House hunting England style

It couldn't be more different over here than it is back in Vancouver. I've been house-hunting for a couple of weeks now without any real finds...basically checking out certain areas, seeing if I could live there etc.

I finally found a flat that I liked last weekend and was considering putting in an offer but just before I did I thought I'd check the train website to make sure trains ran regularly. Great result - they go into a London station way too far from work so that apartment was out completely...and pretty much everything else in that area which sucks cuz it's the one area I'd love to live in!

Half of the time you go and see places the realtor goes with you and the other half of the time you go by yourself and the owner of the flat shows you around - something totally foreign to me.

They also have this thing they call a "chain" which you don't want to get involved in. If you put an offer in on a place but the owner of that place hasn't bought yet you get stuck in a chain and you pretty much have to wait until that person has found something so that you can get something. So instead of putting a completion date on the contract you just wait it out. That's why I'm only looking at places that are listed as "chain free" because you could end up moving in in 2 months or it could be 5 months - who knows!

Other than that it's not bad. I've decided to check train links before getting too excited about certain areas and just have to keep seeing places - soon something will pop up.

Will keep you posted.