Looking for a house and climbing a mountain while doing it

I was not as happy as this guy

Signed for a house today, for next year.

Now I feel relieved and I feel tired. As if I just reached the peak of some tall snowy mountain and planted my very own flag on the summit. Only, here, reaching the peak would probably be the two weeks of house viewings I had and the hurdles we faced, as fearless climbers do, with people dropping out (on mountains they drop off, see?), rejecting mouldy houses and being polite to slick estate agents who drove us all around Cardiff like maniacs. Reaching the peak can be likened getting to the office of our letting agency, which all fearless climbers finally do, and planting the flag would probably be signing the tenancy contract.  Like all great climbers.

And..erm..the part where I paid the 560 Pound deposit would probably be where a strong gust of wind sends the climber tumbling down the side of the mountain. Some thing only very great climbers can achieve…

Nevertheless, I can say with confidence that in Cardiff, there are two estate agents for every single student. They all drive like maniacs, tell you they’ll give you discounts on the agency fee (every one settles on 80 Pounds) and all of them say that they have twenty houses in the morning and, when you call them in the evening, they tell you they only have three. But mostly, when you walk into a house which is as dirty as shit, they ALL say it’s going to look well clean after THESE tenants have moved out and they’ll clean it all up for us. HMPH. Kiss my ass, suckers. Ima find a house which is clean!

I’m not going to lie, at one point I, too, had lost all hope in these multiple – and duplicitous – estate agents. If it were not for my highly motivated house-mates, I would long before have signed my death certificate  residences certificate with the University for a third year in Halls. But it is I who will have the last laugh. (Ha Ha!)

The fact is, looking for a house is truly much like climbing a mountain. On your way, some of your fellow climbers fall off but you go on with a heavy – but determined – heart. Sometimes, it snows and hits you hard in the face and you can’t feel your nose, as the houses you wanted go off market and, finally, there are those terrible Mountain Guides known as estate agents who try to make you go through lots of ice and mould and stuff but you, eventually, manage to find your footing. That is when you reach the summit, Your House. There you have a couple of Pina Colada’s and have group hugs in the cold.

Then you go back to halls and wait till September to move in.