A Home - At Last

- is a misleading statement since in addition to our flat in Petaling Jaya, we have a condo in Indianapolis, and an unsold house in Raleigh. Legally we will be in this apartment for 6 months, although we anticipate extending the lease until the end of the year or when we head to the US for holiday (in which case we will store our stuff and start this process again).

Here is time line of our moving in: arrived in Malaysia (late 8 April), started viewing units (9 April), made an initial offer (13 April), had it fall through (14 April), viewed more apartments and make another offer (16 April), had offer accepted (16 April), made security deposit (17 April), moved in (19 April), and finished the paperwork and make final payments (21 April). In the process we dealt with three real estate agents. The first agent, found on the web - a person who listed properties in buildings we were interested in, did not instill much confidence. We met him in the apartment lobby - Doug had describe himself as a tall man with a white beard and wearing a red shirt. Although the lobby was virtually empty the agent seemed clueless. We looked at one plus apartments - one bedroom plus a small room. One of the plus rooms was so tiny that a baby would get claustrophobia.

Our second agent, recommended by the owner of Shah's Village, was friendly and helpful, but the time lapse between showings made us anxious. We got to VJ via a circuitous route. Nine months ago I read Fulbrighter's blog that included a comment that she had found housing with the help of her "fabulous agent" - I immediately asked for his name. I recovered her e-mail response, and sent him an e-mail. His agency (Cityscape Properties) responded that he was on leave and passed our message on to VJ(Kher Yow Jian). By the time we contacted VJ we had decided that AMCORP was the best location to start with. He showed us several units including a 2 bedroom on the 23rd floor. We decided to make an offer and sat down with VJ to work out the details. We offered RM3200 per month (the quoted rent was RM3500). The next day VJ called to say that the landlord now thought the unit should be rented for RM3800! A little stunned we started over again. We quickly settled on another two bedroom unit, made an offer (including requests for more furniture and cooking equipment), and it was accepted.

VJ is pictured above in the hotel lobby after Doug gave him our security deposit. We were eager to move ASAP - not only because a hotel room had us living on top of each other, but also the hotel was sold out for Monday night (nevertheless they give me an extension) and I felt that my day by day extensions weren't fair to a relatively small business. On Monday we went to Jusco and Carrefours to check prices for bedding and kitchen supplies. On Tuesday we went on a shopping spree at JUSCO helped by excellent sale prices and an engaged helpful staff. (Someday we will write "The World is filled with Aprils" to testify how many retail clerks throughout the world are similar to the character on Parks and Recreation.)

VJ loaded all our things into his car and we walked to AMCORP. We started by verifying that requested items were included, taking pictures, noting defects and needed repairs. All that was left was review the inventory and pay the additional moneys (one months rent, a deposit for utilities and a stamp fee). The memorable moment - the bathroom door locked and we couldn't get in! Eventually a member of the landlord's family came down and made a temporary fix - a permanent fix is still in the offing.

Today VJ, the agent for the landlord, Raymond who handles the landlord's business, a technician all showed up. The technician worked on the repairs; Doug reviewed the inventory; Doug, VJ, and Raymond signed the tenancy agreement. Then we paid Raymond our stash of RM50's.

So now that we have a two bedroom apartment we look forward to your visit. Here is the view from the guest room window.