Choosing an Apartment in Amman

In North America, choosing one apartment over another isn't really such a big deal. In Jordan, it is. While in North America you look at the community, schools, and ease with which you can get around, in Jordan, you look for basic comfort. If you choose wrong, you'll live in misery. Here's my advice:

1. Don't live on the top floor. Insulation doesn't generally exist. If you live on the top floor, you'll be hot in the summer and cold in the winter. Make that very cold. Furthermore, water arrives a couple days a week in Amman. It gets stored in tanks that are typically on the roof of your home. If you live on the top floor, water pressure will drop significantly as the tanks empty out. At one place I lived in, taking a shower while someone washed the dishes was very difficult.
2. If you're a North American family of four or more, you won't be able to live on one tank (2000 L) of water per week. You'll need to get yourself another tank. Alternatively, if your apartment has an underground tank (which they mistakenly refer to as a well (Ar. beer) in Jordan) and a pump, you can always pump water when you run out. If you're going to live with such a setup, then make sure that you have the freedom to use the pump whenever you want. If you have to get your landlord to run the pump for you, it's just not going to work in the middle of the night or when your landlord is out. Also, it's going to grate at your relationship.
3. If you live in a tall building at the top of a hill, make sure the building has an underground tank and a pump that you have the freedom to use at any time. This is true even if you have two tanks. Water flows from the municipal reservoir according to gravity, so if you're on a hill in a tall building and the tanks are above the building, they're only going to get water when all the tanks in the lower-lying areas have filled. In all likelihood, your tanks (however many they are) won't fill up.
4. Make sure you have an electric water heater. Having to pump diesel in the middle of the summer just to get some hot water is a drag.
5. Apartment windows typically have shutters that help keep out the cold. Make sure you don't have an unprotected glass door in your bedroom that will let out all the heat in the winter.
6. Don't use electric heat. Many electric heaters don't work very well unless you put them underneath your shirt. Those that do work will cost you a fortune in electrical costs. Many are also made to the safety standards of Chernobyl. I lost count of how many times my electric heater caught on fire last year.
   
7. Make sure you have south and west facing windows. South facing windows ensure that you'll get sun most of the day. Just face the direction for prayer (which is nearly due south in Amman). If there are windows in that direction in most of the house, you're set. West facing windows ensure that you get sun in the late afternoon and wind during the summer. It's even better if you have east facing windows as well.