But, in true AIMS ("Am I Missing Something?") fashion, we are still keeping our feelers out there, and we are particularly feeling one amazingly awesome apartment that has its own SKY LOUNGE!
The apartment belongs to a friend of one of Ian's colleagues, but I'm not sure that connection helps us at all: Mr. Sky Terrace is trying to sell his furniture in a quid pro quo kind of way (read: extortionist kind of way), and we are not prepared to pay the 13,600CHF he's asking for! Our awesome housing agent, Nele, is going to see what she can do, but the answer is probably not much... If, by some miracle, the Sky Lounge does become ours, we will have to pay a 150CHF penalty for breaking the Rossligasse contract, but that seems a better investment in sky-lounging than does 13,600CHF for lame-o "designer" furniture.
And, we must remember that Rossligasse 3 is grrrreat! It is also the only apartment in the city centre that fits our requirements...and we got picked for it! Still, the Sky Lounge beckons... We're thinking about appropriate bribes for Mr. Sky Lounge, and we may be back to ask your advice.
Where is the Sky Lounge apartment? Is it as good an area? How high in the air is Sky Lounge - i.e. will it be too windy to sit out much of the time? What will the lounge be like in the summer? Can you sell the furniture?
ReplyDeletePS We know some people in London with a 3rd floor patio. It's, as they would put it, 'simply divine'.
ReplyDeleteThe sky lounge does look great, but you have to compare the inside spaces independent of the outside space. Ian, you had a great deck on your Palmerston apartment, but think about how often you used it. Okay, probably a fair bit considering it was covered in snow for half the year, but if the sky lounge apartment has a bad kitchen or wonky bathroom or is noisier, that may rule out the benefits of the lounge. And it does look great, and I agree with your Mom, you could probably sell the furniture.
ReplyDeleteI just did the conversion on 13,500 CHF. Is he crazy? Is this furniture made of platinum? It does look tempting, but sometimes a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
ReplyDeletewho cares about furniture? A sky lounge is awesome...unless it rains a lot there?
ReplyDeleteThe Sky Lounge apartment is very close to Rossligasse 3. The neighbourhood is very nice (if touristy...which is giving us some pause), and supremely close to the main train station.
ReplyDeleteThe apartment is on the 5th foor (6th in Canada), making the Lounge itself the 7th (Canadian) floor. It wasn't super windy when we checked it out at sunset-ish, but I suppose it could get a bit breezy. The climate is fairly similar to Toronto's in terms of temperature and rain; I think we'd use the Lounge a lot.
Matt, you make excellent points, but (un?)fortunately the inside is also totally awesome -- fireplace! renovated kitchen and bathroom! -- so there is no trade off to consider.
Except, of course, for the furniture. I'm not sure if we could sell his stuff...certainly not at 90% of the purchase price, which is what he is trying to do! Our hope is that nobody will want to buy it, and we, in buying patio furniture, will be the next best thing.
Matt, I know where you're coming from. But I think there's a big difference between the Palmerston balcony and this Sky Lounge which seems more functional and obviously gets way more sun (the wind, notwithstanding). Regardless, it would be seasonal usage. It also depends on how much time you think you're going to be able to spend up there based on your schedules. We had a wicked patio on Dupont but didn't use it nearly as much as we could have. Granted, we used it far more in the beginning.
ReplyDeleteIt's obviously not worth considering the furniture and I think any decision you make should be on the living space and location alone.
And there's the small matter of the price...
ReplyDeleteSky Lounge is 500CHF/month more expensive than Rossligasse 3. We back-of-the-napkinned a budget last night over some beers, and the results were not particularly pretty. We've ruled out a car for now (and/or forever), but still!
The whole equation changes if I get a job, though. But first, there's that whole "learning German" thing...
I See
ReplyDeleteTrying again
ReplyDeleteAh, the difference in rent. Now that does change things a bit. An extra 6000 CHF a year would surely be handy for trips around the continent (where you can sit outside on a beach in Spain), to say nothing of trips home.
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