Is that the sun shining?

So last week I've been pretty down, recovering from the somewhat bad news I've received from Nokia. A lot was going on through my head, mostly over-thinking our plans and how they must change now. I was really worried that the unfortunate turn of events might endanger our entire project Sweden. The thought of letting my better half down nearly crippled me.

I'm feeling a lot better now. It took me about a week to start thinking optimistically again. My fiancé and I discussed our options a lot, and we have agreed to a plan that would allow us to move to Sweden - just. But then something great happened: Our apartment ad was answered and from the very start the offer looked very promising!

I'll just give you the highlights: The apartment is located near both Lund's tekniska högskola, where my wife-to-be will be attending classes and Ideon science park, where I still hope to find employment. It is a two-room apartment, giving us more space than we have now, but not so big that we would feel we are wasting our resources by staying there. And it is available for long-term rent, rented out directly by the owner.

We both feel that the apartment is a catch so we are making plans to rent it. We have seen pictures of it, now we are booking plane tickets to go see it in person, pay our deposit and collect the keys!

We will be flying to Lund on Monday, July the 8th, staying for four days. Hopefully we will get to rent an apartment, take care of some bureaucracy, get to know the city and of course meet some of you!

We won't be moving to Lund until the end of July and yes, that does mean we will be "wasting" one month's rent. But we have decided not to look at it that way: We are paying for the fact that we will have a roof over our heads as soon as we make our way to Lund. We feel such security, given the difficulty of finding housing in Lund, is worth the cost.

Needless to say we are very excited. We still need to find out what things can we take care of in those few days. I'd be very happy for any advice, especially from those of you who have moved to Sweden from abroad. Of course we would also like to explore the town and meet some of you for a cup of coffee or a pint of Sweden's finest. Please get in touch via Comments/Email/Google+

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Enter phase: Apartment hunt

Time is a scarce resource so I can't afford to stay
idle while waiting for news.

With my visit to Lund I have done everything I can regarding my job hunt and now all that is left is the waiting game. But since time is a scarce resource I have decided not to wait idly and have begun with the next important chapter in our story: Searching for the apartment in Lund!

Here in Slovenia apartments aren't really that problematic. They are expensive (especially in Ljubljana, our capital, where we live), but generally speaking there are plenty of apartments to go round. One might have to look for a while to find a flat that balances all the important factors (location, price and size), but shouldn't encounter too many difficulties.

We haven't given up hope:
we are looking for a flat in Lund!

The situation in Sweden (and especially in Lund) is a lot different. I have been told time and time again that finding an apartment in Lund is going to be a challenge. Some readers have even advised me to avoid searching in Lund altogether and focus my search in the surrounding areas or Malmö.

So far we haven't lost hope. I have replied to about 25 ads found on blocket.se to date and I have received 8 replies so far, most of them encouraging. At about 20% positive reply rate I am confident that we will manage to find something! And today I have posted an ad of our own and already got one reply. I think we will be all right!

If you are a landlord please consider us as your new tenants! Either way please spread the word about our ad!

Not sure about that policy.
Why couldn't I pay for my own ad?

Publishing and ad was no piece of cake... Blocket.se has a policy which prevents payment with non Scandinavian credit cards. I have spoken with their support line, which while friendly was of no real help. Luckily I was able to turn to a helpful reader (thanks again Chris!) who published the ad for me, while I forwarded him the funds. If anyone else is looking to rent an apartment in Sweden from abroad, this is something to keep in mind!

Have you gone through a similar experience? Or do you have some advice to share? Please get in touch via email/comments or Google+

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