Still Searching for our apt

First, let me say that real estate in France is steadily rising just like in the US. Unfortunately for us, we live in the 3^rd most desirable city in France in terms of real estate. Apparently, the fact that there a few more jobs available here and we are centrally located to about everything makes Lyon the place to be, just in behind Paris and Nice.

We have been searching to buy an apt for over 4 months now. We have had one major heartbreak and several near misses as far as Coup de Coeur (love at first site). The amount of money we wanted to invest originally has steadily increased as we have found out more about our desires and our needs. Unfortunately, our desires are perfectly aligned with every other white collar apt hunter in the region. You know; nice view, big spacious front room and bedrooms, lots of sunlight, modern kitchen, with lots of storage. So when an apt becomes available that we really like, it most likely will stay on the market for less than 1 week. All the crappy ones we have seen over the past 4 months are still on the market.

Anyway, our latest let down, was a beautiful 100 m² (1100 ft) apt with a beautiful view overlooking the Saone River that we stumbled across walking one afternoon. The front room was huge with 5 big windows on the river. The kitchen recently renovated and 3 bdrms. The bldg lies in the historical center protected by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) of the city dating back to the middle ages. We had an immediate coup de Coeur. We waited less than a day to let the seller know we wanted to place an offer. We didn’t even try to negotiate. It was too perfect and we did not want to lose due to a bad offer. Well, we waited two agonizing days to find out someone offer the total in cash. CASH!!! Where the hell do you get that kind of cash? This apt was on the market 3 days.

Anyway, we are still on the hunt. We are going to spend the weekend at a Salon d’Immobilier (real estate convention). Sounds exciting I know, but you never know what may turn up there. We also, just recently saw another apt in the same quarter of the city. The interior is beautiful but the view leaves a bit to be desired. It isn’t quite the coup de Coeur that we are looking for.