Not Very Frugal

We looked at 4 apartments today ranging in rent from $A290 to $A450 per week. We only looked at the $A290 one to see what you could get for that much. Inside it was a lot nicer than on the outside but it was rather small. The first one was on the 8th floor with a very flimsy looking balcony parapet that I'd said looked scary before we even looked inside. Great location though. The last two were being shown by the same agent. $A400 and $A450. The latter nearer the city center and larger. Moom thought the $A400 one was more "homey" and well located for a bus to Snork Maiden's employment location. But SM thought it was too small and it didn't even have a bathtub. So we will look around the $A450 apartment's neighbourhood tomorrow and then likely file an application with the agency. I think we should act when we have a viable opportunity. If we pass this one it could be a while before we find a place without competition to rent it that we actually like. Now the challenge is going to be earning enough income to cover our future expenses. The opposite of the usual PF frugality. I am still sufferring from jetlag and last night I didn't sleep at all as this was compounded with worries about whether we would qualify for an apartment we actually want to rent due to our "odd finances" and about earning enough to cover everything. The agent at least thought we would be approved. Based on my observations, the rental market here is fairly inefficient compared with the US. First, almost all rentals are condos owned by individual landlords. There are no rental complexes. At least none I've ever seen. Second, most agents put minimal effort into marketing rentals. In the US it was the norm for agents to drive clients around several apartments in an hour or so. Here the most common approach is a "viewing" - a quarter hour slot when the apartment is open for viewing. Times of viewings are only known a couple of days in advance almost by word of mouth. Most are on Saturdays. However, three of the units we saw today were not viewings - we were the only people seeing them.