House Hunters International!

During our first week at orientation, the housing office notified us that there is a waiting list for our rank and bedroom preference. They suggested that we should aggressively look in the economy and consider living off base. We took it as a sign from God and that he was giving us his blessing to live off base. Luckily, our sponsors lined up a couple of houses to check out that weekend. I told you that we have awesome sponsors!!

There are so many variables with looking for a house. Unfortunately, you will not find all that you want in one house, but you have to prioritize on what's most important.

Here was our checklist:
#1 - SAFETY and a GREAT LANDLORD/OWNER!!!
- Alarm in house (with a call to your cell and polizia)
- Potable water (water here can be questionable) so most landlords deliver water in bulk.
- Garage (with steel doors)
- Locks on all windows and doors (must be steel too)
- Gated entry into Parco and into your villa (2 separate gated entries)
- 4+ bedroom, 3+ bathroom
- Kitchen - what size stove (American or Italian), can the kitchen handle an American size refrigerator?
-Wash room - is there washer and dryer capabilities. What type of dryer can we have (gas or Italian type dryer). Most locals don't have dryers, because electricity it too expensive.
- Ceiling fans in every room
- Air/heat in every room (there's no central a/c here)
- Screens on windows
- Internet capability (yes, some families live w/o Internet)
- Enough power to sustain multiple appliances at one time (for example...washing a load, using the toaster and watching tv)
- School bus stop location
- Close to the NATO base
- Neighbors
- How may liters does the gas tank hold?
-110AC plugs are a plus!!!

Last but not least...SAFETY, SAFETY, SAFETY!!!! Is this Parco safe???


Ok, enough of the list...here are some of the houses we looked at....

House #1

4 bedrooms, 4 bathroom.
This house checked off most of the list. Two of the most important, safety and awesome landlord. Those were instantly checked off at this location.

 

 

House #2

This house screams "Italia!" and it is just across from the NATO base. It is a great location and the owner is great. The street is a little busy and it is a 3 bedroom.

 

Mamma Mia!! I can look out this window ALL day!

Small kitchen.

 

You can't beat this...it is so close to the base!!

 

 

House #3

This house was a longer drive to/from base (2 miles). The rent was more negotiable. It's a 3 bedroom.

 

House #4

I didn't take pictures of this one because my mind was already set on what house I wanted. However, I thought this was a nice feature!

 

 

 

Well, that's all I have. We didn't see many houses because the town we selected is small. I am happy with our choice. Tune in for what we picked!!!