Apartment Hunting

We have spending several mornings a week as well as some time on the weekend looking for a decent apartment but it is really quite difficult. This was supposed to be my job but since very few rental agents speak English, we have to make a joint effort. I know how to ask the basic information, how much does the apartment cost and what are the expenses per month? How many square meters? Is there a balcony or terrace? etc…etc…etc…

Often when Demetrio contacts the agents or the homeowners he is kept on the phone for 20 minutes or more while I pace the streets and try to make out what they are discussing, mostly the conversation goes like this:

“Hello, my name is D’Ambrosi and I am calling about the apartment on Massimo D’Azeglio, or Via Po or Corso Dante.”
“Yes, good day, I was wondering what floor the apartment is on and is there a car space or elevator available in the building.”
“Oh, I am here with my wife.”
“We have just moved here from the US and I am working for Microsoft @ the MiraFiori Building on Corso Orbbassano.”
“Well, we have been here for two weeks and would like to find a place in this certain area.”
“Anyway, I work with computers and got transferred here from Seattle.”
And on and on it goes for about 20+ minutes. After he gets off the phone I ask,
“Why did you have to tell him your whole life story?”

He then explains that business is a social engagement and people are curious about you and your intentions, so the questions fly.

Our intention is to find another furnished temporary apartment to stay in for about 6 months or so until we find a place to buy or rent longer term. I want to get settled right away but closing on a home here in Italy can often take 6 months or more. We have the Microsoft apartment until April 15th or so.

The furnished apartments we have looked at have been small, 750-950 square feet; often the lease contracts are reasonable about 6 months to a year. The unfurnished places are often bigger but need a lot of work. I saw the place of my dreams the first week I was here. It was in the center of town near a small park. It was 1300 square feet, but the space was proportioned wonderfully. There were 2 balconies, one looked out onto the street and the other looked inward towards the center of the building. The ceilings were high; it had cove moldings and large double doors, wood floors, old tile everywhere. There were 2 bathrooms, closet space and 2 bedrooms with an extra space for an office or guest area. I fell in love with the apartment right away and thought it must be very old. The only 2 problems were that one, the owners wanted a 4 year lease contract and two, in Italy when they say the apartment is unfurnished then it has no stove, no fridge, no washer, no kitchen counters, no light fixtures, nothing. I was surprised; the cost was E 1200.00/month, that’s about $1596/month at the current exchange rate.

That was two weeks ago, this morning we looked a cheesily remodeled but very big 2100 square feet apartment for E 1300/month, that was absolutely luminous with wood floors and lots of space, 3 bathrooms, 2 bedrooms, a very large balcony and the best part was it faced the Parco Valentino, one of the biggest parks in Turin and is only 2 blocks from where we live now. The molding was not as nice; the kitchen was bigger but a wreck and all in all it needed a ton of work. We both looked and liked many aspects of both apartments but putting a bunch of money into a temporary place is not what we want to do right now.

Not having a place to settle in right away feels very uncomfortable to me because I want to paint, unpack boxes and have some of my own things about. I really dread moving again but if we did it would just be us and a few suitcases. We will have our container unloaded as soon as it gets to Livorno and then the contents stored in a place in Turin. It will be really inconvenient but I suppose every weekend or so, we would go and retrieve essentials.