Two Weeks and Counting...

We moved to Somerset West a year ago, excited to begin a new chapter and settle into this beautiful town surrounded by mountains and natural beauty.  We chose a 3 bedroom townhouse to rent which seemed perfect at the time, only to discover 2 months later that we weren't as happy as we thought we'd be and started counting the months/weeks/days until we could move.  Luckily for us, moving day is finally right around the corner - 2 weeks away!

I feel sorry for the Estate Agents who are trying to rent this house out.  We gave notice at the end of August already, and I can't remember how many people we've had coming to look at the house (I'd say more than 10). They've posted numerous adverts on Gumtree, including a new ad today. What does this say about the house?

One of the biggest problems was the owner's lack of wanting to make this house a 'home'. It never felt like home to Geoff and I, and probably the reason we didn't bother putting up paintings, buying pot plants or really putting an effort into decorating the place. We just weren't happy here, and hardly had people over to visit for this reason.  Take for example the "garden". There is grass stretching 3/4 around the house but the only way we could water it was by plugging the hosepipe into the tap underneath the kitchen sink and trekking it through the lounge in order to reach the garden. There is no outside tap. Isn't this an obvious one when you rent out a house?

The main problem though (and probably the reason the Agents are having a hard time convincing people to rent the house) is the obvious lack of burgler bars. There is nothing on any window in the house except for the main bedroom and the en-suite bathroom.  That really doesn't help, seen as the TV, etc is all in the lounge which has a sliding door and two other windows that are easy to access. The owner point blank refuses to spend money on this necessary security.  Nevermind the house is in a "security" complex. That means absolutely nothing when the security guard is only there untill 6pm in the evening, and burglaries usually take place between 2am and 4am. There were 8 burglaries that we're aware of that took place in February/March this year. Some security...

Yesterday, a couple were close to signing to rent the house from 1 November, and were in negotiations with the owner on having burgler bars installed. Today, I've just see a new "To Rent" advert on Gumtree.  Well, that about sums it up.  Best of luck to whoever is going to be renting this place, we are moving in 2 weeks time and the days can't go by soon enough!