House hunting begins
Today was the first day of looking for a house to rent. The system is quite different here, in that the majority of real estate agents don't have details in their offices to view, but they put everything on one main website and also place adverts each Saturday and Wednesday in the local paper with viewing times for each property - usually for about 30 minutes at a set time.

The result is that everyone looking for a house scans the papers on the 2 days, then visit the houses that they are interested in. The advantage for the real estate agents is that they don't have to keep showing people around at different times, and that people visiting a property get the added pressure if they like it of seeing others viewing it at the same time!

We identified 6 properties for today at different times and planned our route around. It was a good way to start viewing different areas (all of which are liveable in) and also to get an idea of what was possible for our budget. We saw a range of different properties and prices but nothing was perfect. There was a 'designer house' in Harbord which looked great but had already gone the previous day, which we only discovered when we looked around. However, in hindsight it would have been far too small for us.

So, an interesting start and good to see some different properties. Some had some attractive elements, such as a great view, or lovely living space, but none we saw today was perfect. Still, there's next Wednesday to look forward to!

Clive