Searching For A Home

After being homeless for 3 weeks, we were very eager to finding a home.  My cousin let us stay in her home that she is not using, but we never felt comfortable.  As soon as we arrived in Cambodia we started looking.  Maybe we shouldn't have been too much in a rush.  It felt like we were in a TV show (House Hunters International).  Before we came our renting budget was $500 per month, but we will learn that is too low for what we want.

1. Russian Market - This is where most of Foreigners live.  There are markets and restaurants within  walking distance.  There is no neighborhood, just roads with lots of cars and motors.
     A. Flats - With 3 bedrooms were in our budget, but they were run down and most of them were      part of one home which they split up. (The problem with these is that we will be sharing the staircase with other tenants.)
    B. Apartments - Two bedrooms were $700, but everything was included (furniture, cable, and
                    internet).  They even had cleaning twice a week.  It was nice and very nicely maintained,
                    but very small for a family of six.
    C. Condos - We didn't get to see these because it was very out of our budget.  A 3 bedroom unit
                    started $900.  It has all the amenities of the apartment.  Some included a pool.  We could
                   probably get something really nice for $1500.  Unfortunately, we wanted to keep our cost
                   low.

2. Going outside the main Downtown area and heading to the "suburb".  Out of the city the prices dropped and you can get a bigger unit.  No apartments or condos, but Flats and Villas.
    A. Flats - You can get "Long Homes" which are whole Flats.  They ran about $400 - $500.  They    were usually in little neighborhoods called Borey.
    B. Villas are taller "Long Homes" with a small courtyard.  You can get a whole
            Villa ($1000+) - they stand all alone with gates around it.  They have a large courtyard.
            Double Villa (about $700) - Like a Duplex
            Mini Villas (about $700) - Are connected in a row like Town-homes.

We settled with a Mini Villa that was partially furnished in a very nice neighborhood (Borey Penh Hout).  There is a playground and the streets are clean and there is security.

Here are a few pictures of flats and neighborhoods we didn't like.

I really like this Villa but it was far from the central area and market.  I wish it was in a better location.  It had so much space.  I liked the neighborhood too.

That is my cousin Sour Pheach.   He was so nice enough to help me look.   I felt bad taking time from his family.

Here is a few pictures of the Flat we almost got.  I really liked it, but bathrooms were very small and staircase steep.  Also, we would have to buy our own furniture and appliances.

We ended going with  this mini-villa.