not as easy as I thought.

So.. I had my first experience at looking at apartments last night and it was interesting. You can't believe everything that you see online, because sellers/owners are good at making the pictures online look REALLY good. In person, I was a little disappointed, especially with the first apartment we went to see. I knew right away, without even going into the apartment, that I didn't like it. I tried to keep an open mind going into it, but the apartment looked a lot smaller in person and wasn't very practical with its layout. 1) There wasn't an oven, or a dishwasher, although in a picture online there had been, 2) The stove top consisted of 2 burners which looked like they had seen better days, 3) The "fridge" was under the sink = bizarre, 4) There was absolutely no closet space, which wouldn't have worked, 5) There was no hook-up for a washing machine in the bathroom and 6) Our storage space was located in the basement, down several flights of stairs--no way. Also, if we wanted to do laundry, we would have to walk down 4 flights of stairs where there was a room with only 2 washing machines and a dryer, and it smelled. It reminded me too much of my college days at NEC and there is just no way I would want to sit down there to make sure that none of our clothes would get stolen!! The only good thing about the apartment was that there was a cute little balcony and the apartment was centrally located in Oslo. The view from the balcony though looked over a huge construction area.. total bummer. Pictures can be deceiving!!

We were more impressed with the 2nd apartment, even though it was a lot smaller, but it was more practical in design. There was tons of closet space, a brand new kitchen with oven, stove, dishwater and fridge, and a hook-up possibility for a washing machine and dryer in the bathroom. The neighborhood where the apartment was located was super quaint and cute, but there was no balcony and it was really too small for our liking. Overall though, it was a great experience to go look at both apartments, because we learned even more about the specs we are looking for when we decide to rent. My dreams of having a kitten I think will be put on the back burner for some time now.. because not many places allow pets, unfortunately. Although I really want one, it may be a smarter idea to wait until we own our own apartment at some point. We'll see!

We are thinking of trying to find a place by the end of September, beginning of October. We have a handful of others apartments on our list to go look at, some in Oslo and some outside of it. Finding an apartment is not as easy as I thought, but is still exciting.. I know when we find the right one, we'll know. But, for now, we are continuing to look online, going for showings and just waiting. Patience is a virtue! ;)