Apartment Hunting

Early last week we started our search for an apartment (of “flat”) in Stellenbosch, the college town outside of Cape Town where David will be studying.  We thought we would have plenty to choose from since school doesn’t start for another two or three weeks but we soon learned that all the “good” flats are rented out in early December and the selection available now in the middle of January might be a little limited. The other limiting factor of our search is that we were looking for a furnished apartment. The real estate agents looked at us like we must be crazy to expect to find a furnished apartment this late in the game!

On Day 1 of our search we did find a furnished apartment just across the (busy) street from campus. It was a small, one bedroom apartment with one twin bed. Let’s just say it would have been quite a “cozy” year for the two of us. There was nothing spectacular about that apartment but it was clean and we felt like, if we had to, we could make it work.  But we wanted to keep looking.  We came back to our host family’s home a little discouraged and exhausted after our first day of searching. 

Day 2 of our apartment hunt started out just as discouraging with a couple of no-go apartment viewings and more real estate agents telling us they had nothing available that fit our criteria. Gavin, our host sponsor, and I stopped for a cup of coffee to try and figure out where to go next while David walked around hoping to find a “For Rent” sign on anything close by. He didn’t find an apartment but he did find another real estate agent who had a two bedroom furnished apartment for rent in Bosman’s Crossing. We came out to view it and fell in love within the first couple of minutes. It’s a little further out from campus and central Stellenbosch but we feel like we found the hidden gem that we were looking for. 

 

The exposed brick walls give this flat a loft feel and the modern furniture was a great surprise. The apartment came with a lot of the necessities like furniture, appliances, dishes, pots and pans but there are still a few things we would like to pick up to make it feel a little more homey.  

Bosman’s Crossing is a mixed-use development with commercial businesses, such as architecture firms, interior designers, and a little pastry shop that smells divine, on the ground floor and three floors of flats above. Just down the road is a wonderful Saturday Market with great crafts, clothes, fruits and vegetables and lots of great food available for breakfast or lunch. 

Now that we have our space, y’all come see us! We can’t wait to show you around!