House hunting golden dragon rules

I have now become an expert in house hunting. First of all location is not necessarily the main requirement here as opposed to the UK where proximity to the station could command easily an extra 20% in the asking price. Here it is all about what the new best thing is. In fashion today are frosted glass, merbau floors, stone worktops, terraces and ovens doubling up as microwaves. This means that some of the new developments are absolutely stunning though getting to them is a hike. With cost and maintenance of cars so high one wonders why having easy access to transport is not considered to be a mega plus.

Being Londoners at heart we decide to defy fashion , also known as we do not have the budget for the newest thing, and opt for the older best thing. Budget aside, older developments offer more for your money as they tend to be bigger in size. These new condos are beautiful but the size of the rooms is abysmal. Maybe because the are all so tiny here but it is considered to be a luxury to offer a master bedroom the size of match box with a bed my adorable niece would not be able to fit her teddy bear in.

It is also difficult to get the estate agents to understand this issue and only when I lay on the floor with my head touching one wall and my feet touching the opposite do they get a feeling of what I mean. But then they smile happily and tell me I could knock down the outside wall and extend the room into the huge terrace. The idea is not silly at all but clearly it would just be easier to build homes with a proper room and reduce the 70 square meter terrace to something a little more reasonable.

In any case I spend my days phoning estate agents and viewing flats weeding out the absurd ones and then presenting the best to Max.

Unfortunately I lack the gift of seeing past the current state of these flats and I require all my strength to visually remove the clutter, the red and golden drapes hanging from the ceiling, masses of little ceramic cats lifting their left or right paw representing good fortune, happiness and money, paper dragons and red lanterns. I need to think minimalistic, clear lines and white walls.

The choice of shoes is essential during viewings, not only because of the miles one will walk to do 4 viewings a day but also because it is respectful to remove shoes before entering somebody's home so fumbling on the floor with shoe laces is not dignified. This means that all the shoes are kept outside the home and as long as there is a shoe rack to keep them in order I think it is a very good idea....less floor cleaning for me.