I hope I don't offend any budding agents out there, but seriously, Real Estate Agencies are a serious thorn in my ever thorny, irritated side.
My first bad experience with Real Estate Agencies was the very first flat Bjorn and I got together in London. It was a semi-charming studio apartment in Swiss Cottage. We loved the area, tree lined streets, walking distance to lovely shops, eateries, and parks (such as the infamous Primrose Hill). We had two tube stops close by, and there were buses abound. We also had Bjorn's best friend living not too far away, so it was nice to be able to catch up whenever we wanted.
The decision to get this place was a quick one (which is what it's pretty much always like when you're house hunting, gotta grab it while you can!) so there were some things we overlooked at the time, but only because the agent promised that these would be fixed before we moved in.
I'm talking about the shower.
Or for a more accurate name, the dripping pipe that hung over our bathtub.
For me a good shower is very important. I have long hair that I need to wash pretty much every day, so a crappy shower means crappy hair and crappy hair means a very sad and annoyed Kass.
So when I checked the shower, when we viewed the flat, it was my first query, my first complaint. But of course the agent was quick to douse the flames with reassurances like "Oh no, the shower head is currently broken, but will be replaced before new tenants move in".
Please, please, please nobody else fall for this bullshit. When we moved in, the shower head had indeed been changed, but in fact, the head they had changed it to didn't make it any better, if anything it made it worse.
Now imagine living in cold, damp London, and having a rubbish shower, where water just dribbled out of the shower head. Your body doesn't ever get warm enough or clean enough. You would turn one way, and huddle under the drizzle, only to have your other side freeze. I could barely wet my hair enough to put shampoo in it. And then what a mission it was to wash the damn shampoo out!
We complained, but apparently nothing could be done due to the location of the tank.
So we took to having baths, which I hate. Yes, I hate baths. I don't see the point in sitting in a tub full of your dirty water. I can understand the soaking mentality of baths, but I'm not a bath-washing kind of person, and washing your long hair in a bath is a serious pain in the ass.
But we did it, because we had to.
The second offence from this particular Real Estate Agency was when we were due to move out. The agent took it upon himself to let himself into our apartment and show a prospective tenant around.
He had sent an email to Bjorn whilst Bjorn was out to lunch, never waited for a response, and just did it.
Whilst this was a seriously big upset (total violation), the biggest annoyance was after this occurred the agent had the nerve to say that "Next time, it would be good if you cleaned the apartment first".
I know, I know. I'll just let your mind wander on that point. Really let that one sink in. Yeah, hurts doesn't it? *shakes head*
I have another, more recent tale of Real Estate woe, that I plan on sharing, but not today :)
Have you had any problems with Real Estate Agencies? Let us commiserate.