Pick-A-Day

February 2009
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Trick Question

I’ve been a very bad teacher—I posted “Compare & Contrast” asking “What do you think?”

2 Rooms, Attic Apartment

2 Rooms, Attic Apartment

Unfortunately I didn’t better specify the question—and all of you who bothered to answer, answered the wrong question—All of you said you would take apartment number 2—the red outlined floor plan. Here’s the thing: I wasn’t actually asking you which apartment you would prefer—it’s actually the same apartment, as marketed by two different agents.

Since in reality the choice has been made, and the apartments are one and the same, it is actually a question concerning agents. What do you think about the agents who drew these floor plans?

Of the two floor plans shown, the red outlined floor plan is highly accurate as to the relative dimensions and space allocation of the apartment.

2 Rooms, Attic Apartment

2 Rooms, Attic Apartment

The green outlined floor plan, with four windows in the roof down the right hand side, is from an agent who I met twice and who suggested that I might want to move into an apartment that was a long 35 minute walk from the main train station, not counting a steep and unpleasant hill and early ending bus service.

The apartment is 65 square meters (about 700 square feet), with a small bedroom, and the rest in one giant open space. The Work-Corner (Arbeiten) is technically part of the giant open space, but it is also detached—separated by virtue of the angled spaces you get in an attic space. The Abstelk. (Storage) to the right of the kitchen (Kochen/Essen) is larger than you think—large enough to be considered a small pantry and storage space for cleaning supplies. The AR/storage space off of the bedroom is purely for storage—where I will put my suitcases when I am not using them.

The cold rent is 324€/mo plus 100€/mo to make it warm, with a 650€ deposit and a 771.12€ agent’s fee. I’m viewing 500€ of the fee as the fee for a built in kitchen, and the rest as finding a spectacularly wonderful apartment.

Now, in terms of grading, I have to give Ed bonus points because he almost got to the heart of the matter with his comment concerning the bathtub’s placement in both floor plans: “why is the tub so far from the wall in both of them?” The answer is that the wall opposite the toilet is too low for the bathtub to be placed against it.

Below is a map with all the apartments I visited, except the one I am renting. You can click on each blue marker to read some pithy comments!  There were 12 stops to my search–you should probably click through to better see Adam’s Apartment Search 2009.


View Larger Map

4 comments to Trick Question

  • Ed

    I at first thought they were the same place but the first one drawn by a novice and the other drawn by a pro. Then I figured you wouldn’t be asking which one was best if they were indeed the same. I’ll go with agent number 2.

    • awe! you should have gone with your first instinct.

      The first agent ended up annoying me too much in the end–when I saw apartments that she was offering on the net, I decided immediately not to look at the apartments.

  • J

    I agree, agent 2. Looks like a good place.

  • @J: Thanks!

    If anybody wants to hear my detailed thoughts, including names, about the agents I dealt with here in Weimar, I would be more than happy to share them via email.