i get a lead on a place to live though a former bangalore expat i met on-line. i get lucky. the place has just been vacated, its french occupant suddenly forced to return to france for mysterious reasons. the sister of the landlady and her son pick me up outside my office and drive me there, which takes longer than walking. the place is a bit dark and dingy, but it's huge and furnished and has everything i need, including a kitchen (with fridge and water filter), cable tv, and even a balcony overlooking a park. it's pricey though, at 15000 rupees a month. throwing in the maid and the electric & phone bills, i'm looking at almost $400 a month. ah well, i might as well live it up. i decide to take it right then and there.
there's one problem. the deposit. renting an apartment in india (or at least in bangalore, but i think it's countrywide) generally means forking over 10 months rent as deposit. really. so i'd have to fork over around $4000 to stay in a place where i'd be paying $1600 in rent. fortunately they take pity on me and demand only 6 months deposit or $2400. still, that will take me 6 days to raise, using 6 trips to the ATM, which they deem acceptable. i really do hope i'll get the money back. that's some serious scratch. we'll see...
i move in in the morning.
No comments:
Post a Comment