Last week, when I wasn’t checking out Danish men, we were checking out potential new houses. After eight years living in apartments we decided it was time to look at having a little more space and privacy but at the same time still living in the city. The dream of a villa (as detached houses are called here) in Frederiksberg remains a dream unless we win the lottery so we took the practical approach and found an area that ticked the boxes for us all.Quiet streets with reasonably priced but good size villas. Close enough to my son’s school to mean that we may get an extra half hour in bed. Close to green open spaces and beaches but still with easy access to the kind of city amenities we have become used to. And finally fast transport links into the city.

Sundby on Amager ticked all these boxes for us and the search is on. Interestingly I am being my own client for this. I know a little of what is available on Amager but as it is an area that is pretty much new to me, I need to find out what is there that I and my family will enjoy. So I am working on a local guide and map for myself and I am finding I am a tough customer! Tomorrow I am going to head out and walk the streets, just as I do for my clients needing a local guide written for them. I love this process of discovering hidden gems and it is even more fun doing it for myself.

We spent yesterday going to open houses at the places we have identified online (a tip if you are house hunting is to use Boliga as it brings all the places from different estate agents all together in one place) and all but one were not right for us and the one that was – really was. I know you are not supposed to fall in love with a house as it leads to disappointment in many cases but it is hard when you are choosing your home. The place we loved had an amazing history, perfectly laid out for us and totally modernised. However someone has already offered on it and as we haven’t sold our apartment yet we are in a very weak position. But as they say nothing ventured, nothing gained!

The process of both buying and selling a house at the same time is new to us and we are still learning how everything works here. I hope to share a lot more of the journey and the practical process as we go along here.