It was a little after 8am when we got on our way and the traffic was awful! I don't see the traffic because we travel that road on the weekends when it is clear. But my dear husband travels that road every day and every evening, God bless him!
We got to Kelly Base and there was a notice on the window of the housing office. It said the Kelly office was going to be closed until Friday and that if we wanted help, we should go to Panzer Base. I thought for sure the day would be a bust, but my sweet husband got on the phone and called Panzer base and talked to a Mr. Hernandez. He told us to come over to Panzer otherwise we would have to wait until Friday.
Before making the call, my husband warned me that the Panzer housing office was a nightmare. But I was surprised when he said, we're going. OK. I was happy because I thought I would be disappointed and would have to wait another two days.
We get to Panzer (more traffic) and it's about 9:30 at this point. We walk in and the place is packed. Uh-oh! We sign in and shortly there after, a gentleman comes over to us and tells us that the earliest they would see us would be at 11am and would we like to come back assuring us that when 11am rolled around, regardless of how many people were there, we would be first on the list. He also gave me an information sheet to complete, a map and the latest listing sheets. We would come back at 11am.
We were both hungry so we went over to the Food Court. Ted wanted a breakfast sandwich and I was dying to taste the "Apfel Strudel" (Apple Strudel). We both had our favorite tea, San Benedetto (from Italy, don't you know!). He favors the peach and I love the lemon.
We sit down and have our breakfast. The strudel was terrific! I could actually taste the apples because they were not drenched in sugar! Of course, Ted's sandwich (bacon, eggs and cheese) is Americanized and a heart attack waiting to happen!
I was so glad I brought along one of my travel books to look at while we wait. After reviewing the listings and completing the form, we perused the travel book for a bit. Finally at 10:45am Ted said, let's walk back over to the housing office. We walked to the housing office which is across a huge parking lot and past the new car sales place. We walk in and the room was empty. Hooray!!
We were called into one of the rooms and a girl named, Verena Klempe, helped us review the paperwork they had given us when were there earlier. It turns out Verena was an Au Pair in Carmichael, CA for a year. Carmichael is not far from our home in Rocklin. She even knew where Rocklin was! It truly IS a small world. She spoke English very, very well but had a thick German accent. She was friendly and helpful. She joked with my husband and me.
I had already seen the list they had given me earlier and verified which listings I was interested in against the list I had made last night from the emailed lists we were sent. I had seven all together.
We looked as some of the interior photos of some of the listings. Of course you can't tell too much from photos and some didn't even have photos. And you can't see what the neighborhood is like, or the exterior of the building so we decided that we would do drive by before scheduling any showings. We didn't want to waste our time or the landlords.
For now we narrowed it down to three listings:
The first one is a 3 bedroom, 1323 Square Feet (SF) "Maisonette" apartment with 1 1/2 baths, a garage and two balconies. A Maisonette is a two-story apartment - not a townhouse but a two story in a building with other apartments. It is about 20 km away from Ted's work and he would have to be on the Autobahn almost the entire way to work. And it is very crowded in the mornings and the evenings. However, it is the least expensive of the three and well within the stipend that the company is giving us including utilities, but it is heated by oil. I'm not to thrilled with that. However, I liked the photos and there are some built in cabinets and the kitchen looks really nice! We drove by this apartment on our way home to drop me off. It faces a big field (which Ted likes) but neither of us were totally impressed with the building and Ted was less than impressed to have to use the autobahn for almost the entire way to work. We've ruled out this apartment.
About the time I was plugging the next apartment in the GPS, Ted got a call from work and he needed to take me home. Hopefully we will be able to see the other two tonight when he gets home. I will bring my camera and take photos of the exteriors so I have them.
After having a quick meal, we were on our way to drive by the other two apartments.
The second is also a 3 bedroom, 1636 SF apartment with 1 1/2 baths. It is about 27 km from Ted's work. I'm not sure of the route until we drive by it. I did do an aerial view on Google Maps before leaving the apartment but it doesn't really give you a sense of the neighborhood. It has a balcony and a community laundry room in the basement. We, of course, would have to provide our own washer and dryer. It also has a garage. However, it too is oil heated and is more expensive than the first one. The "cold" rent (without utilities) is still under our stipend but it means we would have to pay utilities out of our pockets. I was hoping to not have to do that. There were no photos so I have NO idea what the inside of this unit looks like much less the outside. We took a ride after dinner to see the outside of this property. It took us almost 40 minutes to get to this location. As we got closer to the town, there were a LOT of industrial buildings. One place reminded me of the old steel mills in Youngstown - much cleaner, though. I was not impressed with that but we were there so we might as well take a look at the apartment. This apartment is on the third floor. I am concerned about what the heating bill will be given that it's the top floor. I know heat rises but what about the ceilings...are they insulated enough to maintain the heat and utilities are more expensive here than in the states. Neither of us was impressed with the location or the exterior of the building. It was not as well kept as the place we are in. I will be telling that to the housing office. I also am concerned about it's location in reference to the town. It is quite a ways from town and it's on the side of a hill. When I go shopping, it will be a chore to get up that hill to get to the apartment. No, I think we're going to nix this one.
The third is also a 3 bedroom apartment 1399 SF apartment with 1 1/2 baths. It is 1 kilometer from where we live now. That means it's about 10km from Ted's work. It is the most expensive of the three which means our stipend will cover the "cold" rent but not the utilities. It has a balcony and a basement but we think the laundry is in the house because the listing doesn't say "laundry room". This unit only has a parking lot. I was hoping for a garage for Ted given the winter months. It is gas heated so that is a plus as well. Again, there are no photos of the interior of the property so we don't know what the inside will look like. I also did an aerial view of the property and it looks like it faces some grassy areas. It is close to where I currently shop so that's a good thing. This apartment like the previous apartment is on the third floor. I worry about toting groceries up two floors. And I worry about the utilities, especially in the winter time. We were somewhat disappointed that the exterior of the property is not as well kept as we thought it would be.
We are going to make an appointment to see the inside of the third property and continue looking. Ted suggested I continue to look on my own while waiting for more properties from the housing office. It means I'll have to translate and make sure there is no realtor associated with the transaction so as to not incur unnecessary additional costs.
This is a three year commitment so we want to be sure before we commit ourselves. On the other hand, we don't want to miss out on something that has the location and most of the amenities we are looking for.
This is a time for prayer and asking Him to lead us to the home He wants us to have. We are, and always have been, fully dependent on Him.
We decide to take a detour because my husband has been seeing this store called "Toom". What a weird name for a store, hmm? We found out there's one in Filderstadt near where we live. We decided to check it out...but of course, it's after 8pm and it's closed but we figure out it's a department store. How good it is, we don't know. I'll have to ask Angelika!
It's time to go home and regroup...and keep looking for a place. His will be done!
Guten Naben!
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