The apartment story

This Sunday we had yet another meeting regarding our apartment. You cannot fully appreciate this without a little background information... Enjoy. It's hilarious!

Finding an apartment
At the end of August Paolo and me contacted several real estate brokers to find an apartment. Finally, after visiting several run down places, and some less run down ones which sported rather tasteless furnishing instead, we finally found a place which was nice, big, and appropriately furnished.

It didn't take us long to decide - after several days of looking at apartments you can tell within the first 30 seconds whether you like the place or not. So we immediately signed a one year contract and moved in the same week - paying 4 months rent cash in advance (a 5cm packet of money...)

The unexpected visitor
Now on the first Sunday thereafter - I was lying on the sofa in my underpants - suddenly the door opened and three Chinese people were standing in the middle of my living room!

One was a broker and the other two were interested buyers. The broker explained that the apartment owner was trying to sell the house and that they would just have a quick look around. Two seconds later I had kicked them out and shut the door. "No looking around. This is my place now!".

Later that day somebody else knocked on my door (which was locked in the meantime). I opened and outside was another broker with yet two other prospective buyers. This time they didn't even make it past the door... Yep. I learn fast.

Even later there was more fumbling and knocking at the door, but that time I didn't even bother to open anymore.

Damage control
We asked our Chinese co-student who had helped us sign the contract to phone the owner and inquire about what was going on. However, he refused, citing that probably the owner had been trying to rent or sell the apartment at the same time and that information of its successful rental hadn't propagated to all the brokers yet.

And sure enough, things calmed down in September and we had no more unexpected visitors.

The bill circus
Instead of getting annoyed by prospective buyers we then started to get visits from various utility companies. At school they keep telling us, that money collection is one of the biggest challanges in China. And sure enough, all the utilities came after us because the previous tenant hadn't bothered to pay his last bills (bills seem to be addressed to the apartment rather than the tenant in China).

Obviously my first reaction was "this is not my bill. Go get your money elsewhere!" However, it turns out that utility companies are in a slightly stronger position to negotiate, as they will simply shut down electricity, gas, etc. if they feel unfairly treated... So finally, after one day of blackout, we ended up paying the ransom, because not only did the laptops no longer work, but also the water in the shower kept flowing cold as ice, a rather persuasive argument.

Back to square one
Then on one Sunday in early December we had another unexpected visitor at the door. This time it was a broker who cited that the apartment had been sold and that the new owner wanted to move in ASAP. He would even be willing to compensate us by not charging us for one month's rent.

Again, this conversation didn't last very long..."I have a contract. This is my place now. I don't want a free month's rent. I want to stay here. Come back in a year. Thanks. Goodbye."

Interestingly we never heard of this broker again, and we thought that they had probably just been testing us to see whether they could make us leave so they could sell the house (house prices have been soaring in Shanghai).

The meeting
So we were even more surprised when the owner scheduled an official meeting with us in January to discuss the situation of the house. Apparently the apartment had really been sold in November and the new owner really wanted to move in...

After getting some legal advice regarding contract enforcement in China we decided not to give in - and even change the locks at the door if necessary.

However, the meeting went quite well. After explaining our situation and giving our reasons for not moving the new owner seemed to accept the situation and told us that he was going to respect the contract.

Let's see what happens next. I'll certainly keep you guys posted if one day I come home and all my stuff is gone...