The Hunt!

Picture it......
We are on a hunt in the urban jungle that is Tel Aviv....
The predator: You!
The prey: The oft-heard-of but rarely seen species known as Apartmentus Decentus, or the common Descent Apartment. Now, the species Apartmentus is very common, but the Decentus subspecies is a very rare sighting. Its cousin, Apartmentus Crapus, is waaaay more common.
Telling them apart can be a challenge too, since their mating calls can be confusing. The Apartmentus Crapus will advertise itself as an Apartmentus Decentus and only when you actually venture into the jungle and lay your eyes upon it, do you realize that you have been had.
It is then you realize that Apartmentus Crapus was nothing more than a trap set for you by the predator above you on the urban food chain, the shady-ious Slum Lordius. If you are not careful, this bottom-feeding scum-sucker of a predator will trick you into signing a lease and living in a drug-den of an apartment that's 3 feet wide and has no windows. Oh yeah, the demand for apartments in Tel Aviv is so high that owners have taken up the practice of dividing their apartments into two OR THREE smaller apartments and renting them out as Studios or 1-bedrooms!

So in my attempt to find an apartment in Tel Aviv I have come to the conclusion that you have 3 choices before you:

1. Overpay for a crappy drug-den of a rat-infested apartment
2. Overpay more for a semi-decent place
3. Overpay even more for a decent apartment

I am trying to avoid option #1 and am willing to consider #2 if all else fails, but I would REALLY like to find option #3. Since supply of this apartment archtype is low and demand is high, the search becomes almost surreal. You have to check listings in real-time and call and be the first person to see it and stake a claim to it. Hell, sometimes you have to see it BEFORE the first person who sees it. Yeah, makes sense, huh?

And if you've seen it and expressed interest in it, is it yours? Well, not necessarily. You may find yourself in a bidding war with other people who are interested and then the advertised rent is just a launching pad for the auction.

This adventure is not for the faint of heart. But I will persevere and persist in the hunt. I had a really cute one within my grasp only to have it fall through because I suspect someone else offered more for it. Oh well.
But once I find it, poodles, you are all invited to visit :)