Apartment Hunting!!

We went apartment hunting yesterday through Eric's company :) we went to 8 different places, 3 in wanchai, 2 in causeway bay, 2 in admiralty and 2 in Soho! The first two are in the same building in WanChai, VERY close to where we were the other night..which made me nervous :P The very first one I loved! It was on the 8th floor and had a very open concept, 2 bedrooms, a nice kitchen andddd no furniture :/ but we overlooked the basketball courts so that was pretty fun!!

The second one was the exact same as the first, but on the 5th floor instead of the 8th, so not as great of a view..but it was recently renovated so it was a lot cleaner and the flooring was different than wood..another thing they did in the renovation was take out a window...DISLIKE

The third one was also in WanChai anddd we didn't like it. haha it was furnished..but with nasty couches and tables and a nasty bathroom that looked dirty and a weird back door that was made out of steel and was always locked..it's there for security..which i guess is cool, but if it doesn't open from the inside, then what's the point?! haha.

The 4th one...I don't even care about at all....and it had 2 showers?! hahah one in the kitchen and one in the bathroom (obvi)..it was in a nice, quite neighborhood in Admiralty and it had 3 bedrooms, which was unnecessary, and a really small living room. ugh. yep, just not a fan. Luckily we both knew immediately that we didn't like it, we were in the kitchen when Eric looks at me and whispers "I don't like it at all" hahaha I nodded in agreement..then we both turned around to talk to the landlord and said things like "it's really great, we just don't think we need a 3 bedroom...but it is very nice....just don't need it...but nice view!" hahahah...that is seriously why I love Eric, we are always on the same page. :) makes me smile

The 5th apartment was in Admiralty as well and just a few blocks from the 3 bedroom one. It had SO much storage and was relatively modern. It was a contender..but we weren't head over heels....or atleast I wasn't ;)

The 6th one we looked at was in Causeway Bay! A 5 minute walk from Eric's work, which made me happy because when he closes at work (the 4pm-1am shift) he could walk home quickly instead of taking a cab or walking for 20+ mins...because the MTR closes down at 12:30am :/.

Anyways, this place was adorable! and the view was unreal! We could see the bay, it was a clean 2 bedroom with a super cute chandelier and was very light and open. The bathroom was nice and so was the kitchen and it also had a microwave, stove and a fridge! It was 1,000HK under our budget. We thought we had fallen in love! The view was perfect and during Chinese New Year you get a clear view of the fireworks...and that chandelier...I was so sold. I thought we had found the most amazing place!

The 7th one was also in Causeway Bay and was HUGE!! 2 bedroom at 760 sq ft..same as our apartment in Portland :) AND it had a full tub!! oh my goodness, you have NO idea how happy that made me to see that beautiful thing, I miss my bathtub so much...:( anyways the apartment was big and it was clean..but it didn't give us that "ohmygaaaaaw we gotta live here!" typa feelin. So we moooved onto the SOHO!

The 8th one was okay...it was in Soho and at the top of the escalator. The location was perfect and right next to LKF which is where we want to be! Right in the heart of Hong Kong and always super busy...we've been out there quite a bit and really like it :) 

We didn't realize they were going to show us one more and thought that we were having to decide between the 8..so we were pretty set on the Causeway Bay place...although Eric liked the location of the 8th one..BUT THEEEENNNN they showed us this little beauty. They saved the best for last!! Right above Staunton's Wine Bar (which we've already been to twice!) and right in the middle of the escalator. Basically theeee most perfect location..and if we were wanting our friends and family to visit..this is the place we wanted them to be :) So basically we did this for all of you! So you better come visit now!! :P This place also had a balcony overlooking Shelley Street, which is where the escalator is, full of great restaurants and really fun bars and a 5 minute walk to LKF! The only thing is, Eric will probably have to take a cab back from work when he closes...good thing the cab rides are only like $5 USD!! haha. We told our realtors that we wanted it and basically, "where do we sign?"..then they informed us that the place went on the market that day, 3 people had already looked at it and 1 couple had already put an offer in and were needing to "get the deposit" (the deposit here is basically 3 months rent..1 month to secure, and then when you sign the papers it's first and last month up front) soooo it's normal for people to take a day to get the secured deposit (the 1 months rent). Luckily for Eric and I, we have Pete, the owner of my company. He's helped us out a bunch already and as soon as we showed him the place, he said that it's going to go really quick and that it's going to be by far the best place we can find for that price..so he spotted us the secured deposit so that we could talk to the landlord first!! (he's taking part out of my paycheck and the other part Eric's paying him on Friday)...seriously, we are so lucky to have him helping!! Not only that, but the realtors came to my office to pick up the money and Sing, my coworker, talked to them (he speaks cantonese) just to make sure they're not doing a shady realtor deal..Sing also used to be in real estate, so we were really happy to have him there to help us! After Sing talked to them for a bit, he talked to us to let us know that it's a good deal and that they gave us a discount....didn't seem like one! haha but a discount none-the-less. :)

We heard early this morning that we got the place!! :):):) we sign the legit papers on Monday and can move in starting Monday night!! I am seriously SO happy!!!!! We really lucked out, but this seriously means that you ALL have to visit!!! We have room for roughly 4 visitors at a time, so start plannin people, once in a lifetime chance to come to Hong Kong and stay in a nice place in the middle of Soho FO FREEEEEE