I’m an organised person by nature when it comes to planning, unfortunately getting a viewing for a flat is not something that can be easily organised.

Estate agents it seems all approach renting properties differently,

At one place we had a viewing set up and then had it cancelled the day before because someone else had been accepted – Ok so now we know it’s time sensitive and we need to be a little more pushy about getting an appointment

At another,  we were refused a viewing because they already had 15 other interested parties (the day after the advert went live) – Ok so we need to call immediately we see an advert

At another the only appointment available was 3pm Sunday, it could not be moved and there were no other options – Ok be as flexible as possible but accept that we just wouldn’t be able to see everything we wanted to

At another buying the kitchen off the previous tenant was pretty much a mandatory requirement of you being accepted as a renter, which we wouldn’t have minded for a sensible price but the three and a half grand they wanted for a 12 year old kitchen seemed pretty excessive!

We ended up seeing some pretty random options, all of which could potentially work but some had no photos in their adverts so we weren’t exactly sure of what we would be walking into. At least we got to check out some new areas, even if the flats ended up being unsuitable.

Tip – Never believe the pictures on the website to be an honest assessment of the property. This goes both ways, places can end up being far worse OR far better than you expect.

After a long day of property viewing we found one that we loved, actually loved! and both of us agreed. As with everything there are a few compromises that we have both had to make, but for this flat we were happy to make them.

We’ve applied and are keeping everything crossed for this one to stick.