Best advise I can offer if make a list of things you need and are not willing to sattle on, and a list of things you want but will sattle on and check every flat you see based on these lists. For example, last time I looked for a place (before I got poor and went back to mommy and daddy) I wanted a sun porch, no furniture, new kitchen and bathroom, three rooms, a parking space, second floor up (these days I will sattle for anywhere which is cheap and can contain my stuff, which are in storage for the last 6 months).

Which reminds me, I might be able to sell you some of my appliances, if you need any.

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Thanks for the advice.

So, now that we have a place of our own, we might take you up on your offer. Do you have a washing machine?

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Apartment-hunting sucks (and I've found three of 'em in one of the worst markets in the US! so you know I'm a credible source here...) But it *is* worth it to find a place that meets your criteria. You only have to hunt for a few weeks, but you're likely to live in it for at least a year, and it will have an effect on a lot of things -- is it close to your friends? to cultural events? does it have a kitchen that will encourage you to cook? does it have enough public space that it will encourage you to entertain? If you settle for something that doesn't facilitate activities and interactions you care about, you're liable to be unhappy for rather longer than the time it takes to find the apartment.

(But also, if you form a good sense of what you want up-front, you'll be able to do a lot of this shopping the relatively easy way -- eliminating wrong candidates through the newspaper -- and you'll not need to actually visit a huge number, unless you really know nothing about the local market.)

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You're quite right. I've actually visited only one flat so far, but its renovated kitchen actually made me feel like cooking! It made me realize that the kitchen does matter to me. Thanks for that piece of advice.

Also, I surprised myself by suddenly realizing exactly where I want to live, thus eliminating plenty of possible flats and making things easier. Whee!

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I'll go see some candidates with you.

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Also: http://www.homeless.co.il/

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While the market most likely has changed since I last apartment shopped (1999), some things never change about buying/sellling/renting:

the bad guys can smell an "I don't really want to work at this" attitude a mile away and it affects them like blood affects a shark.

The single best thing you can shop for, in that situation, is a landlord who doesn't seem to be a jerk. (I've been told by reliable witnesses that if you do business with jerks you're going to get jerked around. This has proven to be the case all too many times.) While you're shopping, multiply the monthly rent by 12 (or 13, if you're working with an agent) and add the projected cost of electricity and utilities. THAT is the cost you're working on, not merely the monthly one. THAT should make the comparison shopping a bit more... ...interesting.

Good luck!

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Thanks for the landlord advice. It sounds sound. :)

I don't know how well I can get to know prospective landlords before signing papers, but I'll certainly try.

I didn't quite moose your math, though. How is the annual sum of monthly rents more meaningful than the monthly rent figure?

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Assuming that, all told, your cost per month comes to $500 in one apartment and $450 in another, it is quite easy to put on mental blinders and say: "well, $50 dollars don't make quite a difference, do they?"

However, the true difference between the apartments is $50 a month for every month in the first year you stay there ($600) plus a one-month commission to the real-estate agent ($50) plus a one-month rental fees to the landlord's lawyer ($50), coming to a $700 difference between the two rentals.

Which is why looking at it not as a rental-at-monthly-prices but as rental-at-annual-prices becomes quite important, when counting beans and comparing apartments with each other and with your ideal. I mean, you might be tempted to say "it's not a big deal" and then find yourself paying $700 more than you really want to for the deal...

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יפה לך

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מה פתאום כולם התחילו להגיד את ה"יפה לך" הזה?

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I think I know the guy who invented it.

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Okay, I'm biting: who invented it?

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If my suspicion is correct - a friend and former flatmate of mine named Dorian. I heard him use the expression long before anyone else I know, and since he's just the kind of guy who both makes up such memes and is enough of a social butterfly to spread them - I think the evidence points to him.

I wonder if we could check this. Here's a plea to everyone who's ever used the expression "yafe lexa": track it down! Wrack your brains, remember who you first heard it from, and get them to do the same! With a bit of luck we'll nab the original culprit in no time. (Yeah, right.)

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Shukran.

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מהר מאוד תגלה כמה הצעד הזה ישנה את החיים שלך לטובה.

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Thanks! :)

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A blessed decision! Will do you a world of good! (did it for me)

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Thanks! :)

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Congartulations.
Not that I'm an authority of any kind on the matter, but I think you'll find it much easier than you believe it to be.
But then, most new things in life are that.
Lots of luck.

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Yeah, I'm not too deflated about this so far. arnulf's joining the quest helped, too.

Thanks!

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יום אחד גם אני

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Thanks!

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