We chose....

#2!
The town of Garching is adorable. The apartment is bright and sunny, but most importantly is a block from the subway connecting us to the city.

Here are pictures that I took on a very misty morning:

House Hunters International: Northern Munich

Here are three of the apartments that we were choosing from. 

Apartment #1: Eching

2 Bedrooms

105 sqm

980 Eur/Mo

Commute: 32 Mins (Bus to a Train) or 49 Mins (Bus), 11 Mins (Car)

This apartment is HUGE. It is a former office space, so the rooms are a bit strange (i.e. there is a spot where you tell there used to be a door). It is located next to an auto repair garage, but supposedly, there is no noise. It is set back from the road and is in a "pastoral" area. There is a door that leads to the garage that can not be opened. The kitchen is small, but brand new and included. The floor is laminate and also brand new. There is a spot for a washer and dryer in the bathroom.

Apartment #2: Garching

2 Bedrooms

76 sqm

808 Eur/Mo

Commute: 10 Minutes (Bus or Train), 8 Minutes (Car)

This apartment is a decent size. It is located in a large building (8 floors). It is on the 3rd floor. There are two elevators. The apartment is sunny and bright. The kitchen is available for sale from the previous tenant. The floors in the bedrooms and living room are laminate, but is tile in the hall and kitchen. There is room for a washer and a dryer in the kitchen. The apartment has two balconies. No good pictures because I found it in the newspaper. This is a generic picture of Garching.

Apartment #3: Ismaning

2 Bedrooms

90 sqm

1039 Eur/Mo (including parking space rent)

Commute: 33 Mins (On 2 Buses) or 46 Mins (Bus to Train), 16 Minutes (Car)

Lovely, large apartment in a quiet area of Ismaning. The apartment has a nice view. It faces south west and has a balcony. It comes with a kitchen. It has space for a washer in the kitchen. The floors are parquet. It has a large front hall including a guest toilet. It is in a large building on floor 5 of 7. Viewing this apartment is interesting as the current owner has 3 kids (including twins), and there is stuff everywhere!

Which do you think we picked?

Exchange

This is an actual chart of what the Euro has done since we've been here.

All that I can say is, "Ouch!" :(

In other news, we have procured an apartment. It has been an incredibly blessed process. Look at these stats:

-# of 3 Rm Apts on the Market in the Target Area: 6

-# of Apts in our Price Range: 3

-# of Apts with Provision*: 5

-Normal # of Applications before Procuring an Apartment: ~20

*A provision is a fee that you pay to a real estate agent because they are handling it. It is normally 2.38 times the rent. Yes, so if your rent is 1000 Euro, you pay 2380 Euro to some guy for nothing.

Here are our apartment stats:

-Right number of rooms

-Well below what we thought we were going to pay

-NO provision!!!

-First application submitted

-Bigger than our current apartment and bigger or same size as other 5 apts.

Amazing!!! I have scoured the listings on many, many websites and papers since October. The listing for our apartment came up just a few days after I arrived here in Germany started looking. I quickly realized that it was a diamond and immediately called and went and looked at it. Since then, everything has gone smoothly. I will post pictures shortly. We'll start the moving process sometime next week.