YAY! You're moving to Munich for whatever reason! You are so excited to live in Bavaria'a perfectly-located capital city and spend your evenings and weekends downing Maßkrugs at your favorite beer garden.
Just one last thing, you have to find a flat first. Apartment hunting in Germany's most expensive city is no joke. The demand for decent living arrangement way outweighs the supply and chances are, unless you previously lived in New York City, San Francisco, or Paris, you will be downgrading from your previous apartment living standards. After making apartment hunting in Munich my near full-time job in July, I am moved in to my flat and have a place to sleep in München.
The search is tough for anyone, but for we young, unemployed students, it only grows more difficult. Your budget is tight, landlords aren't interested, and chances are you did not get lucky with in a dorm or student apartment (Wohnheim) your first semester, so you are probably looking to live in a Wohnheimgemeinschaft, or WG (pronoucned vay-gay). A WG is a shared living space. Usually, this is a multi-bedroom apartment where one resident is the main renter, or Hauptmieter. He/she rents the entire apartment from the landlord and then subleases the other rooms to people of their choice and the common areas, such as the kitchen and living room, are for everyone to use. WGs come in all shapes and sizes, with varying numbers of availability length, roommates, room sizes, amenities, locations, etc.
The search for a WG usually begins on WG Gesucht and difficulty varies dependent upon your needs. One thing is certain though, if you are looking before the new semester begins in September/October, you're in for a dogfight.
You Wake Up Every Morning and the First Thing You do is Log In To WG Gesucht and Frantically Message the New Listings
You Try and Sound Like the Perfect Roommate/Tenant in Your Messages
You've Already Sent 10 Messages Today, But You Keep Going
You Think You Found the Perfect Apartment but it's a Scam
and the Other 80 Percent of the Ads Never Even Respond to Your Message
Meanwhile, Everyone You Speak To Reminds You For the 100th Time that Munich is the Most Expensive City in Germany
You Begin Day Dreaming and Looking at Apartments Online Out of Your Price Range on ImmobilienScout24
You Finally Schedule Some WG Interviews/Apartment Viewings (Besichtigungstermin)
On Your Way To See Your First Flat
Then You Finally See the Flat that Sounded so Great in the Ad but in Reality it's Crap
So You Keep On Searching
At Your WG Interviews, They Ask You About Your Hobbies
You Remember the Only Hobby You've Ever Stuck With
After a Long Day of WG Interviews
You Receive Your First Rejection
But Then You Remember All the Negatives About the Flat and You Feel a Bit Relieved
and You Start Wondering Why These People get to Interview You When You Know What an Awesome Roommate You are, They Should be Fighting Over You!
You Finally See an Apartment You Like with a Roommate You Get Along With
And it has a Dishwasher!
You Walk Out of the WG Inteview Like
It's a Match! You've Been Selected for the WG.
You Sign Your Lease. It's All in German.
and Might Have Just Signed Over Your First Born Along With It
Then Fork Over Every Last Cent in your Konto for the Deposit and First Month's Rent
But it's All OK Because You Found a Flat In Munich! Let the beer drinking begin!
42 comments
This is VERY similar to how it is in Berlin, just less expensive. Everyone wants to live here, and everyone wants to live in the cool neighborhoods. I got lucky with my WG.... but there's no dishwasher. We have a dryer though!! haha
ReplyDeleteWoohoo, well done!
ReplyDeleteThis process is the same in Frankfurt and it is SO FRUSTRATING! The amount of perfect apartments that turn out to be scams or the people who just don't reply. I mean, what is up with that?!
Anyway, so pleased you found somewhere!!
Haha, I can completely relate to this process as I just went through HELL trying to find a new flat in Bristol. I must have gone to about 10 viewings/interviews before I finally found a place and let's face it, it's still not ideal but IT'S MINE! Lol
ReplyDeleteBahahaha! Each and every one of those gifs are perfect. I've heard enough from my NYC, London, and German friends to know how accurate this is!
ReplyDeletehaha this is so funny! I am so glad that I'm not looking for a house or apt or anything! it a lot of work!
ReplyDeleteI am glad you can laugh about this now. I know how very stressful it has been. I can't wait to see it in person ! 36 days ... not that I'm counting.
ReplyDeleteHaha this sounds a lot like my flat hunting in Switzerland, it took me months though. Glad you found a great fit!
ReplyDeleteHaha. Apartment hunting is so stressful, glad you found a flat!
ReplyDeleteFabulous! I am glad you managed to find an apartment and got there in the end!
ReplyDelete:D This makes me happy. GIFs for days!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you've made it through those barriers! Please tell me you did the happy elevator dance.
haha! yeyah! glad you finally found a home (anddd the perfect gifs to document the horrific process)!!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on (finally!) finding a place! Also, ALL OF THE GIFS! :D
ReplyDeleteI can't even with all of this. It has already brightened my day!
ReplyDeleteHaha, this is fantastic. :) I am so glad you were successful!
ReplyDeleteUgh apartment hunting is the worst. Great post, though! More info needs to be out there for prospective expats about the difficulty of finding a room in German cities. I was so naive to think it would be as easy as it is in America. Like Rachel said, Berlin isn't any better, and trying to find an apartment for a married couple = higher rent and possible commission for real estate companies. The amount of money you have to fork over before getting the key is gut-wrenching...
ReplyDeleteAhahaha, Alex this is excellent! I mean, I'm sure it was awful at the time, but the post you've made from it is hilarious :-D
ReplyDeleteThis is great... from what I've heard, if you have your own bedroom, and/or aren't out in the Munich 'burbs, you're doing pretty well. Can't wait to hear more about your adventures here amongst the Bavarians. :) (They're a special people. Haha.)
ReplyDeleteahhhaaaa! hilarious post! i have heard about Munich's real estate... I am glad you found the flat finally!
ReplyDeletewww.mygenerouslife.blogspot.com
how funny and enjoyable image. I can not seen ever a lot of image. Thanks for share.
ReplyDeleteHi Alex! I loved this story of your apartment-finding mission! So clever. And I LOVE Munich and am so excited for you. What a magical place to live! I was there last week and brought home Oktoberfestbier. Hope to see you in Munich! Best wishes to you.
ReplyDeleteI guess it's with any big, wonderful city that so many people want to move to - now that the stress is over, I'm ready to get there and enjoy it!
ReplyDeleteHi Stephanie! I'll be there from September 20 forward permanently, so please let me know the next time you have some free time to spare in Munich!
ReplyDeleteI did all sorts of happy dances, along with more huge sighs of relief.
ReplyDeleteOh the commissions in Germany... it's simply heart-wrenching. I almost hit the point of desperation to where I'd pay it but glad it worked out. Soon, I'm hoping to get a good post about tips for hunting, but I swear it's all about making it a full-time job with a side stroke of luck.
ReplyDeleteI was on a mission to beat the rest of the students to the rush and I think that was the smartest move I could've made. I do not have the patience for months, I know that much, so props to you!
ReplyDeleteThe interviews are seriously the silliest thing ever. I'd rather them ask fo recommendations from previous roommates or tenants honestly, as that's probably a better judge then everyone putting on a happy face and making superficial conversation for an hour. Oh it's so tough!
ReplyDeleteA DRYER?!!!! That is gold in Germany! GOLD. I am green with envy.
ReplyDeleteThe scams are just heartwrenching. Some of those people are dang good at it, too! That alone truly deserves its own post.
ReplyDeleteHi Alexandra! Can I ask you how did you manage to rent a flat while being unemployed? I finished my studies in June and I'm unemployed too at the moment. I've been looking for a place to live in München for several weeks now, yet every single agency I called told me that nobody would rent me anything until I got a job. I would appreciate if you could let me know how did do it :) thanks!
ReplyDeleteThis is f***in BRILLIANT! :D I went through the same for 3 months in 2012.. one of my Wohnungsbesichtigungstermin questions being "Do you cook curry? we don't like the smell of curry" as a reason for rejection! :P
ReplyDeletebut glad I FINALLY managed a nice apartment in the center! hope I run into you in Munich sometime! (y)
Shut up!!! I cook curry all the time, so they would have booted my a$$ right out of there. Don't worry, you totally didn't want to live with those weirdies anyway. I seroiusly hate the pressure of trying to pretend like you'll get along with the people just so you'll have a place to sleep, lordy!
ReplyDeleteHi Georgya! Lots of landlords are very willing to rent to students, I've found if you can prove funds or have a guarantor. I never went through an agency, mainly WG Gesucht, but also DreamFlat and then the international friends in Munich group on Facebook. I plan to write a post about finding a flat soon, but I think WG Gesucht is a best option as it cuts out the agency middle man. GOOD LUCK! It really does require that stroke of luck. I looked first thing every morning.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the info!! :)
ReplyDeleteHahahaahah this was so funny I am so glad u found an apartment!!!!
ReplyDeleteHaha, great one ! :) I've written a few tips that helped my find a flat in Munich within 2 weeks - It might be helpful for you, too
ReplyDeletehttp://blog.getdoido.com/2014/12/3-tips-how-to-find-a-flat-in-munich-for-expat/
Now that’s some amazing, funny and beautiful work, loving
ReplyDeleteit! thanks for sharing.
This is too funny! Is it possible to find a flat on your own or is it too expensive? Trying to find a roommate on that site sounds so stressful! I'm glad you fond one though!
ReplyDeleteI can relate for most of it, except for the part where you get to finally sign your contract... Still in hell
ReplyDeleteI used http://www.minga.house/ which is free and very easy way to find a flat in Munich. It worked very well and saved a lot of my time.
ReplyDeleteHa ha. so much funny images.I'm dying by laughing.
ReplyDeleteSome of the images are really so funny.Thanks for sharing these amazing images with us.
ReplyDeleteThis is so funny, I want to see the flat you find finally. Please share, ha ha ha
ReplyDelete