Day 71: Walk through.

I'm so excited. Today is the day we finally get the keys to the apartment! It's a German holiday which worked out great for our Landlord. However, the time (6:30 this evening) is going to be a little bit of a challenge. Ted doesn't get home until after 5:30 and we have to have dinner before we leave. Hopefully, he won't be delayed.

I spent the day preparing the documents I needed for tonight's meeting, answering emails and just "putzing" around the apartment and fixing something special for dinner tonight: stuffed mushrooms to go along with our entree.

Ted came home and I QUICKLY put our meal on the table so we could leave to go do the walk-through. The document that we need to complete for the housing office is three pages long and quite detailed. We also have to get the meter readings so that we can keep track of what we owe in the way of utilities.

We left the house at 6pm and arrived at the apartment with five minutes to spare. A guy was waiting for us and it turns out he's the Landlord's cousin and half owner of the apartment building. The Landlord came within minutes and parked his car in the Tiefgarage or "underground garage or parking". We all walked up to the apartment.

He asked for the rental agreement as Ted scanned the original he missed the back pages of the agreement and the Landlord was missing the odd pages of the agreement. So we agreed to give him the agreement after his cousin signed it and he would send it back to us via email.

I began to complete the detailed form. It wasn't difficult because the apartment is quite new by German standards (2003). We looked at everything: glass in the windows, window sills, the exterior blinds (Ted calls them the "shields" - must be a Star Trek thing), the walls, the ceilings the electrical outlets, and on and on. I test the sinks and showers as well as flush the commodes to ensure those are working properly.

We go room by room and I mark down the condition of each element on the form. I remark to the Landlord that the previous tenant drilled holes in the wall near the entrance to the apartment (he damaged the call phone...the one that allows you to talk to someone who is at the door and buzz them in). The previous tenant, Frank, told us that he had the phone repaired and to not drill in that location because of the wiring. (I wasn't planning on doing ANY drilling! LOL!) Frank filled the holes and I showed them to the Landlord and we agreed that by painting the holes would not be noticeable.

There are holes in the tiled walls in the bathrooms in the grout area. The landlord said that if I'm going to drill, to not drill in the tile but in the grout. I wasn't planning on drilling there either! I mark down these holes on the walls. (I fully intend on taking photos of the apartment for our records so that I have photographic evidence of the form I'm filling out and that there are no issues down the road. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring the camera so we'll have to take those photos before we paint and move in.

The Landlord shows us where the water meters are. They are located in a panel above the commode in the half bath. The panel is sheet metal and is attached by super magnets. That's pretty smart!

We go down in the basement and he shows us the storage location as well as the location of the electrical meter. The Landlord had a document that showed all of the meters and their readings. We verified the numbers from the document against the actual meters.

Somehow we got to talking about it being a German holiday. I said the Germans get a LOT of holidays and asked what the holiday is. The landlord responds "The Holy Ghost". I realize he's talking about the Day of Pentecost (40 days after Easter)! WOW! I'm REALLY impressed that the entire country of Germany celebrates the Day of Pentecost! That is just TOO cool!! I also ask him what religion he practices, to which he replies: Evangelistic!

It is SO exciting to see how God gave us a Christian Landlord! This was icing on the cake, so to speak.

We tested that buzzer phone and it worked and he handed us the keys. We lock the door and leave.

We are just taking each day as it comes and trying to get things accomplished day by day. Tomorrow Ted will arrange for the electricity to be transferred into our name. I guess that's one bill we'll get every month along with DSL and phone service. Ted is researching those companies as well to get them hooked up as soon as possible. Ted has heard some horror stories (6 weeks to get internet) so he wants to get that ball rolling as soon as possible. We were told, however, that if we use the same company as the previous tenant, all they have to do is "flip a switch and we're good to go". This is a viable option. But that's Ted's department, not mine.

I can't wait to get settled into our permanent home for the next three years. And while it's fun for a few weeks even a month to live in temporary housing, three months is a stretch without your "stuff"!

Monday 6/1/2009