The view from the balcony

We went to see it. It had broken mosaics, a half wall, unfinished paint and washed wood. And yet, it looked beautiful. To be able to repair it, make it ours. Give it affection and attention, until it’s rejuvenated. As in all things, the price was the big issue.

From the mountains, to the sea. You can see everything. The mist entering from the mountains, the wind whipping the city. Cars that never stop moving. The movement of the sun. The snow reaching the mountains.

We tried to convince ourselves that it was not the best option. That we would have to work on it and, above all, we were not sure of how much money we needed to repair all its damages. It was a lot to do for the two of us, and we thought that we could find something at a better price... but the view, the balcony ... that was difficult to find elsewhere.

Finding a house or apartment in Iceland is quite difficult. Firstly, it is SO EXPENSIVE to rent, so many people prefer to do what we did:to buy a house.This situation has to do with the rental of houses for Airbnb, which it’s estimated that this application is responsible for the 15% increase in real estate (icelandmag.is, 2018). Therefore, the Icelandic government has to monitor the amount of apartments that are rented for short periods, as these were often part of the market for permanently rented apartments (or long rents). Since the financial crisis of 2008, Iceland has implemented new regulations to reduce the risk of falling into something similar again in the real estate industry, since many people were trapped with an unsold house and with the debt of a house that they couldn’t pay.

This is because the houses and apartments that are for sale enter into a sort of bargaining. For example, if the apartment of your dreams is at 60 million on the ad, but it turns out that the place is valued at 50 million, then you can offer ( to say a number) 53 million, then the seller gives you a counter offer of 56 million. And so on, until the seller has a price closer to what he or she needs. Ah, I almost forgot! At the same time you make an offer, there will be other people who will also offer and, well, this has already become an auction. Therefore, an apartment can be sold at the price of the ad or much cheaper, it all depends on the characteristics of it (the location, services, the year of construction, etc.).

Now, for buying a house or an apartment, there are different types of loans, from those granted by unions, to those given by banks. All this, of course, is for departments and houses that are already built, because there is also the possibility of building your love nest from scratch, and for this, there are less aids and loans, or at least those that I know are under conditions and rules that are very specific and restricted.

After painting, tearing down a wall, laying new floor, and getting all the furniture around the narrow staircase to the third floor, we still have A LOT to do until we get the apartment as we want it, but at least we can wake up seeing this every day.