The Apartment Search - Day 3

The morning came quickly and we continued on our mission of finding an apartment. None of the realtors had replied to any of our e-mails that were sent the night before. We only had a single viewing scheduled for the day. Our momentum was slowing, but we refused to let the possibility of failure creep into our thoughts.

We arrived promptly for our viewing in West Leederville at 11. This was also about 24 hours since we put in an application for the apartment in Mosman Park. We were attentively monitoring our cell phones for word that our application was successful. We had become more and more comfortable with the process of renting a property in Perth and felt that it might be time to be a little more assertive when dealing with realtors. More specifically, Steph decided it was time to play ball.

Our apartment. 53/40 Cambridge St.,
West Leederville, WA 6007

None of it was premeditated, but recollecting the events that took place during that 15 minute viewing, one must wonder if the realtor was, in the slightest bit, terrified. The initial meeting was pleasant. The realtor was interested in our reasons for visiting Perth and we proceeded to make small talk during the elevator ride up to the fifth floor. Upon opening the door to the apartment, Steph and I exchanged a glance which immediately indicated that we both wanted the apartment. Game on. We remained calm, waiting for the opportunity to present itself. She showed us the living room, the kitchen, the bathroom and finally the bedroom. She walked into the bedroom first motioning for us to follow as she wanted to show us the attaching balcony. We casually followed, stopping short just after entering the room and blocking the bedroom door – her only route of escape. She didn’t stand a chance. Now, it was time to talk business.

We explained that we were staying at a hotel and wanted to move into an apartment as soon as possible. We had all of our documentation with us (passports, VISAs, professional resumes, personal references and a reference letter from our previous landlord) supporting our good character. We explained that we knew the process normally takes between 24-48 hours, but we were willing to pay in cash up front if this process could be accelerated. The realtor was still hesitant to make a deal. In one final attempt to convey our need, Steph acted quickly with a move that proved to be ingenious. She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket (which she had been gripping tightly in case a call from our other application came through – the phone was on vibrate) and held it out in front of her saying to the realtor, “Look. We have applied to rent another property and were told that our application was simply a formality. We are expecting a call any minute notifying us that the application has been successful. We are prepared to cancel that application immediately; if you can guarantee us that we can have the keys to this apartment by the end of the day.” The realtor stammered in reply, “Uh… yes, I think that is definitely possible….. you both seem like good people… I consider myself a good judge of character… I can push your application through and you should have the keys by 14:30.” And with that, we stepped aside allowing the realtor to escape through the bedroom door to fetch us some paperwork.

The realtor lived up to her word and at roughly 14:30 we had the keys to our brand new apartment! The next challenge was to transport our luggage from Ibis Hotel storage to the apartment. Our luggage consisted of four 50 pound suitcases and two 30 pound carry-ons. We were determined to carry and drag it by any means possible to avoid a taxi fare, so we could enjoy a glass of wine in victory of our efforts. Somehow we managed to drag our entire luggage through downtown Perth, onto public transit (train), through the suburb of West Leederville and into our apartment in one trip. We must have looked like a couple of ants. We had one little mix-up along the way. In all of the excitement we had managed to get on the wrong train. As we were waiting on the train station platform to connect to the proper train, Steph had asked me a question. She was standing behind me and had momentarily bent down to check one of our backs. I was not aware of this. As I turned to address her question I nearly knocked her head off with the 30 pound pack strapped to my back. Fortunately the damage wasn’t too bad and she forgave me shortly thereafter. Along with our luggage we had carried with us a water bottle; an empty water bottle. We were dehydrated, battered and bruised with smiles from ear to ear. We had done it!

Before the day was over we were able to fit in a couple shopping sprees: (1) to buy bedding, (2) to buy groceries and (3) to buy wine! It had been 48 hours since landing in Perth and we had found a home. Needless to say, we would sleep very soundly that night.