Welcome to the Listening Time Podcast.
I'm Connor, and I hope you're all doing well today.
I'm a little bit under the weather.
I'm sure a lot of you have heard that expression before in English when we say that we're under the weather.
It just means that we're a little sick.
So I'm a little bit sick, and you might be able to hear that in my voice.
But I'm going to try to record this episode anyway because I want to keep my same rhythm of one podcast episode per week.
And I know that you all expect a new episode every Monday.
So I want to keep that rhythm and I want to make sure to record an episode, even if I'm a little sick.
The sound quality is still not the best.
I'm still waiting on my Wi-Fi in my new apartment.
I still don't have Wi-Fi and so I'm using my cell phone data.
But my data on my cell phone doesn't work very well in certain parts of my apartment, so I have to record this where the data works well, and unfortunately that's near the window and so you hear some noises from outside the window.
I apologize for that.
I hope that in the next episode I'll have better sound quality, because hopefully I'll have Wi-Fi and I'll be able to record in a part of my apartment that isn't so noisy.
But thanks for bearing with me and I hope that you appreciate that I'm still trying to record episodes, even if the sound quality isn't the best and even if I'm a little bit sick.
I still want to record episodes.
So in today's episode, we're going to talk about renting an apartment.
This is a topic that's on my mind because I just recently rented a new apartment, and so I thought it would be interesting to talk a little bit about that.
To be honest, I've never rented an apartment in the US as an adult, so I don't have much experience with that.
So most of what I'm going to be talking about is about renting an apartment in Mexico.
And before we get started, remember that you have access to the transcript for this episode in the episode notes.
So just go down to the episode notes and click on that link if you need the transcript.
And, of course, remember to sign up for our 1 listening practice seminars and share this podcast with anyone who might find it useful.
Alright, let's get started.
Are your ears ready?
You know what time it is... It's listening time!
Okay, so first of all, let's talk about searching for a new apartment.
So there are many different ways to search for an apartment nowadays.
I think maybe the number one way is through certain websites.
So, for example, in Mexico, there are probably four or five pretty big websites that people use to advertise their apartments and to search for apartments.
I think that in the US, these websites are even bigger and people use them even more.
Here in Mexico, people use them, but I think that a lot of people also prefer other methods as well.
For example, through Facebook.
Many people here use the Facebook Marketplace feature to find rentals near them.
So we did this when we were searching for this apartment.
We used Facebook Marketplace and I think, if I remember correctly, that's how we found this apartment.
So that was a good resource for us.
There's also the option of using a real estate agency.
These agencies are those that help you buy or sell or rent properties.
So if you contact an agency like this, they can tell you what apartments are available in the area and they can help you with your search.
And, of course, if you own an apartment and you want to rent it out to other people, these agencies are also helpful for you in that situation as well.
In English, when we use the term rent out for example, I'm renting out my apartment this means that I am the person who owns the apartment and I'm renting it to someone else, right?
The people that I rent it to are called the tenants.
So the tenant is is the person who rents the apartment, and I am the owner.
So if we say rent out, we're referring to renting the apartment to someone else.
If we just say the word rent, it usually means that you're the one who is renting from an owner.
So when you're searching for places, of course you can use real estate agencies, Facebook websites and also you can use the newspaper.
I know many people nowadays don't use or don't read physical newspapers anymore, but actually in places like Mexico you can still use newspapers to find apartments for rent.
That's actually how my wife and I found our first apartment in Mexico.
It was through a newspaper listing.
In English, when we use the word listing, we're referring to some type of advertisement for an apartment.
So if we say an apartment listing, We're talking about an advertisement for an apartment in a newspaper or online or on Facebook, etc.
So you can find apartment listings in the newspaper.
So that's another option that you have when you're searching for an apartment.
All right, now let's talk about prices.
So I'll just talk a little bit about some of the price differences that I've seen in apartments in the cities that I've lived in.
So in Guadalajara Mexico, where I spent the last four or five years or so, apartments are very cheap compared to the US, For example.
If you pay about 300 per month, you can get a decent apartment in a decent area.
And this apartment will probably have two or even three bedrooms and you probably have a good amount of space.
If you want to pay more, for example, if you want to pay like 700 or 800 dollars per month, you can live in a very good apartment.
You can live in a luxury apartment in some areas of the city.
And if you want to live in the best apartments in the city, you probably pay about 1000 1200, something like that.
And you can live really well in the city of Guadalajara.
So I miss those prices because now I live in Tijuana.
And here the prices are much higher.
I should say that if you live more on the outside of the city in Tijuana, the prices aren't that high.
They're more comparable to other Mexican cities.
But if you want to live in a good location, in a really centric location, you have to pay a lot.
So, for example, if you want an apartment that has three bedrooms and two bathrooms and you want to live in a good area of the city, you probably have to pay at least one thousand three hundred one thousand four hundred on average.
There are some places that are cheaper than that.
If you're fortunate enough to find a place like this, you should definitely take advantage of that and rent that place, because there aren't many places that are cheaper than that price in the good areas.
So I'm fortunate because we found this apartment, which is much cheaper than a lot of the other apartments that are the same size in the area.
And this apartment is well located and it has a good amount of space.
And so I'm happy.
So one other place I'll mention is Southern California, in particular San Diego.
I've never rented an apartment in San Diego, but I've checked the prices.
And usually, for example, if you want to rent just a one-bedroom apartment, just one bedroom and one bathroom, you usually pay at least 1200.
This is very expensive, of course.
You can find some places that are cheaper, but there aren't many.
Normally, one bedroom, one bathroom apartments are at least $1,200 in the decent areas of the city.
Of course, if you want to live in one of the bad areas of the city, I'm sure you can find places that are cheaper than this, but I'm talking in general about the decent places of the city.
In English, when we use the word decent, we're just saying good or good enough, or pretty good right.
If I say he's a decent golfer, I'm saying that he's a pretty good golfer.
He's not amazing, but he's pretty good.
So in San Diego, prices are very high.
If you want to rent a three bedroom, two bathroom apartment, it will probably cost you about 2000, I'm sure.
It's very expensive.
So those are some of the prices that I've seen in different cities that I've lived in.
Now, let's talk about furnished versus unfurnished apartments.
So, when an apartment is furnished, this just means that it has furniture.
It has a couch, it has beds, tables, etc.
And if an apartment is unfurnished, this means that it doesn't have furniture.
These words have different meanings in different countries, because in the US, for example, when an apartment is unfurnished, it almost always still has a refrigerator, an oven, a stove, etc.
Those basic appliances.
In English, when we use the word appliance in this situation, we're talking about those types of machines, right?
Fridge, microwave, stove, etc.
So in the U.S., unfurnished apartments still have these basic appliances.
But for example in Mexico, an unfurnished apartment usually doesn't have any appliances.
There's no refrigerator, there's no stove, there's no oven, nothing.
So when you rent an apartment like this, it's completely empty.
So this is a very different situation because you have to buy everything when you move into an unfurnished apartment in Mexico.
So there's a lot more work to do.
This apartment that I'm renting was unfurnished, but it actually had a stove.
I was a little bit surprised because, like I said, usually there isn't even a stove.
So one other thing that's very important, at least in Mexico, when looking for an apartment is which floor the apartment is on.
So most of the places that we were looking at were not on the first floor.
They were on the second floor, the third floor, the fourth floor.
And you might be thinking, well, that isn't really a problem, right?
Well, in Mexico, yes, because many of the apartment buildings in Mexico do not have elevators.
I would say that most of them don't have elevators.
So for example, in my apartment building, I think there are like five, six, seven floors.
I don't remember exactly, but there is no elevator.
So people have to climb up the stairs five, six, seven floors to get to their apartment.
For me, this is crazy.
I can't imagine doing that.
So it was very important for me to find an apartment on the first or second floor.
And so I found this apartment which is on the first floor.
So I'm very happy about that too.
One important note is that in British English, when you say first floor, you're actually referring to the floor that is above the ground.
It's above ground level.
We call the first floor in American English.
We call the first floor the floor that is at the same level as the ground.
But in British English, they call this the ground floor.
So if you're talking to a British person and you say first floor, they're going to assume you're talking about the floor above the ground level.
Whereas if you're talking to an American and you say first floor, they're going to assume you're talking about the lowest floor, that's level with the ground.
When we say that something is level with something else, we just mean that it's on the same level as that thing.
So for me it was very important to find an apartment on the first or second floor, because I knew that it would make our lives much easier.
Another thing when it comes to moving is having to move all of your stuff, all of your furniture, all the appliances, and getting all of that stuff inside your apartment.
This is also a headache.
In English, when we say that something is a headache, we're saying that something is very annoying, it's difficult, hard like that.
So it can be a headache to get all of your stuff into your new apartment.
Especially if you have to buy new stuff and you have to get it delivered to your apartment, because the people who deliver it come at different times in the day and so you don't know when they're going to come, and so you have to be home all day and it can be a little bit complicated.
So that was a little bit of a headache for us these last couple weeks, but we have almost everything that we need now.
And one other thing that's very important when it comes to renting an apartment is whether or not you're dealing with the owner directly.
When I say dealing with, to deal with someone, I just mean that you are negotiating and talking directly to the owner.
In Mexico, for example, if you deal directly with the owner, it's usually much easier to rent the apartment.
They have fewer requirements and the process is smoother.
In English, when we say that a process or something is smooth, we mean that there aren't many complications.
It's easy, it's smooth.
So when you deal directly with the owner of an apartment, the process is much smoother.
However, when you deal with a real estate agency, the process is always harder and it takes longer and there are more requirements and it's not fun.
We had to deal with real estate agencies here and it was a nightmare.
In English, when we say that something is a nightmare, we mean that something is horrible.
So it was a nightmare dealing with real estate agencies here because a lot of the agents aren't very responsible.
A lot of the agents don't call you back, they take a long time to do things and it's very annoying, and of course, they have a lot of strict requirements and so it's harder in general to rent an apartment or to to start renting an apartment when you have to deal with agents like that.
And they have a lot of strict requirements, and I think one of the reasons for that is because here in Mexico a lot of people are irresponsible when it comes to paying their rent or paying their rent on time.
So it's very normal here for people to have to ask the owner for an extension on their rent.
They have to ask the owner to give them an extra week, or something like that, to pay the rent, because they don't have the money yet.
So, of course, this can also be a headache for apartment owners.
So that's another reason why they have strict requirements when it comes to renting apartments, because they want to make sure that the tenant is able to pay the rent on time and has a steady income, etc.
In English, when we say a steady income, we just mean that you make money regularly, right?
You make money every month, you have a salary that will allow you to pay your bills.
All right.
Well, I'll stop there for today.
I hope this episode was interesting for you and I hope it was good practice for your listening.
Of course, remember that you have access to the transcript for this episode.
Just go down to the episode notes and click on the link there and you'll see the transcript.
And so it's always useful to use the transcript, and So I'm sure the transcript will be especially helpful for you with this episode.
So again, please share this podcast with anyone who might find it useful and help it grow.
I really appreciate all your support.
And I really appreciate the fact that you guys are tuning in every week and listening to all these episodes.
I really hope that this podcast is helping you improve your listening.
All right.
Well, thank you for listening to this episode.
And I hope you'll come back for episode 37 of the Listening Time podcast.
