New Cali Home

About two weeks ago I moved out of my mom's house (temporary home base for the last 18 months) and into a new apartment with my partner. I'm so relieved to have found a place that is safe, decent, near public transportation, and - major bonus - full of natural light and high ceilings. Truly a gem in the middle of a lot of crappy options. I am still pinching myself that 1) this place exists, and 2) we got it!!!

The housing situation in the Bay Area is competitive, restrictive, and depressing to say the least. It is SO EXPENSIVE and honestly what you get for your money is pitiful in most cases. Here's a sampling of some of the places we looked at in our search:

Apartment 1: Located in the Outer Richmond in San Francisco (read: cold and foggy and not on the BART line, so one of the more "affordable" places in the city). $2,200/month for a studio consisting of a converted garage with one tiny window, a tiny bathroom, a double burner hotplate and a mini-fridge "kitchen", and a murphy bed that pulled down from the wall. Nope!

Apartment 2: Located one block away from Lake Merritt in Oakland, seemingly a great spot but this is an area where the neighborhood can vary vastly from one corner to the next. This was on one bad corner that's for sure! I understand why there were no photos of the outside of the place on Craigslist. As we approached there was a lady in panties and a fishnet top with her boobs hanging out walking into the liquor store on the bottom floor of the building. Across the street was a parking lot full of dudes loitering and heaps of trash. After a few minutes the lady came out of the liquor store and plopped down on her mattress on the opposite corner of the street, put on some headphones, and started smoking a joint. Next to the liquor store was an establishment that was operational, had a street number, but all the windows were blacked out and there was no identifying sign of what was going on in there. Not good. The inside of the unit had been completely remodeled and that, plus the fact that my partner's school is nearby and I often run at the lake, is what had attracted us initially. We never even made it inside, sending a polite email to the listing agent saying it just wasn't the right spot for us. Cost? $2,000/month for a 2 bedroom (600 square feet). Right...

Apartment 3: Located in El Cerrito, adjacent to highway 80. $1,950/month for a 2 bedroom plus one month free rent if you signed a 16-month lease. Totally new interior, new appliances, looked really lovely...but surely there must be a catch at that price, and why on earth would anybody offer a signing bonus here in the landlord's paradise?? Sure, the place was right next to the freeway's sound barrier wall, and the neighborhood was older and pretty humble, but what could be the issue? All the bars on the windows of every house around? Maybe... The neighbor's yard full of pit bulls and rottweilers and neglected looking poodles, all on short chains, aggressively barking nonstop? Who knows. There were about 8 other couples waiting to see the place, and for us the paranoia that something was fundamentally wrong to offer the place at that price was too much. Next!

Thankfully, by some great Craigslist miracle, we stumbled across our current place and managed to make a deposit and get in an application before they could show it to anyone else. You have to act fast here, that's for sure. I feel much like I did back in Maputo, where we had an excellent apartment at a price that we were afraid to disclose less someone show up at the landlord's door and make a higher offer. At least here in California there are binding leases and what not, although I shudder to think what will happen when it comes time to renew and most certainly the amount will be adjusted up according to "current market value".

There's a high price to pay to live in the Bay Area, and it's only getting harder. I've definitely thought about moving somewhere else over the last 18 months, and even did some (fruitless) job applications in places as diverse as Houston, Chicago, and Washington DC. But seemingly it's in the cards to be here for the near future, which makes me happy, as this Cali life is pretty incredible and I'm excited for this new chapter to kick off in our new apartment.

Finding Short-Term Housing in Maputo

Even though it's been two-and-a-half years since we lived in Maputo, I still get several requests per month from people planning trips there and wanting advice on how to find short-term housing. This was a tricky proposition when we lived in Mozambique (2005-2009) and I imagine it's only become more difficult as the expat population grows, gas and oil discoveries abound, and rental prices skyrocket.

Without being totally up-to-date on Maputo life these days, I base my advice on a few assumptions, namely:

1) I believe the already inflated rental prices in Maputo have increased significantly since we lived there. Expect to pay a premium for any place that is available.

Rico and I had a 2-year renewable lease on our apartment (good location across from Hotel Terminus/Vila Algarve, street parking, crappy building with water problems, 3-bedrooms, nice natural light, beautiful wood floors, totally outdated bathroom and kitchen, lots of "character", several repairs needed) and paid US$550 per month. We never told people how much we paid in rent because it was a fantastic deal (especially for expats) and we were afraid someone would turn up and offer our landlady double the money and she'd kick us out. We did a lot of repairs and upgrades to the place (replaced the water heater, put in a separate water system for the apartment, painted everything, bought new furniture that we left behind, etc.) so I guess in the landlady's eyes it was worth the low rent because we had a long-term contract, didn't cause any problems, and fixed up her flat so she could get a lot more money for it when we left.

When Rico and I moved away, friends took over our lease and agreed with the landlady to up the rent to US$800 per month. This was in late 2009. I haven't heard what happened after that, but I'd say it's safe to guess that the apartment would easily rent for US$1,500 per month now, if not more.

The nice 3-bedroom flats in the high rise buildings on Av. Julius Nyerere used to rent for US$2,500 to US$3,000 per month back in 2009. I'd imagine they go for around US$4,000 to US$4,500 now.

A fantastic house in Sommerchield with 4 bedrooms and a pool used to go for US$3,500 to US$4,000 in 2009. I wouldn't be surprised if those types of houses are now rented for US$5,000 and up.

I suppose an easy way to check would be to look at the classifieds on Club of Mozambique...

2) I doubt there have been any improvements in the ease of finding short-term rentals. I think a lot of housing is still found informally, through word-of-mouth, especially if you are looking for something less than a one-year lease.

Much of my advice to people looking for a short-term lease or to find a roommate situation is to rely on social networks. This can mean hitting up your Facebook friends to see if someone knows someone with a room for rent in Maputo. You can try Couchsurfing and see if there's a sofa available for you for a couple weeks.

If your trip is sponsored by an academic institution, see if they have any contacts with university housing or students in Maputo who would have a room to rent. If your trip is to volunteer with an NGO or a branch of the UN, see if they can give you names of previous volunteers and email or call them to see what their strategy was for housing.

3) It's easier to find a place once you are in Maputo rather than before your trip. That said, Murphy's Law rules, and you should definitely have a backup plan in case you aren't able to find an apartment or roommate situation while in Maputo.

I often recommend to people that they plan to stay in a hotel or backpacker's for the first few weeks on the ground, so they can have a chance to meet people and network and potentially check out a couple of places in person. Ideally you will find something decent and relatively quickly. However, you might not, and it's important to think about the possibility of staying at a cheap hotel or backpacker's for the duration of your trip if necessary. 

You might try to negotiate long-term rates with some of these establishments: Fatima's Backpackers, the Base Backpackers, Hotel Africa (multiple locations throughout the city), Hotel Terminus (more expensive, but very nice and conveniently located), Hotel Monte Carlo.

And now a request for anyone who has moved to Maputo within the last three years and tried to find short-term housing. What was your experience like? Where did you end up staying? How did you find a place? How much did you pay? 

If you would kindly share any information in the comments, it would really help out the next round of travelers who are trying to figure out short-term accommodations as I am definitely out of the loop these days. Thanks in advance! 

Suggestions for Finding Housing in Maputo

I get many emails from readers who are planning a move to Maputo and wondering how on earth one goes about finding a place to live in this city. It can certainly be a challenge, as the market is very inflated, there are few formal real-estate agencies (and the ones that do exist are primarily geared toward letting the high-end properties), and it can be difficult to navigate the house-hunting process if you don't speak Portuguese.

That said, here are my suggestions for finding a place to rent in Maputo.

1. Go to the Club of Mozambique website (www.clubofmozambique.com). In general, this site is a great resource for all things Moz. They also sponsor several online publications/newsletters that feature classifed ads. You can find the link to the whole array under the menu tab "Publications". You can also register on the site and browse their classifed section - occasionally people advertise places for rent, or post announcements that they are looking for roommates, etc.

2. Try to do some research regarding what part of the city you want to live in. I realize this is difficult since there aren't that many online resources regarding Maputo neighborhoods. Still, you can get an idea by visiting different parts of the city, reading blogs and talking to people who live here. Personally, I recommend Polana and Sommerchield. They are both nice neighborhoods, but you can find a mix of (relatively) affordable flats and larger, upmarket homes. There are also lots of shops and restaurants, and you can do many things on foot. Sommerschield II and Bairro Triunfo are two upper-end areas, both relatively new and primarily composed of massive, modern-style houses. Some areas are so new that the streets are not yet paved. You definitely need a car if you live in these neigborhoods. This is where a lot of the wealthy Mozambicans live, in addition to lots of Embassy housing, etc. If you are on a budget and don't mind living "student-style", you might consider a flat further up Av. 24 de Julho or Av. Eduardo Mondlane, in an area called Alto Maé. Coop is also a decent option.

3. If you are in Maputo (or can convince a friend here to act on your behalf), post a "Housing Wanted" flyer at some of the places around town that have community buletin boards, like Café Sol, Mundo's, SuperMare's supermarket, etc.

4. Ask taxi drivers if they know of any places for rent. This is obviously not a guaranteed option, and you have to have your "scam radar" set on high, but I've found that taxi drivers often have a foot in the real-estate market here and can give tips, especially for the more budget renter.

5. Work with a formal real-estate agency. I know Re/Max has representation here. There are a few other firms - some may be linked on the Club of Mozambique website or advertise in their publications. I believe there are a couple of real estate offices along Av. Julius Nyerere as well. Like I said, however, I have the distinct impression that these places cater to the upper end of the market. Essentially if you have a budget that is under US$1,500/month, I wouldn't really bother.

A few other tips:

- Most landlords require that you pay 3 month's rent up front.

- You will be very lucky if you have a landlord who pays for things to be fixed in your flat/home. Usually, if you want something repaired, the most efficient way is to pay for it yourself, then discuss the situation with your landlord and see if he is open to discounting a portion of the cost each month until whatever you fixed has been paid off. There is obviously a risk that you won't get reimbursed, but it's better - in my opinion - than living with a broken water pump or a problem toilet.

- Most contracts are in Portuguese. If you don't understand the language, get someone to help you translate the documents (even if just informally) so that you are aware of what you are agreeing to.

- The typical contract is for 2 years, although it's possible to get a contract for just 1 year. It is very, very difficult to get short-term housing in Maputo. Your best bet for housing under 1 year is to try and find someone already established here who is looking for a housemate. Either that, or stay in a hotel or a guest house depending on your budget.

- Most housing in Maputo is ultimately found by word-of-mouth. It is much easier to save a bit of cash and stay in a hotel for 2-3 weeks while you search for a place on the ground rather than try and secure something prior to moving here.

- Housing here is EXPENSIVE. You will have a difficult time finding a decent 2-bedroom apartment in a good neighborhood for less than US$800 per month. It is pretty much impossible to find a 2-bedroom house for less than US$1,500 per month. It is not at all uncommon for a new/remodeled 3-bedroom apartment to go for US$3,000 per month. A large, modern house with a yard and pool could easily go for US$4,500 per month.

- Do not be shocked by the exterior condition of the buildings in Maputo. Most apartment buildings look like absolute crap from the outside (and in the common areas inside). They desperately need a coat of paint, the stairwells are usually not properly illuminated, there are bars/gates on the outside of all the apartment doors, the elevator (if there is one) is ancient and makes you think twice about walking up 18 flights of stairs, etc. Once inside, however, the flats are usually quite nice, and most of the old places have beautiful hardwood floors and are full of light. The problem is that nobody wants to spend money to keep up the outer/common areas of the buildings.

Maputo residents...any other suggestions/tips??