The Golden Goose That Got Away

If you haven't seen a house hunting/ renovating show that declares you can't have it all, you can't check all your boxes, you will have to comprise; I'm guessing you're in the minority.

I'm telling you: they're wrong.

Apartment hunting in Guadalajara certainly has been a learning experience. No amount of pre-move research, no amount of contact making and local questioning can prepare you for the reality of house hunting in a foreign country, even a country you semi-know.

One day though, after tireless research, calls, walk-throughs, disappointments, and possibilities, I walked into the house I now call "The Golden Goose That Got Away."

This place indeed did have it all. It did indeed check all my boxes and more. It indeed didn't have any comprise I could find. It was a golden goose, once in a lifetime find. 

I tried that very day to get my paperwork in only to find someone else had already started the process the very same day. I was told if they didn't submit all their paperwork by the next Monday I could step into line. So I collected everything I was told to collect and double checked (with my Spanish interpreter) that the agency was okay with all the paperwork I did and didn't have. I was confirmed and reconfirmed that indeed, if I submitted the forms they emailed with the documents they requested, I'd be able to sign a lease for the apartment.

Immediately I collected, assembled, and submitted the requested paperwork and forms, verifying with my interpreter yet again that everything was done correctly so there would be no problems.

With my hopes and excitement soaring, I waited to hear my acceptance. 

That same afternoon I received a phone call from the agency. I still struggle with Spanish over a telephone so I gave the phone to my interpreter and learned everything I'd been told was false. The lady at the agency that had been working with me apparently didn't know what she was talking about and they couldn't rent to me as an American without all the other documents they hadn't requested. I offered 6 months up front. I offered to pay more rent per month. But the boss on the phone would not be swayed and I was denied flat out on my American status. 

I have searched in the weeks since and found nothing even remotely close. I didn't think I would. I already knew the market and the Golden Goose apartment was a once in a lifetime opportunity that I don't expect to have again. 

The thorn in my side is that the apartment is still listed for rent. No one else has it and I still can't have it. I will have to move on, but I now have a standard I hope to match one day again in another apartment. 

And now I know that all the television shows that tell you it's impossible to find that perfect place, are indeed, incorrect, because I did. I found the Golden Goose and it got away.