Where are you lodging?

By far my least favorite question for these last few weeks. In embarking on a search for an apartment in Accra, I was warned early on that finding a 1BR would be tough (most people live at home with their parents or relatives). The hunt has been grueling. Two colleagues offered studio style apartments attached to each of their houses. The first one I saw smelled like a pile of dead monkeys sitting in the sun, had 3 huge and terrifying dogs, and another room attached to the one that would be mine that the owner explained would have "people coming in and out of there"... umm. It's also located in East Legon, a neighborhood just past the airport. This is only about a 20 minute drive from my office, but with traffic (which is ALWAYS) it turns into a 1.5 hr daily commute. The second place was nice, a little studio with a bed, bathroom, kitchenette, etc on its own off of my colleague's house. But again it's far, in Sakumono, a neighborhood that’s over 2 hrs away with traffic! As much as I appreciated their offers, I was desperate to find something closer to central Accra.

Last night I met with Ato, a new employee at my real estate agent's firm (it was literally his first day, he was so nervous!). After a number of misunderstandings, battling traffic and picking up two of his bumbling friends/business partners along the way, we made it to an apartment in the East Cantonments neighborhood. The place was really quite nice and once furnished, should be awesome. A few other expats live in and out of the place, and right outside the compound is a dress maker (yes!) and hair dresser (double yes!), so I made a verbal commitment right on the spot.

Went to the real estate agent’s office today to figure out some details. I left a little early expecting traffic (but there wasn’t any because of Independence day). So we’re scheduled to meet at 11:30am. I get there at 11:15am, and then after a few “I’ll be there in a few minutes” find myself waiting in the blazing sun for over 1hr. He finally gets there and exclaims that his watch is wrong; he even has the audacity to come over and show me his watch, incorrectly set at 11:25am which I found particularly insulting. Let’s also note that he arrived in a taxi cab – this being the man I’ve been calling “Mr. Della” and thinking that he was some hot shot agent that would roll through in a beamer. Instead he came in a broke down cab, fumbled for change and had a "busted" Fossil watch. To make matters worse, he sits down next to me in the blazing sun to wait for someone else who will actually let us into the building (what?). At this point we start discussing a few of the terms – he at first asks for me to pay all of the rent up front. That’s like $6,000. I scoffed and said no way, who does that! I'll pay month-to-month. He then also said his cut was 10%, which I agreed to. But he tried to say it was 10% of all 6 months’ rent. I again scoffed and said that’s preposterous, I’ll give him 10% of one month… he agreed without hesitation, which actually made me very nervous. He went from asking for a $600 commission to accepting $100 with no fight. Whatever. They also want the deposit (2 months rent which will be used to furnish the place) up front and in cash because “they don’t do credit cards”. After making a few phone calls and hashing out all the terms I left so excited about having a new apartment! I became riddle with doubt until I actually began relaying this situation to a friend who said “this sounds like a scam”. Believe it or not, it was the first time that the thought had crossed my mind. So… it may be a scam. But, I don't have a bad feeling about it, and it does seem legit despite a few of the inconsistencies (I chalk it up to being Africa).I know I’ll just have be super careful about where the deposit is going, getting documentation, and will have a coworker come with me to sign the lease and pay.

Hopefully I really will have an apartment in a few days, and won't just be swindled out of $2100... Wish me luck.