Finding a Home

It looks like we have a flat!

One of the many perks that has come with Hubs being transferred here by his company, is the fact that the relocation package included time with an estate agent. I moved three times in NYC and never used a broker (mostly to save cash), so this was a pretty awesome luxury.

We met Jeanette bright and early at Angel station to start our search. (And obviously when I say 'bright and early' I just mean early. I'm learning that it's never 'bright' here.) We had decided that we wanted to live in Islington, so she was prepared to show us 15 flats all around the borough. (We picked Islington because my best friend from childhood lives there with her English husband. They told us that it's a cool, young neighborhood -- and I pretty much would have wanted to live near them regardless because I need friends.)

So the weird thing about renting a flat in London is that most places come furnished. Now, as a New Yorker, this was a very unnerving concept. Obviously, my first reaction was: 'Umm...bed bugs?' But Jeanette quickly assured me that, no, London does not have bed bugs. Of course, I responded with, "Until now... Muahaha (evil laugh)."

I digress. So once I got used to the idea of sleeping on someone else's possibly-piss-stained mattress and lounging on a couch that had undoubtedly made contact with a stranger's bare ass at one point in its life, I came around to the idea of a furnished flat.  Especially since most of the places we saw had furniture that was 10 times nicer than the Ikea crap we were shipping over.

After seeing most of the flats on our agenda, Jeanette advised us that if we had a favorite it would be smart to put an offer in before 4pm. At that point, they all were starting to blur together in my mind a bit, so I had to consult my notes. Luckily, I had unearthed my snap judgment skills from my sorority days. (During rush, we met so many girls that we had to take quick notes in between rounds. This was just like that -- except while my rush notes said things like "quiet.. awkward... unfashionable," my flat-seeking notes were more like, "nice kitchen... limited storage space... CATS!")

Luckily, Hubs and I agreed that there was a clear stand-out: a lovely 2-bedroom flat near Highbury & Islington station with a gorgeous view of a the community garden in the back. 

After our offer was accepted (yay!) we went to what we hope will be our new local, The Alwyne Castle, for a couple celebratory pints. Cheers to living like an adult married couple and not with our parents!