Apartment hunting. A nowhere street in the suburbs of Berlin. Finally a buyable place. The search has slowly moved from places we'd like to live. . .

My capitalist tendencies are bubbling indignantly. It's hard to put up rent in Berlin once you've let a place and most contracts are open-ended. Many people have been in apartments for 30+ years and the law does not really allow for rent increases. Which means you often find apartments that look a fantastic buy - but then you're lumbered with somewhere that barely covers a mortgage for the next 20 years, that you won't be able to sell either. In the same building you can find identical apartments let at a basic rent of 200 and 450 Euro. Which is great if you're a sitting tenant in a gorgeous apartment in central Berlin.

After huge excitement, the next morning we found out it was already sold.