Doing the deal

Em has been working hard on her first tender which is due on Monday (and also the reason she hasn't had time to blog). Meanwhile, i've spent a couple of days checking out houses & apartments with some local real estate agents. I approached two agents who both spoke excellent English and drove me round to check places out. I think I maybe looked at 20 in total, some houses, some apartments mainly in the BKK1, Chak Tomuk, Tonle Basak & Russian Market areas. I saw a few houses which had live in maids and were enormous (think high ceilings, ceiling fans, blinds, verandas and dark wood everywhere...very colonial). I soon realised though that as we both only had one bag each with us, an apartment was the right choice.

The very first place I saw was really nice, a brand new 2 bed apartment on the second floor of a small block in Chak Tomuk, close to Em's work. The irony is that after viewing another 20 or so, it's the one I ended up taking.

Doing the deal was a good insight to Khmer culture. I'd already negotiated and agreed the rent with the real estate agent (apparently I paid a bit too much but it's hard to know this stuff when you're straight off the boat) so it was just the formalities to take care of. Cash is king here, so I was picked up by the real estate agent with a wad of $50 notes burning a hole in my pocket. We arrived at the landlady's house at the bottom of the block which was very posh. She only speaks Khmer & French so I made a minor fool of myself attempting some schoolboy french. I removed my shoes (customary when going into someone's house) and went inside. The landlady's sister and her friend also arrived so there were now 5 of us seated around a low table. The landlady brings out water for everyone. The signing of the contracts ensued with every detail being highlighted and discussed (with the real estate agent translating for me). I have to say the whole experience was very open, transparent and business like and the formality lends it an assuring weight. The entourage then proceeded upstairs to check everything in the flat together. So there it is, we have an apartment and we move in on Saturday. Here are a few mugshots from the real estate website to give you an idea :-



For anyone house hunting in Phnom Penh, I can definitely recommend both Zone Real Estate and Bonna Realty Group. English speakers can ask for Rithy or Salen respectively. Bonna also have a great website where you can search for properties http://www.bonnarealty.com. Best advice I can give is negotiate hard !