As the excitement grows, the mind get unbalanced towards the upcoming unknown adventures and as the time pass by, there is a practical side of dreaming that has to be taken care of.
Finding someone that pays the mortgage for me while I’m away was high on the priority list – as well as in the list of worries.
“In Amsterdam if you have a free room, you’re never alone” someone said to me, and it’s very right. This city is short on room availability, but full of people looking for affordable accommodations. so off I went looking for a solution.
I’m happy that 10 days to departure the solution has been found 🙂
My current flatmate will stay here, and it’s good thing as I trust Peter and we get along easily (btw he’s the designer of the Salsa WalkAbout logo, as well as party animal!).
He’ll share the place with an Australian couple just arrived in town. Good mates that offered even more than I was asking for.
They know how to be convincing and friendly, hehe! 🙂
I never liked living alone, so since I moved here in Amsterdam I *almost* always shared my apartment with someone else.
More for the company than for the money, or maybe I, quoting Woody Allen: “like certain creative men, needed always to live with a woman” (Vicky, Cristina y Barcelona).
Anyway, this sharing had teach me how to look for tenants (I had 5 flatmates so far) and how to be easy living with someone else.
Few tips I learn about looking for tenants:
- clean the house, take damn good photos of the place
- advertise the apartment on Facebook Marketplace and other specialized websites, here in Netherlands KamerNet and Marktplaats work best
- wait people to call you and check your e-mail, reply quickly and get phone numbers to have always a quick phone call before the appointment
- plan the views (schedule 30 minutes to show the house and have a chat)
- If people act suspiciously of you have a strange feeling about them, just find an excuse and don’t waste time. There are many weird people searching for room as well as looking for one, like that guy that once came here and started drawing fractals on a piece of paper while trying convincing me to share my apartment with him telling he’s not responsible enough to keep his own money and passport with him (!?)
- don’t make compulsive decisions, always tell people you need some days to decide and other persons will be viewing the place even if nobody else called you
- DO let people know when you said you will. It’s BAD to just disappear, they are the ones looking for a place to stay, possibly desperately.
- state clearly the conditions: deposit, day of payment, length of the rent, possibility to register
I never had major problems with tenants. Sharing apartment had teach me how to adapt to people and most of the time I learn how to see things with the point of view of someone else.
I highly recommend sharing house with someone at least once in your life….
