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@radiobrendan
We’ve all had our ‘horror’ stories when renting rooms, especially in shared accommodation — those of us who have to endure such things, that is. In a (slowly) developing city such as Bogotá, less-than-positive experiences in this regard are perhaps more commonplace than in other places. Finding a decent abode at a reasonable price for what’s on offer can be quite a chore.
Such efficiency: wash your clients’ hair whilst preparing your breakfast/lunch.
Indeed, in this day and age, some lodgings should never be made available for rent to the general public. What’s more, some people just shouldn’t be landlords/landladies. It’s that second point which chiefly concerns us here.
Basically, in the early months of this year this writer had the displeasure of renting a room from a woman who wants all the benefits of being a landlady but accepts pretty much none of the responsibilities.
Fair enough, it was always going to be a temporary solution, yet the initial trappings that came with the lofty monthly rent of $600,000 COP gradually disappeared during the rather painful two-month stay.
You had a table and chairs taken from the communal area, the place where we’d eat and work as there were no desks in the rooms (and who wants to eat food in a window-less room in any case?). This was done without prior warning, the house owner’s standard practice as we came to learn.
She also left us without a washing machine for a number of days. A replacement was eventually installed, but one that was quite temperamental.
Despite numerous reminders, bathroom leaks went unfixed — all this at a time when the government was pleading, and continues to plead, conservation.
I managed to find alternative accommodation shortly after the communal table went AWOL. For my friend who also stayed there the agony continued for another month; and things got worse.
The landlady regularly promised to get another table and chairs, but such utterances were about as empty as her stomach is large — let’s just say her girth is of some size.
The point of no return for my mate was the arrival of a couple from the Dominican Republic — who were put up in the garage — and the changes made around the house to accommodate them.
Apparently, the woman in that relationship is a hairdresser and obviously plans to start her profession from the garage-cum-studio apartment. ‘Obviously’ is used here because a sink for washing hair was installed in the kitchen (see photo above) — yes, in the communal kitchen where people prepare their meals, ‘conveniently’ placed beside the microwave. ‘Would you like a wash and microwave dry today?’ Wonderfully hygienic that.
It’s probably fair to say this isn’t legal, but if it means the landlady earns some more money, that’s the most important thing for her. To heck with standards and regulations.
It must be pointed out that the owner and her family also live in the house, on the second floor. The thing is, they rarely use the facilities as, get this, they own a hotel nearby and spend most of their time there. One can only hope that Casa Fratelly — the name of the hotel, one to avoid perhaps — is a little bit more organised and well-kept. Or maybe our esteemed landlady took lessons from the ‘Basil Fawlty School of Hotel Management‘, and, um, ‘improved’ upon them.
Whatever the case, pity the poor soul who next takes up residence in Bogotá’s house of pain.
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I’m sorry Brendan you had to live something like that. I agree with you about who can be a landlord/landlady. It’s not like maria361912 says. You can indeed find better accomodations for that money. It’s not always about the amount, but about the care a person puts into hosting someone. It can be the ugliest neighborhood, but you can always provide better. I had a similar issue in Jerusalem and in London. Maybe Maria needs to travel a little more, even inside our boundaries. She will see the good and the bad.
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Indeed Alberto; you sum it all up well!
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What has any of this emigration and imigration got to do with landlords and accomodation?… it seems just like just an oportunistic way to change the subject onto a racist rant… in this day and age we should be breaking down boarders not erecting them
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…and finally, my point being, far from sny xenophobic rant, that Dublin would be a different city if all those Irishmen had’t emigrated to the U.S. but had instead all gone to Dublin. Cheers.
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Hi Fernando. I certainly agree on the tax shortfall here. Or at least not seeing any meaningful return on the taxes that you pay, the burden of which generally falls the most, relatively speaking, on the higher working classes & middle classes (that also brings me back to this previous post: http://bit.ly/1y8MkY1).
As for emigrating Irish people, the reality, although successive governments might like to say otherwise, it’s been a helpful ‘policy’ over the last century when the home economy has been struggling (which is more often than not!). That and the fact that many Irish seem pretty predisposed to the idea of taking flight.
Cheers for comments by the way!
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…a situation which all who live here pay in high prices and low quality standards.
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Dear b.c., this brings us to a touchy and rarely explored aspect of Bogotá: it’s practically the sole taxpayer of the country, while it gets shortchanged in tax-allocation by the nat’l gov’t, but bearing the brunt of economic ir politically displaced immigration, for which it gets no compensation.
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Part 2 of 2: On the other hand, what seems to be lacking in your situation is a legal renting contract, which establishes rights and respinsibilities for both landlord and tenant.
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You’re right on this one Fernando. The thing is, for various reasons of late, short-term rentals have been more desirable for me. Thus, the arrangements are generally more informal. Yet that shouldn’t mean people try to take advantage and treat you worse than a street dog. A bit of common decency please. Thankfully I have that in my new abode.
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What a cliché-ed post, regardless of your particular situation (…a slowly developing city…). Check the stats for turn-of-the-century (that is, 116 years ago) Bogotá and Dublin, and you’ll remember why Bew York or Boston got choke-full of Irish.
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Well Fernando, thankfully the scenario portrayed above hasn’t been a cliché for me in Bogotá. Yes, I’ve been in some mediocre places but I have never had to deal with a landlady like the one described above. If it is a cliché, more’s the pity for the city.
As for the development of Bogotá, plenty would agree that it could be so much better if money was used more wisely and the place better managed (http://bit.ly/1zMB7gC).
And yes, the eastern seaboard of the US (as well as many other locations) did take in lots of Irish, and continues to do so. In the likes of Boston and New York that Irish influence has played a major, positive role in the development of the United States. They came a long way from the days of signs saying ‘No blacks, no dogs, no Irish’.
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Well said Beforechrist….
First of all… How elequently put Maria you do obviously have the airs of a Gomela… there are great places for much cheaper… but the offensive words you use and way of puting things is a bit more Ñera, no? What was the need for the offence there!… Brendan, maybe it’s a question of neighbourhood… perhaps think of another area.
In relation to the “Shut up” and “leave my country”… the fact that you live in a country “ajeno” means that the good outweighs the bad for you… but it certinly doesn’t forbid you from criticizing… wthout criticism what changes… it’s healthy… it pushes reform…. and Brendan is a journalist after all… it’s kind of his job!
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Sorry irish man. What did you expect for a 600 COP? I don´t say the lady who rent is the best one, but if you want to live in a better place, put your hand inside your pocket and pay a fair rent, according to your life style.You, poor soul and your friends have two choices: live as you like but if you don´t want to spent in rent SHUT UP and asume the kind of place you choose. If not, I invite U to leave my country and go back to yours ASAP and stop talking sh….. about Colombia.
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So friendly Maria. You must be a gomela, because $600,000 COP can get you much, much better accommodation than what the place described here turned out to be. Right now I’m paying $500,000 COP for a much nicer place . I have a friend who pays around $600,000 COP for his own, MODERN apartment with two bedrooms and a big terrace area in Santa Isabel. You probably aren’t aware of such barrios. Good luck with your privileged gomelo lifestyle; some of us, such as the majority in this country, don’t exactly have millions of pesos to throw around in a casual fashion.
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