Before we move in to our new place, we had to do an inventory of the flat and mark down the state of things before we move in so we could get our deposit back when we move out. It's a pretty simple process back in the US. You usually just fill out a worksheet they hand you and turn it in within a week of moving in, and that's all she wrote.
It's a much more serious business here. For example, the landlord hired an independent inventory person to go over each and every element of the flat. I met him at the property, and I just wandered around the flat familiarizing myself with the place again (it's almost been a month since I was last there) while he went around speaking into his handheld recorder. He was very thorough; I actually heard him counting the light bulbs in the master bedroom and describing the state of the outlets at one point.
He pointed out that the instruction manuals for all of the appliances were missing, but he assured me that I could probably figure things out if the remodeling crew couldn't provide them. I told him um, yeah, no. Then we got into a surreal conversation about the differences in dishwashers in the US versus the ones in the UK. He seemed fascinated - or maybe he was just being polite and was a great actor. I'm going with the latter option. But in the end, he agreed with me that I probably couldn't figure things out on my own. Luckily, the remodeling crew told me I'd receive them upon move-in.
The whole thing didn't take too long and lasted about an hour and half considering that our flat is new built and unfurnished, and there shouldn't be any issues since everything is brand spanking new. I spotted a couple of things and took pictures just in case he overlooked anything, but we have five days after we receive his report to update it with anything that we should happen to notice once we're moved in. It all sounds pretty fair.
The only thing that kind of sucks is that we have to do an inventory when we move out, and we're responsible for the fee, which costs anywhere from 100-200 GBP. Yikes. Considering the horror stories I've heard about evil landlords and deposit disputes that go on for years (Dickens would be feeling pretty smug right about now - don't know what I'm talking about? Read Bleak House. Great book, but you can tell he hates lawyers), all's well that ends well. Let's hope this ends well.
I'm so excited about moving in, but not so excited about the fact that it's going to take 3 weeks for the internet guy to come and install our broadband. What did we do before Al Gore invented the internet?! Anyway, I'll be decamping to various cafes and libraries in search of free wifi. I've already scoped out a pretty sweet library by the new pad, but I haven't had to lug my laptop around since law school. It seems heavier now for some reason. Or maybe I'm just older and weaker. Maybe.
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