Finding a place to live in Guadalajara

Finding a place to live in Guadalajara
April 25, 2011
By: Gina Roman




“Semana santa” – lent was very quiet since school was out last week and this week so I wanted to take advantage of this time and relax and really take an entire week off. Many times taking time off is almost impossible due to the nature of my work, working as a freelance can have its advantages but there are many disadvantages as well.

I was already thinking what I was going to do with all this time off when my landlady dropped by unexpectedly last week to let us know that her son is moving into this place at the end of May.
Oh Lord, Here we go again! Moving can be a very unpleasant experience as they have a very funny way of handling things.
Things don’t work like they do in the U. S., people don’t get their crédit checked. That would make everyone’s life a lot easier but unfortunately they are a bit behind in some things.

What they do instead is they ask for an “aval” or “fiador,” which means a Guaranty, backing, a bail, a countersignature or pledge to pay someone else’s debt.

Basically they want a property owner having his/her property completely paid off.
It is illogical to find a property owner in the first place and in the second place, someone who has their property paid off. It is out of question. I totally agree the fact that they aer skeptical about everyone and that they want to avoid getting screwed out but sometimes they over do it.

Last weekend I checked out some websites and took a stroll around this neighborhood and some surrounding areas, I jotted down some phone numbers and made some calls today. Today I checked out three places and one of the houses I checked out was a lot more expensive than what I can afford but the owner was very polite and she sounded very interested even though I don’t have an “aval.” The problem is that the rent is almost double than what I am paying now and she’s asking for three months rent plus one month’s deposit.

Right now as I type I am stressing out BIG time as I don’t know what approach to take. I don’t like losing control over things that is why I love my career and work because that and my actions are the only things I can have control over. That and my lifetime plan. What do I do now? Get my butt off my bed, workout, continue juggling all my activities Pray and have faith because there is an answer and a solution for absolutely everything. I am pretty sure that a month from now I’ll be looking back and thinking about all these stressful moments and I’ll let out a big sigh of comfort.