Contender #2 Becomes #1

Things sometimes turn on a dime.

Or an offhand comment.

The apartment switcheroo we pulled this afternoon certainly wasn’t on our mind when we left the AirBNB this morning to meet with Mirco and the lovely couple who own the Cesare Battisti apartment.

In hindsight, however, I think the change is for the best.

Long story short, the meeting went well. But then the owners advised us of the restoration/renovation projects still pending in the building … from construction in the air shaft to roof-related repairs to stop water leaks … we had noticed the leak in the guest bedroom; to work on the staircase and possible replacement of the elevator. All of this work needs to comply with the rules governing restoration of historic buildings … even if this building is only from 1927. Hmmmm! Can you say red tape?

The clincher for reconsidering our decision came when we asked to see the cellar storage unit. OMG!!! The basement was a maze … almost like the kind one sees in horror movies … seemingly never ending and branching off in so many directions that you might have to lay a trail of crumbs to find your way back. The damp was obvious … you could smell it clear from the top of the stairs. The floors were grimy ... with at least an inch of dirt; the walls were covered in a layer of dust. When we finally got to the storage unit, it was unbelievably begrimed, like it hadn’t been touched in years. And it was filled with junk, which was not going to be removed. Not that we would want to put any of our stuff down there.

Bidding everyone a pleasant farewell, we said we would await their counteroffer. At some point during our walk back to the AirBNB I made an offhand comment … something along the lines that I wouldn’t be heartbroken if the owners didn’t come back to us with the final offer we were looking for. That stopped Mui in his tracks. He’d been thinking along the same lines.

Deciding to grab a bite to eat along the way, we stopped at La Prosciutteria, a deli/wine bar just down the street from the AirBNB. We ordered a caprese salad with burrata and a gourmet cutting board with cold cuts, cheeses, and three types of croutons (bread with different spreads on each slice). Good food … but we agreed that we liked Dal Brillo, the wine bar on Via Marsala much better.

Our discussion about the contender apartments continued as we made our way back to the AirBNB. By the time we were unlocking the door, our decision on which apartment to rent was reversed. We were going to rent the Griffoni apartment.

Mui sent off a message to Mirco, explaining our decision. We also sent a message off to Elizabeth and told her we would like to rent the Griffoni apartment and asked what the next steps were … review a copy of the contract; meet the owner, Marco to work out the details and pay the caparra (earnest money) to put a hold on future showings to other interested parties until the contract was signed. We will be meeting on Wednesday morning at 9:00a … two days hence.

We’ll review the contract tomorrow, and I will set up a Wise account to pay the caparra, deposit, and rent until we can get an Italian bank account set up. In the meantime, a quiet evening is in order.Read more