Back to Berlin on House Hunters International

When we received an e-mail about being on House Hunters International, we thought it was spam. That's kind of a big deal and how would they have found our little blog among so many wonderful expats? But they did and yes, YES, we did want to be on it. And so we were.

Our Berlin Apartment Priorities 

• Price - I am tough about our budget. When we first moved to Berlin in 2007, we generally found studio sublets (aka 1 room in Berlin) for around 400 euro warm (meaning total costs including electricity/water & in our case, internet and TV). We had now upped the budget to below 600 warm.
  
• Neighborhood - We prefer Friedrichshain and the former east, but fierce competition had us searching further afield. In addition, Ian works at a kita in Pankow so somewhere close to the school was a plus.
• Transportation - Berlin is big so a U-Bahn or S-Bahn station close to the house was mandatory.
• Length of sublet - We're straight up tired of moving so the longer the better.
• Internet & Amenities - We aren't fancy, but we need that internet.
• Light & Airy - We like places that are light & bright and we don't have to look into our neighbors window. Balconies are my drug of choice.
• Accepts pets - At this point we are packing a bunny and a cat. I'd be happy to turn our home into an animal farm. Ian is resisting.
  

Why did you move back to Berlin?

"Because Berlin is one of the most exciting cities in the world."

"Because we weren't ready to be settled in Seattle. "

"Because we love being expats."

We got asked this question (and many more) over & over during the filming of our episode of House Hunters International. Set to air this Wednesday,

May 23, 2012 at 7:30 & 10:30 PM (West Coast time)

we are pretty sure we are going to look like smiling idiots that say things like "Wow!", "rain shower", and one really awkward "I love you". That doesn't mean we aren't excited.