IHH - 102

Day 2 of International House Hunting (IHH) was Monday.
(If you missed part 1 you can read it here.

The day began with more emails being sent and finally hearing responses from a few of the immobiliarias (remember, real estate agents).  When they respond via e-mail, it isn't so bad - I have time to think of my response and use the help of a translator (if needed).  Thank goodness, I had a team meeting all morning, so when they responded via calls, either a teammate or her daughter helped (I still hate to talk in Spanish on the phone!).

The majority of the people who called only had properties in the south and we were only looking in the north.  Since we already had to return to Illescas Monday evening, I was trying to make additional appointments for the same trip (if you read yesterday, you'll remember that Illescas is about an hour from our home).  One agent called and had a property that was available on the north, but she wasn't available to show it until Tuesday morning.  (Thankfully a dear friend, and teammate, volunteered to go back with me on Tuesday).

Monday night we headed to Illescas for two appointments.  Oh, the fun you can have looking at chalets in a foreign country!

A fun review of 5 chalets....

#1 - Positive - had a lot of character, semi-furnished, several terraces, and friendly landlords.  Interesting - there was an area inside, yes, I said inside, that was filled with mulch.  Negative - when you look out the front door you face an industrial looking building - which we learn houses two clubs (in Spain, that usually refers to prostitute area) and several topless bars.  Nope - that one is off the list.

#2 - Positive - it had the biggest kitchen that I have seen in Spain, even having room for an industrial size refrigerator!  Interesting - the kitchen was red and the living room was purple - and yes, you could see both rooms at one time!  Negative - the owner of the property intended to turn one corner of the basement/garage into a storage room where he would store all of his furniture and etc behind a locked door while he moved out of the country.  Uh, who knows what would be behind that door?  Nope - one more down.

#3 - Positive - it had a beautiful view over an open field and was below our housing budget.  Interesting - it had a single car garage that had no access to the interior of the house and the only "green" area was in the front yard.  Negative - there were only windows on the front side of the chalet.  Remember, we don't have air condition so the cross breezes are essential to cooling the house on a 100+ degree day.  Nope to #3.

#4 - (changed to our 2nd appointment - who somehow missed the fact that we only wanted to see things in the north and scheduled all our appointments for the south, but maybe we should look there anyhow) - Positive - it was really big and the basement had lots of potential (and was in our housing budget)!  Interesting - hmm, the clothes line was out the kitchen window and was at a lower level than the window - not sure I could imagine myself hanging down the window.  Negative - there was no oven in the kitchen, which is not all that unusual (many rental properties come with no furnishings in the kitchen - appliances/cabinets), however, this one didn't even have the area or wiring to add an oven.  Uh, nope to that one too!

#5 - Across the street and down a little ways is finally a little hope - Positive - it is big, has lots of potential for future activities, is in our budget, and the basement is finished into two large rooms - plus, there is a separate single car garage!  Interesting - the dining room had this huge, and I mean huge, black chandelier with crystals and all (most rental properties have no light fixtures).  Negative - it is in the south and on Monday we are still thinking we want to be in the north.

The 2nd immobiliaria then told us they had one more property in the south we could see, but it didn't have any lights and it was already nearing sunset so would be difficult to see anything, and one in the north that was a lot older.  So, since I was already coming back for IHH 103 on Tuesday, I added them to the schedule.