Caveat renter!
Jun. 12th, 2006 11:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
imomusI'm busy these days, running around Berlin viewing apartments. I'm off to see one in Neukolln at one o'clock. The other day I was so sure I'd take the one you see below, on Jung Strasse in Friedrichshain, that I even gave my ISP provider the address as my future mailing address. The area was perfect, there was a charming Indian grocer on the ground floor, the building had patina to spare. But...
...When I saw the place inside, it just didn't speak to me. It just didn't jump up and welcome me with "Hello, I'm your new apartment, where you'll spend many happy hours, days, weeks, months and years!" Instead it said "Look, here I am, warts and all, don't be too harsh on me, remember how good I looked on paper!"
In the flesh, the flat's proportions were narrow, awkward and chopped about, its textures in the yuk-zone beyond "patina", and there seemed to be a significant risk of heavy metal music from neighbouring apartments (Motorhead banners hanging in facing windows, always a bad sign). Above all, the light wasn't right.
This viewing had been entirely set up by kind friends through e mail, and it struck me as a bit of a cautionary tale about the interface between the textworld of the internet and the textureworld of real life. There's a parallel here with internet flirtation. Don't let your need, no matter how deep, rush you into something you'll regret. The proof of the pudding is still in the eating. Caveat emptor: always check out the texture before you sign your name under the text.
...When I saw the place inside, it just didn't speak to me. It just didn't jump up and welcome me with "Hello, I'm your new apartment, where you'll spend many happy hours, days, weeks, months and years!" Instead it said "Look, here I am, warts and all, don't be too harsh on me, remember how good I looked on paper!"
In the flesh, the flat's proportions were narrow, awkward and chopped about, its textures in the yuk-zone beyond "patina", and there seemed to be a significant risk of heavy metal music from neighbouring apartments (Motorhead banners hanging in facing windows, always a bad sign). Above all, the light wasn't right.
This viewing had been entirely set up by kind friends through e mail, and it struck me as a bit of a cautionary tale about the interface between the textworld of the internet and the textureworld of real life. There's a parallel here with internet flirtation. Don't let your need, no matter how deep, rush you into something you'll regret. The proof of the pudding is still in the eating. Caveat emptor: always check out the texture before you sign your name under the text.
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(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-12 10:04 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-12 10:10 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-12 10:15 am (UTC)hazy days galanging in EC1
Date: 2006-06-12 11:46 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-12 02:47 pm (UTC)btw, do you get my same impression that very few people are looking for a flat now?
Looks like there's lots of room for handling due to the scarce demand.
Well, I am surely not going to complain.
cingo
(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-12 04:25 pm (UTC)do you think it's easier or harder for you that a "normally" employed individual to be selected for an apartment? i mean, you have international fame and notoriety and maybe a big bucket o' euros you're sitting on, but at least in SF, it seems like everyone's running around with credit reports, pay stubs, resumes, photos of their cats, etc.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-12 04:44 pm (UTC)I made an offer on a place today, on exactly the block of Neukolln's "golden triangle" I want to be on, near the market. Will know tomorrow evening whether I've got it, but I think my chances are good.
Congrats on the lease, and the location!
(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-12 06:26 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-12 06:38 pm (UTC)Ha, "professional clog"!
(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-12 07:01 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-12 07:16 pm (UTC)To each his own,
W
(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-12 08:09 pm (UTC)Haven't Motorhead now turned into a t-shirt company?
(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-12 08:32 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-12 08:45 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-12 11:28 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-12 11:38 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-13 10:04 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-13 11:44 pm (UTC)