The Miracle on Forchstrasse

The apartment we ended up with is truly the apartment we were meant to have.  

When I arrived at the open house I was late.  When I say I was late, I mean that I arrived at 11:20 when the open house was scheduled from 11-11:30am.  When an open house is scheduled in Switzerland, it is assumed that about half of the visitors will visit 15 minutes before the scheduled time and the other half will visit within the first 15 minutes of the actual open house.  I arrived just as the last few visitors were leaving.  It was my second apartment visit of the day on a Saturday morning.  The Herr was attending to another open house, so I was on my own.  When I walked in I greeted the tenant with my favorite German phrases: "Gruezi!  Sprechen Sie English?" and prepared for the worst, "Nein".  Instead, I was greeted with a big smile and a "Yes, I do."

Living/ Dining

Typically at open houses, the apartment is packed with visitors and the current tenant is kept busy fielding questions.  If the apartment amenities are obvious enough, I don't try to tackle a conversation.  On this occasion, as the only visitor with a willing and able English speaker, I felt at ease.  It was only through this conversation that we realized what a good fit the apartment was for us.  Had I arrived 15 minutes earlier with the rest of the visitors, we probably wouldn't be living here now!

Living/ Dining

On the visit, I described our frustration with the lengthy apartment hunt and how eager we were to find a real home and settle in Switzerland.  Our week to week lease at our temporary apartment and limited belongings allowed to to be flexible with our move-out date and willing buyers of unwanted furniture.  I soon learned that the current tenant was moving out to live with her boyfriend and was interested in leaving as soon as possible to save money on rent.  She also wanted to sell nearly everything in her apartment to avoid duplicate items with her boyfriend after the move.  It was a match made in Himmel.

Kitchen

We applied that afternoon and crossed our fingers.  I continued to fill our calendar with open house visits for the coming week knowing that a "sure thing" doesn't exist in the Zurich housing market.

Bedroom

The following Monday afternoon, the Herr received a call from the real estate company offering us the apartment.  We didn't believe it and remained nothing more than cautiously optimistic until the contract arrived in the mail a few days later.

Bathroom

After working out the details of purchasing the contents of the apartment, we were all moved in a little over two weeks after our initial visit.  Home sweet home!

Balcony

-Merry Swiss Ms