We got an apartment

 Drew and I officially signed the lease on an apartment yesterday! It was our first choice, so really happy it worked out. It took us a week to get the lease signed, so we got a bit lucky, I think, that no one else put in an offer while we were working through the signing. It was a bit more difficult for us, as foreigners, for a couple reasons. One, we didn't have any of the typical things they wanted to see to show financial solvency. They wanted proof of income 3 times the amount of the rent and credit history with no late payments. They also require you to have a local Chilean guaranteer, aka a cosigner, that meets all the same requirements. Well, being pseudo-retired, proof of income looks different for us, so we were showing them our signed leases and LLC paperwork. We also showed them our Experian credit history and hoped they counted it. We also didn't have a guaranteer, so we were going to need to pay more up front to put their mind at ease. We ended up paying 4 months rent up front, plus a 2-months' security deposit. That was enough to alleviate their fears. We also needed to add some additional language to the lease to protect us as well. So we added a "diplomatic" clause that basically says if we are forced to leave the country for reasons outside of our control, we can terminate the lease with enough notice. We also needed to make sure we only paid for HOA expenses related to building maintenance, not upgrades. The current tenant who showed us the apartment kindly warned us that the HOA had just voted to upgrade the building's heating system, so we didn't want to get stuck with that bill. As you can imagine, all of this took several days to iron out, between us contacting a lawyer, updating the lease numerous times, some negotiating, etc. Again, I'm glad we were able to get it signed before someone less "difficult" took it. 

You're probably thinking, enough jibber jabber already, let's see the apartment! This is the main living room/dining room with a patio that faces west. So it will get some nice afternoon sun. 

Master bedroom, with ensuite bathroom and walkin closet. In total it has 3 bedrooms, and 2.5 baths, (not including the service bed and bath), so we will have a designated guest bedroom for anyone who wants to come visit! We did not rent it furnished, so all this stuff will be gone when we move in.

Kids' room.

Master bath. As promised, it's not updated, but it's not awful either.

Also as promised, a galley kitchen with the loggia (laundry room) at the back. This galley kitchen was wider than most though. 

There is a second patio that all 3 bedrooms have sliding doors out onto. This looks east, so it will get nice morning sun, but will hopefully be cooler in the afternoon. Our current Airbnb is oriented this way, and it's nice to be able to try to cool the bedrooms down without the afternoon sun blasting in. This place doesn't have A/C, so we'll be doing our best. 

One of the best parts about it is the location. It is a 12 min walk or 3 min bike to the boys' school. It's also walking distance to a Nikkei restaurant (that's Peruvian/Japanese fusion, which is my new favorite), a tennis school, and a bus stop. Just want we wanted. Overall, rent is $1,400/month, and about $400/month for HOA fees and utilities, so we're right on budget. Look at us staying on budget. 

Drew and I went out to dinner for sushi to celebrate. We got $40 worth of sushi, and it was so much, we couldn't finish it all! For anyone who has ever eaten sushi with Drew, you will know this is quite a feat. Now on to furniture!