Decisions and deadlines

After experiencing the exhaustion of hauling 3 kids to apartment viewings, and after A's extensive research on the website which is as close to a comprehensive real estate listing as Moscow has (that is, not complete, but something), we decided it was time to decide.  That and one of the other realtors asked our realtor whether we were serious or whether they should keep showing the place.

So faced with that deadline, we canceled a viewing we had scheduled, and met up with the realtor we liked and paid down a nonrefundable (gulp) deposit to hold an apartment.

We chose Apartment #4 -- closest to S's work, largest square meters (102 m2), four rooms not three.  Basically, dirty can be cleaned up, and junk can be cordoned off to a balcony or used (but not--and this is important--ever thrown away or removed by the tenant!), but square meters are not adjustable.  So we're better off with the space & we can clean later (famous last words :-) ).

It is located at metro "Voikovskaya," which is north on the green line four stops from its intersection with the brown line, making it two metro stops north of the one called "Aeroport" which is closest to S's work.  (No airport near that metro, not sure how it got the name, unless a shuttle to an airport once ran from there).

Owner lives out of the country, owner's authorized representative out of town and would return to sign a contract "in a week."  So now we have limbo--something chosen, but can't move in.

Knowing that we're going to be paying for four rooms makes the 2 rooms in the guest house feel a lot smaller.