tuesday that was on the upper end of my budget and realising that city centre places in that budget are not quite nice enough.

I had a viewing arranged for this afternoon at a place outside of the city centre that seemed much, much nicer – despite being the same price. Before viewing the flat, however, I looked at the transportation costs for getting to and from university. And, well, it would be a pretty penny. Still, I made my way to today’s flat viewing and was very pleased with what I saw. I was also pleased to find that it’s only a 15-minute walk to the city centre (at my pace; I timed it after the viewing). That means that if I took the flat I could walk into the centre to catch a bus to the university for cheaper than if I got the bus right outside.

But I decided to up my budget a bit to give myself more options within the city centre. Doing this means that I can get a nicer flat (a lot nicer from what I’ve seen) and my bus costs will be drastically lowered. Additionally, it means that I will be closer to restaurants, cafes, and grocery stores which means I’m saving money on late-night taxis and grocery deliveries.

And so I looked at a second flat today in my new price range. It was smack-dab in the middle of town and was considerably larger than the first city-centre flat I looked at. I would be rather comfortable, though not as comfortable as the one I looked at earlier in the day. Oh, and the landlord doesn’t want to rent to students, but the agent is going to ask about making an exception for a mature postgraduate. We’ll see what happens there.

I have another flat to look at on Monday that’s about a 10-minute walk to the city centre – one I walked by early today, too. Based on what I’ve seen in real life and what I’ve seen in the online photos, it’s a top contender. Plus, they’ve said that I won’t need a guarantor if I’m willing to pay forward my rent a bit. (Which I am.)

So still no flat, but I’m feeling a bit more confident about my search now! I’m hoping to find a nice place by November so that I can have friends over for a nice Thanksgiving feast!

[The picture is of a little stone that sits outside the second flat I viewed today. It made me smile!]

Join the conversation!