A couple months ago, when I first arrived in Ghana, I wrote about the challenges of finding a house. I figured that while I was gone, things might sort themselves out and maybe it would be easier the second time around.
I was wrong.
Finding a place to stay in Accra is difficult; particularly if you are only staying for one year.
The market is very strange. Most houses are rented for a minimum of 2 years. This rent is all due upfront. Renters and owners alike have a very personal connection to the price, which means that they are remarkably unwilling to negotiate on the price, time-frame and repairs. It seems that people would rather have their house stay empty for a year than negotiate. Sometimes there are seemingly legitimate reasons for the need/use of the money, sometimes you wonder. And sometimes, after negotiating for a while, the money for the repairs (ex: a door) miraculously appears.
I finally found a house, through my network and not through a formal agent, which confirmed yet again the power of word of mouth.
I moved in on Friday. I’ll be staying with Mr. and Mrs. Ado, an older Ghanaian couple (one an accountant, the other a teacher) and 4 girls all around my age, most of whom are attending school/university.
