House Hunting - Day 3 (the limit is reached)

Another day out in the sweltering heat looking for someplace to live.  I am really starting to hate this process.  It is the same drill. I am dragged through 30 apartments of which I like 0.  It is hot - waiting for the key to come is hot, the stairwell to the apartment is hot, the apartment is hot, and then we reverse the process back to the car.  You do this 30 or 40 times in 109 degree heat and you start wondering what you were complaining about this winter while standing in a -30 snow storm.  How I long for the Minnesota winters!

Today, though, we actually found an apartment that was, well, pretty damn awesome.  It was a total rebuild from the ground up and was done tastefully.  The landlord is the wife of an Indian Diplomat who has just returned from the US.  She is very familiar with my company (It sometime works in my favor to work for an awesome company) and understood the needs of expats.  The place was about 2000 square feet, very modern, great kitchen with a place for an oven.  Not actually installed, but a place for it.  I about fell over.  It has 3 large bedrooms all with their own very well appointed bathrooms and a 4th 1/2 bath in the main hall.  The bedrooms all had built in wardrobes and curtain rods already installed.  There was even an honest to goodness linen closet.  The kicker was that it comes with its own private terrace on the roof.  So when do I move it, right?

Note the clean lines - something rarely seem in Delhi

The is a hole for a dishwasher under the counter on the right and two shelves for a microwave and a regular oven on the left

An actual bath tube - without mold!

Well remember this is India, so nothing is as simple as it seems.  Apparently, there is a German family that also like the place and had spoken to the landlord earlier in the week.  They had not, though, given a commitment.  Apparently, this is a serious mistake.  I spoke with the landlord and gave her my personal guarantee that we would be processing the paperwork ASAP and I am 100% committed to making this happen (I was very convincing).  Since she does not know me from Adam, my personal guarantee is worth about as much as Obama's plan to recover the economy - Nothing, Nil, Nada!  Rupees (the Indian currency) on the other hand, works wonders for closing a deal (I would need roughly $8000 worth which I have currently $198 worth).  Although she looked me straight in the eyes and said it was mine, I believe the race is on.  This is an extremely desirable apartment is one of Delhi's most prestigious neighborhoods and these Germans are not going to go quietly.  They never do.    

So, starting Monday, it is me against the Germans in a fight to the death over the Best Apartment Ever! (And me never having to go out and look for an apartment again - dare to dream.)