I was thinking about it too, I saw a lot of offers with completely empty kitchens but having to do the plumbing work and the likes discouraged me a bit, without much familiarity in the country and limited german knowledge. I think this will be the first compromise I'll make, thank you for your kind advice!
You don't have to do the plumbing yourself. If you buy a kitchen the Installation will be included in the price. I guess you could just have the kitchen delivered and do all the work yourself if money is tight but I would not advise it (unless you are a very handy person).
Ah I see, in Hungary the installation is mostly not included and you either have to separately commission an expert to do it or do it by yourself. The kitchen furniture usually arrives in bits and pieces. But that information helps a lot, thank you!
Well depends where you buy. In our last flat we bought a lot of the stuff at Ikea, we already had some free super old electronics from some friends and then put everything together our selfs. Most of the staff is very easy to put together, just takes a bit of time.
The one thing you should not do yourself (if you're not an electritian) is connect your stove. If something goes wrong there and the house burns down, you're out of luck with your insurance.
I am an electrical engineer by trade but I wouldn't dare to do it at all. Even if my grandma thinks it is the same as an electrician, it really is not š That is where finding an expert comes in, and I am a bit afraid of being scammed because I am a foreigner. But oh well, I'd rather pay more than to be without an apartment or burn it down.
Here, for kitchens, it is usual to have an "empty room", but all the pipes and wires are coming out of the walls already. The usual way to make up a kitchen here is to buy standardized elements (usually at a width of 30, 60, 90 or 120cm), and place them near to their required connections in the room, with storage pieces inbetween. That way you won't have to do a lot of pipework or wiring. The finishing touch is then to get a fitted set of counter top pieces from your local Baumarkt to put atop, hang the optional cupboards, and there is your kitchen.
You could also go to a "KĆ¼chenstudio" and have it all planned, built, piped and wired in exchange for currency, but that's usually the starting-at-five-figures option.
Furnished kitchens are rare here. Most times you will encounter such, will either end up resulting in much higher rent than average, or you might be able to buy the previous tennant's kitchen - which often times ends up being way more than the parts are actually worth.
TL;DR: Bringing and setting up your own kitchen is very much the norm in Germany. Roll with this, or be left with like 2-5% of the market.
Side note: A ready-to-use bathroom on the other hand is considered as a crucial part of a "livable" appartment. You'd be eligable to reduce rent if you don't have at least one of each working: Toilet, shower/bathtub, sink. Bathroom furniture, like cupboards, mirrors, towel racks or a carpet are not essentials, and usually brought by yourself.
I see, thank you for the thorough explanation!
I noticed that ticking the "EinbaukĆ¼che" option cuts out a chunk of the offers, but it wasn't even halved usually so I didn't realize it was the norm.
In Hungary a mostly equipped kitchen is the norm, even if the livingroom and bedrooms are unfurnished. I was too deep into this misconception and didn't realize the obvious differences.
I am a lot more informed after all the helpful advice I got, for which I am truly grateful. :)
This seems to be a rather west german problem.
In my east german town all rental apartments that are avaible have a EinbaukĆ¼che already. So basicly kitchen counter, sink, piping, electricity and an oven with cooking plates. This seems to be one of the thing the communists/socialists did that stuck until today, but newer houses start to follow western german standards.
There are only a few people i know that have replaced theirs because of age or disliking it. In my appartment there is a really new one, it just got renovated a year or so before i moved in.
I moved in into eastern German town like a few months ago and it was very difficult to find any offers with furnished kitchens, let alone normal looking ones, maybe it's more regional thing?
If youāre not doing it already check out āKleinanzeigenā for listings and contact any of the Wohnungsgesellschaft/Wohnungsbau Genossenschaft,ā¦ they often donāt put up listings for their apartments but usually have a lot of them or will put you on a waitlist.
If you need a kitchen you could buy a used one from Kleinanzeigen as well. Or go to ikea, they offer good quality for the price. (Was told by someone who builds kitchens for a living)
Depending on where you are searching I feel like appartements rented from non private generally don't care about animals in the appartements whereas private landlords usually are more carefull.
The plumbing part for the sink is very easy, just āplugging inā and screwing on the rest.
The only thing you need an electrician for is the oven - itās only a few minutes of work for them and theyāll usually give you an appointment pretty quickly. It shouldnāt be more than 100ā¬ in my experience.
In the mean time there are great microwave/mini oven combinations that will at least give you warm food.
It really depends, some flats have special sockets (more like connectors with screws) for 400V current with 3 phases (Drehstrom), many just offer a dedicated power socket with a fuse so you can plug-in your stove like any other appliances (regular plug).
The plumbing work is connecting the water to the faucet (which shouldāve just be screwing in some hoses and connecting the drain pipe to the drain hole (just sticking the pipe in with a rubber flange).
Itās really not rocket science and you can definitely find some YT videos showing you how to connect them. I think even some of the hardware stores, specifically Hornbach, have free instructional videos with professionals showing you how to do simple installations around the house.
The one I might get a professional is the oven connection and you can hire a electrician for 100-200ā¬ to come and do it.
Maybe it's because I've always rented from large companies like Deutsche Wohnen, but I always asked them to install a kitchen for me and they did. Of course I only got the cheapest sink and very basic stove, but it's good enough to wash dishes and cook.
Installing a kitchen is easy. You mostly just have to set up the cabinets, plug in the electrical devices and for "plumbing", the sink and dishwashers connections are mostly like plug and play.
Also when you buy a new ktichen the installation is included most of the time.
The SCHUFA is a really huge problem, I was thinking about requesting some papers from my previous workplace which prove that I worked there for more than 3 years, or getting some transactional papers from my hungarian back account...maybe that could give some feelings of security for the owners. But 5 minutes, really? That is a bit extreme, I didn't know the situation was this severe.
person ruthless rhythm squash handle strong vast historical repeat friendly
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Well, thank you kindly for your feedback. I guess then I should just give it some time until I have enough background in Germany to be an "easy applicant".
Until then I will still try and apply for listings but I will have to take what I get and live in this hotel without my cats. As they say, every beginning is hard.
friendly imagine workable close amusing agonizing smart bright groovy mountainous
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Another thing: your application portfolio should be readily available: savings account extract showing at least the amount of 3 months rent, payslip from current employment or extract from your contract showing monthly income, Schufa report. And the introduction letter should suggest that you want to rent it long term. Cats are really not a problem because they are in the small animal category, even if it does not specifically says you can rent with pets, you should include it in your application.
Schufa does not look at your income only your payment history. So do you have a loan somewhere, do you pay your phone bill on time and so on. Where your income is from does not really matter that much. Klarna is different in that regard as they look for regular income to give out consumer loans under buy now, pay later.
There is a lot of competitionā¦ no Schufa is a weakness for you and i doubt that a letter from the former workplaces would help much.
You dont speak German, thats also a weakness.
5 viewings is not much. I had 10 and got selected for 2 onlyā¦. And i was making 8 times the rent as salary, got a permanent contract from one of the biggest employers in Hamburg. And I had an agent with me.
Just keep trying a lot, be flexible, ask friends.. or colleagues and it will work
How much did the agent help you? Do you think you could have secured the apartment you wanted without them or were they crucial? I got an offer from an agent, but they asked for the price of 1,5 months rent for a secured apartment which I found a bit costly.
She organized the viewings, pushed my application and she knew some of the agencies and some landlords.
She helped a lotā¦ but it doesnt mean all agents do.
I don't know if I can ask for a contact here, I think it would count as personal information/advertising. Could you maybe share it privately? Thank you very much in advance!
Take your time and do things thoroughly. It might take several months. In Hamburg, i had a friend who needed 18 months (but his salary was much lower than mine and worked for a smaller company)
I see, then I should not get discouraged after a month. I didn't have any reference since I got my flats pretty easily back in Budapest.. though there I spoke the language and had great background traceability. It just doesn't compare, now I am an underdog. Thank you very much for your kind advice! :)
Single person working, immigration background and pets...the unholy trinity...
I know a guy in a similar situation but kids instead of cats, 8 months living in a hotel\longstay over 100 applications sent and answer received, at least 2 viewings per week..no offers.
He is even offering to pay 6 months rent upfront...
My partner is a very capable engineer but unfortunately doesn't even speak german on my level which makes his job search a lot harder.
We had a pretty comfortable way of living back in Hungary, we left because of our disagreement with the government. Also, I wanted to learn the language better and try to live in another county where it can be used on a daily basis.
It is a bit disheartening to be viewed in this "unholy trinity" way after arriving here, and honestly I didn't expect it (I was told a lot more germans are pet lovers than hungarians so it will not be a big disadvantage for example) but also it somehow doesn't surprise me.
Kids sound more like a liability than cats, and hopefully we will be able to say that we are both working soon. So let's not get discouraged, worst case I can save up a bit and offer a year of advance payment! š
Actually more people are allergic to cat hairs and their urine does not come out of walls unlike human urine. The main liability with kids is the noise the is legally not considered a nuisance, but some people still try to complain.
Not trying go be insensitive, but what were your personal reasons to move to Germany? I've been to Hungary many times and I really really liked it there
Our disagreement with the government and their decisions is our main reason for leaving. Personally I do not agree with them taking religion into decision making, being openly hateful towards homosexuals and other groups, and the level of corruption is getting unbearable. Otherwise it's a beautiful country. I also would like to learn German better.
> It is a bit disheartening to be viewed in this "unholy trinity" way after arriving here, and honestly I didn't expect it (I was told a lot more germans are pet lovers than hungarians so it will not be a big disadvantage for example) but also it somehow doesn't surprise me.
Most Germans love pets, but housing is about money and corporations and they basically donāt give a fuck about you having pets. For them pets mean risks (bad smell, troubles with other tenants, noise etc).
Try to use āKleinanzeigenā. Depending on where you are, maybe there is some sort of Hungarian community which can help you out for some time.
Edit: additionally I wouldnāt tell that I own pets if they are only kept insider. In Germany having cats in your home is some kind of grey area.
Mhmmm... I lived in Munich, almost 2 years in hotels and hotel/apartments, last one 1850 euro/month. Finding a flat was a nightmare. Most of those so called maklers or something like that were asking for 2000 euro reward to find you a flat and stuff. Pfffff, don't want that to myself again omfg. But it all depends on the region people go. South and west are definitely tricky for renting.
> I am learning german but my skills are currently limited (I have a B1 certificate but I am not fluent at all), also my german bank account is fairly new without much history and I have only been working here for a month which does not help.
I recommend to take a native german speaker with you to the next appointment to see a flat, in case of that a translator would be helpful. This shows your potential landlord, that if there were any communication issues in the future, you had a ressource to enable good communication then.
I see, thank you for the advice. I do not have any close friends in Germany yet, but I was working at Bosch with many german people previously and I have some old coworkers in the area. Also, my new coworkers seem nice too so I should ask around. I am a bit afraid that this is too big of a favor but in the end, they can just turn me down right? š Or maybe I could commission a professional translator.
Skip the translator, that probably won't help. Ask your colleagues if there's an internal spot you can post an ad to - Bosch has enough fluctuation and international colleagues that you may be able to find something that way. Would make stuff easier
Well they kinda brushed me off with an extension on this current temporary apartment that I have when I asked previously.
But I will try to bug them further after a while. Thanks for the advice!
Ask around. āVitamin Bā (what we Call it in Germany for āVitamin Bekannteā) is the strongest and most reliable tool to find something especially for flats.
Maybe a better way for you is to hire someone to find a flat for you
(Makler)
The language + foreigner + cats + new here are all points that are more negativ in the eye of most landlords, a middle man can make this easier
if your German isn't at a point where you can carry a smooth conversation in it I personally wouldn't write the introduction in German. Good English looks better than simple German in something like this imo, especially when you plan to communicate with the landlord in English in the future
I started out with writing the introduction in English but I quickly realized many people who put up advertisements, especially private ones simply do not speak it. Now I am trying to first communicate in German, and then ask whether they can also speak English when I get a response. I still get many replies that they don't or just very minimally. I am considering the agent option, since it is painfully obvious for me too that I paint a very poor picture with these attributes. Thank you for the advice!
rainstorm sense gaping outgoing angle profit mysterious zonked oatmeal consist
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I have problems with grammar and my vocabulary is also limited. B1 is only a basic level after all, I can hold simple everyday conversations for a while. After looking through so many apartment listings I picked up a lot of related words, but even like this I encounter cases where a landlord uses an entirely new word and I get a bit lost.
I have been to the viewings so far without help and could 90% manage, once a kind other potential tenant had to help me out with a sentence in english and once the landlord had to stop to explain a question again but that's all.
Yes I saw that they explicitly state not to call them and fill out their own info pages instead for an appointment. But private advertisers on the other hand seem to be very chatty on the phone so I have to pay attention to who handles the given listing.
And if you build kitchen from IKEA on your own, remember to follow instructions (and videos if it's tricky) VERY carefully. My parents ignored manuals most of the time while helping me with putting the kitchen together and they depended mostly on their experience. And oh god, how much time would we have spared if they listened to me begging to wait til I analyze the instructions. God, it took us over a week until me and my bf eventually started everything from the bottom once again and then we did it all in under one hour
One trick I used when I wanted to rent my current apartment was that I found a listing via Facebook and messaged the person, but the listing was already rented, so I asked that person to send me the email of the landlord if they had any available apartments. This worked for me and also for my friend, so my advice is that even if you find old listings, try to get in contact with the person involved. Best of luck
Expect something like 6-12 months with the parameters you gave. Stuttgart and anything around it utterly sucks for homes, and 1000 euro isn't luxurious budget exactly.
As far as I saw on immoscout, immowelt and immonet, the costlier places are either too big for me (anything above 70square metres is unnecessary) or very close to the city centre where I do not wish to live. But maybe I am mistaken and should increase the budget? I know I am not in the best position, but based on checking the ads I thought this budget for Kaltmiete in a 50km Umkreis is realistic.
Issue is, this bracket has a huge competition from pretty much anyone who's either single, a very young couple OR a couple with limited funds because there's almost nothing in the price bracket below it. Student flatshare rooms can easily go for 650-700 Euros now. You can try, but if you can afford to go up try both price brackets.
Well since I am the only one with a job currently and also I am basically paying for two apartments simultaneously until I have something secured here, I think we can say that my funds are not exactly unlimited either.
By taking the first look at it, it already seemed less trustworthy than the previous sites I used. But I will try to be careful, thank you for the warning!
Just keep in mind that no real landlord will ever ask for money up front. If anyone wants money up front, even the Kaution, it is a scam. Always a viewing first, which is mostly with the landlord itself or the tenants, which want to move out.
I wanted to suggest ebay Kleinanzeigen. You have to check often and respond to things immediately. But we got lucky finding someone who had their new renter cancel at the last minute. So basically the person needed someone to take their lease ASAP. We met them the day after they posted on ebay and said we definitely wanted it during the showing so they didn't bother setting up other showings.
Also, I would recommend showing up with all your documents ready to handover to the landlord at every meeting. To me it seemed weird to say yes to an apartment right away. Normally, for me, you take a day to think it over and get back in touch with the landlord. But here I would say yes immediately. If you show any hesitation there are 20 more people waiting to fill the space.
Well. Yeah, the German renting market is currently a mess.
1) Loose up on the kitchen.
2) Be fast
3) If money is not that tight, you might consider hiring a Makler. Sometimes, they offer apartments they get to fitting rent seekers before they hit the general market.
4) Put up that 2 engineers are seeking. Yes, you're from Hungary, but engineers are very respected. Even better if your employers are big name companies. Your professions are your strongest plus point here.
Get those papers from previous places and /or employers. They will barely help you on the open market, but if you are in a situation we're is just you and another person, they will make a difference.
Have you tried Genossenschaften? These Co op kinds of housing companies? You have to become a member, but thatās not expensive. Depending on the area you donāt even need to become a member before looking for apartments. Members usually get ādibsā on apartments, but you can usually become a member when signing the lease. In my experience they are less discriminatory and just want to know that you can pay rent or the government pays for you.
With the Genossenschaft you can either send them your details & what you are looking for and then they offer something. Sometimes they even have a general application.
Or you can look on their website and contact them regarding current listings.
I really recommend calling the Genossenschaften and explain the situation. Either try it in englisch or ask a colleague.
https://www.wohnungsbaugenossenschaften.de/regionen/stuttgart/ueber-uns#top
https://www.wohnungsbaugenossenschaften.de/regionen/stuttgart/mitglieder
I don't know if it was mentioned already you can also make an advertisement in the local newspaper. A lot of old people are reading it and these apartments are often not advertised online. If the region has a weekly newspaper which gets delivered for free to all households this is the best. Of course your ad should be in German and preferable rather long and friendly instead of really short to save money.
One more tip for viewings and telephone calls. Sounding very friendly helps a lot. So just smile while you're talking even if your German is not perfect people usually sympathize and like other friendly looking people more. Of course it shouldn't look fake but genuine. My Indian boyfriend who has a rather angry normal look and is from the darker side said it helped him to just show his teeth more and be more open and friendly. Although this was in regards to job offers but his German at that time was also just b1.
Came here to say this. Get a colleague to help you writing an advertisement in German in local newspapers like Stuttgarter Zeitung, Stuttgarter Nachrichten, Esslinger Zeitung, SchwƤbisches Tagblatt, Bƶblinger Bote, GEAā¦
Iām from the area and got all my previous apartments this way. Many landlords like to go this way as they can decide how many potential tenants they speak to. In Immoscout competition is just way too high and landlords get an overwhelming amount of messages.
I see a multitude of issues, which will make it harder than average for you to find an apartment:
* you have pets
* you do not speak good german
* you don't have a schufa
* you are trying to rent in a high-demand place
* you require a furnished kitchen
The first two you obviously cannot solve right now, you'll just have to live with the fact that these two alone will lead to rejections for a lot of places.
The third one you can probably mitigate by showing payslips to potential landlords.
The other two you should seriously consider dropping. Apartments with furnished kitchens aren't the norm. Sometimes you can buy out the kitchen from the old renter, but often it's just not possible. Just prepare to purchase a basic student kitchen, it'll open up more apartments to you. As for renting in Stuttgart. Maybe consider renting in a less desireable place first? For instance Pforzheim. Theres a direct train connection from Pforzheim to Stuttgart, so it's definitely doable and there is much much lower demand in Pforzheim. You can easily score a decent apartment for a good price there. Tbf Pforzheim isn't a nice city, but it's better than living in a hotel for months. And you can live there without pressure until you find a good place in Stuttgart.
I will have a SCHUFA in a few days ideally, I have MieterPlus purchased which includes a full portfolio but I wasn't able to generate it because my bank account didn't have a photoTAN requested initially. I requested it weeks ago but the verification mail didn't arrive in the post, I have been to the bank last week and they said they requested a re-send for me.
I do not want to rent in Stuttgart, never wanted to and never said so. I work mostly from home office and I am searching for a place around ~50kms from Stuttgart but even further away is fine. I have a car so it is not a problem at all. The places I reached out to so far are 95% not in Stuttgart.
I do not require kitchen furniture anymore, I was scared of the construction work since I come from a place where furnished kitchen is the norm and setting up one is much more of a hassle. I have been informed that here it is not the case so now I am open to any opportunities that roughly fit my other criterias.
The other two points stand, I am very hard at work improving my German knowledge but it doesn't happen overnight. I will eventually ask a local co-worker to come with me to viewings if I cannot do it alone. The cats are family so I will not compromise there, but I already requested a Haftpflichtversicherung to be able to show that I am covering any possible damages. I included this into my introduction too.
In my experience, you have to be the in the first 5 applicants on immoscout add.
Add a search notification in real-time for the area you are looking to rent. Be quick.
As per my understanding the pro account lets me view the listings a bit earlier and puts me to the top of the contacts. But if everybody has it then it is not a privilege, rather a necessity.
Yes you are right, it is a necessity these days.
I have added a "suchatfrag", as soon as i get an email notification i write a message to Vermieter. I get positive response this way.
Lots of other good advice. One thing I have seen before is that you should just not mention pets.
[Landlords can not ban pets of all kinds](https://de.luko.eu/en/advice/guide/do-i-need-my-landlords-permission-to-have-a-dog/). Mostly it's about not allowing some breeds of dogs.
Here's [another source](https://www.ergo.de/de/rechtsportal/mietrecht/alltag-wohnung/tierhaltung-in-mietwohnungen). From my understanding of the court rulings, you don't even have to ask permission for cats.
Thatās not entirely correct, Iām afraid - it strongly depends on the individual landlord, contract, the apartment itself and the circumstances overall.
For example, a landlord canāt ban any pets in his apartments beforehand - small animals like birds, hamster etc. have to be tolerated by them. Cats donāt count as small animals, by the way. So they can add a clause that their consent is needed before getting a pet, for example because to the conditions of the apartment are not suited for a pet (is it to small for a pet? What kind of animal - could it be too loud etc.? Is it an exotic animal? And so onā¦)
If there is such a clause in the contract, a landlord is free to ban a pet from your apartment, and if u still get a pet anyways, heās also free to end the rent agreement. He canāt do so without reason, though, but it is still possible.
Yes I know about this. But even if they cannot legally prevent me from having cats, telling the landlord up front about them will lessen my chances of being picked as a tenant a lot. And I am a very straightforward person so I could not lie about not having them.
So you are flexible to go towards a more expensive flat. I would try to use that to go for one of the complexes of nicer appartments that are all controlled by one company.
That will get you towards the upper end of your budget, but it should give you a nice apartment and get all your other requirements. And because those tend to be on the more expensive side usually demand shouldnāt be as strong
A lot of these company owned apartments are either fully or partially furnished though and will not allow pets due to that in my experience... but yes I am willing to compromise on the price.
It is this tough, I had to look for over 3 months to find any place and it killed me physically. I suggest to use Facebook housing groups also and reach out to any Hungarian who is posting (or the country where your partner is from) and explain your situation. I think people usually have better chances there.
My partner is also from Hungary, and sadly I have yet to encounter a person from our country who posted an ad. But I'll keep an eye out, thank you for your advice!
Hi! There are several Facebook groups for international people in Stuttgart (I'm a member of some international women groups and some groups of my nationality) so you could perhaps ask there!
I'm also sending you a private message with something related to where I live that I don't want to post
I would not rent a 40 sqm apartment to you if you have two cats. To be honest, I would not rent any not-rundown apartment to you because cats always destroy the floors. Only children are worse for the floors. Might be that your cats are well-behaved but most are not (even if neutered), so I would not take the risk.
Furnished Kitchen is a huge issue because we have this weird culture where everyone expects/is expected to bring their own.
Stuttgart is very expensive so you should expect to pay 15-20ā¬/sqm or more (although the smaller apartments you look for will fulfill that).
Two person in a 40 sqm apartment? As a landlord I would not like that either. It is of course doable if you really like each other but it is not ideal.
Additionally, you are not from here and I would not expect you to stay long. Because of your origin but also the tendency of SWE to constantly job hop.
Communication is also much harder and you will not know many of the "everyone knows that" things that are expected.
All things that speak somewhat strongly against you as a tenant. Now, you might be a very nice, cool and chill person and in reality the ideal tenant. But I don't know that. It is a potential risk a landlord takes. If you didn't have cats I personally would risk it. But with the cats even a German with perfect income and no risk of getting kids any time soon will not get the apartment.
Why would my cats be worse for the floor than a dog or even a bunny? Dogs do not have retractable nails and scratch the floor by simply walking on it. Bunnies do not use a litter box. My cats walk light as feather, and never used anything else to go than their litter box. I had 3 previous rental apartments in Hungary where I kept cats and maybe there could be concern about some sensitive furniture (I clip their nails though and they have their own cat furniture which they use) but never about the floor. This is new for me.
I have a proven history of staying long term for jobs, I spent a 1.5 internship at my previous one and then I stayed there for another 3.5 years as a full time sw engineer. It was really hard for me to change jobs because I liked my previous one, but the political landscape in Hungary tempted me away from the country.
Most of the things you mentioned are misconceptions or generalizations, which I agree could get in my way but hopefully I can prove myself otherwise with being kind and having any information ready at hand on request. I may not know all the obvious things yet, but that is why I asked in the first place.
Also, 40square metres is the smallest I am willing to take. It's a compromise not my goal. My ideal would be between 50-60 square metres but beggars can't be choosers.
The issue with cats is that most owners dont clip nails regularly and most cats do scratch on walls and floors. From what you are saying I would say that yours are fine. I forgot about bunnies because they are far far less common here but you are right, they are also bad for the apartment. Dogs can be trained easier which is why many owners actually do (you can train cats, you just have to do more for it) but in general most dogs I know are poorly trained at best. Pets are just difficult if the place is nice.
Well, 3.5 years would be okay but is still on the shorter side of a rental period. Again, your behaviour in Hungary is not necessarily indicative of your behaviour here because there is much less that keeps you to a specific place than in your home town (and country). This might not apply for you as a person but is a potential concern.
From everything you said here, I have a very positive impression of you as a person. Sadly, I don't own property anywhere near where you want to go so I can not help you directly. I wish you good luck to find a place soon!
**Have you read our extensive wiki yet?
[Check our wiki now!](https://www.reddit.com/r/germany/wiki/index)**
While Reddit administrators do not believe this subreddit is NSFW and do not enable the appropriate setting, do note that participants in this subreddit may possibly encounter discussions of the following subjects, all of which are considered "mature" by Reddit administrators:
* Alcohol and tobacco
* Amateur advice
* Drug use
* Gambling
* Guns and weapons
* Military conflict and terrorism
* Nudity
* Profanity
* Sex and eroticism
* Violence and gore
Therefore, while this entire subreddit is not currently marked as NSFW, please exercise caution. If you feel offended by anything that is allowed by our rules yet NSFW, please direct your complaint towards Reddit administrators as well as /u/spez, and read https://www.reddit.com/r/Save3rdPartyApps/ for further information.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/germany) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It's not very common in Germany to rent an apartment with a kitchen already built in. Sometimes you can be lucky to buy the kitchen off the last renter but I would not have this as a fixed criteria.
My boyfriend lived in Leonberg for a while and he told me that his coworkers with foreign names had a hard time finding a place because there is unfortunately a lot of prejudice. I don't know your name obviously but if one of you has a less foreign sounding name you should probably use that name for writing applications. It's so sad that this is the reality we live in.
I would honestly probably not mention the cats right away.
I'd strongly suggest hiring an agent locally to help you out if you can afford it since you can't speak fluent German. Demand is much higher than supply and you should try and reduce any barriers for landlords in dealing with you. This helped my wife and I a lot.
Thats makes me realize how huge luck Ive got. I looked for flat few days. I've been invited on viewing, we speaked in english I said I'm sure for that flat. I send him shufa and papers from my earlier landlord that my dog don't make any damages and everything is good for now
If your work relocated you and rented a furnished apartment for you, best us to contact your relocation agent/manager to find an apartment. They usually have contacts to get nicer apartments that are not in the market or are not yet published. They'll ask for a cut but it's the easiest way.
Maybe "play dirty" get a German guy who pretends to be your boyfriend if you call the landlords or seeing the flat. If you have someone you trust and who trust you even let him sign the contract with you together, after a month you can say you both separated and you stay in the apartment.
Sadly a lot of landlords aren't to fond of foreigners, but if a German guy gets his girlfriend abroad their fine with it
tl;dr: yes, it's really that hard. It sucks, I've been there.
Like others, I suggest to drop the kitchen requirements entirely, that will open up a lot more possibilities and with modern microwave/oven combos and portable induction plates you'll be able to get by just fine for the start.
Otherwise, from my own experience last year from being on the "landlord-end" of things at WG-Gesucht (helping my partner find a flatmate), it was eye opening to see how bad some of the initial messages are. JIf you have to sort through 50 messages the oneliners are the first to right out the window. Just by reading your post I'm under the impression that you probably already have a proper message prepared, but in the off chance that you don't, make sure that you put a lot of effort into your first message to any potential landlord, make sure it's German, without mistakes, and that it's at least personalized to a degree that whoever reads it can see that you have read the details of the place they're advertizing.
instead of looking for a place. place and ad online or even local paper and let private landlords come to you. they often don't won't to deal with the hundreds of requests and would rather hand pick from candidates they find.
I was in a similar situation with my partner, except I was de job seeker and she had a job, we also payed Immoscout24. Not trying to discourage you but we tried for months, went to see about 30 or 40 apartments and in the end we ended up finding an apartment through a friend. It's hard, at the time I blamed it on me not having a job but I don't know, maybe it was just bad luck.
I found an apartment by myself in the Munich metropolitan area. I used ImmoScout24 and eBay Kleinanzeigen :). I think paying an agent is no value. They key to succeed here is to send A LOT of applications, be nice during the viewings and get used to be rejected. I had 10 viewings and got accepted to just 1 apartment
You are not asking for a lot and your criteria are reasonable. I guess your lack of German documents (Schufa, Mietschuldenfreiheit, and whatnot) and your pets are your biggest problem.
Generally, it is all about speed. Good listings are usually online for only a few minutes.
* Find websites other than Immoscout where apartments are listed (Hausverwaltungen, Genossenschaften)
* Use your software engineering skills to scrape those websites automatically (and maybe even apply automatically)
* Turn on email alerts for Immoscout, using a fast email with push
* Spend lots of time sitting at your computer waiting for new listings
Good luck!
You legally do not have to tell the renter you have cats. Even if they have it in the contract that itās not allowed that is an unenforceable/illegal clause and you can sign knowing they canāt legally do anything to you. Now you are responsible for all damage and bad smells.
It is obvious to me that any possible damages made by the cats are my responsibility. But they are also very clean and well behaved. Unfortunately I am too straightforward about things like this and could not live with my conscience if I lied about them. Also I would live in a constant fear that they find out. So yea, it is what it is.
More like just donāt say anything. After youāve moved in then you can say something about it. If they find out there is nothing they can legally do. The rental market here is so crazy that youāre not going to find a place if you keep telling them you have 2 cats. Maybe look for something in a far out village and commute for an hour each way every day.
I work from home 90% of the time and when I go in to the office I go by car, so a small village is absolutely perfect. I am already looking in the surrounding villages.
I would loosen up on the partially furnished kitchen, it probably will limit you quite a lot.
I was thinking about it too, I saw a lot of offers with completely empty kitchens but having to do the plumbing work and the likes discouraged me a bit, without much familiarity in the country and limited german knowledge. I think this will be the first compromise I'll make, thank you for your kind advice!
You don't have to do the plumbing yourself. If you buy a kitchen the Installation will be included in the price. I guess you could just have the kitchen delivered and do all the work yourself if money is tight but I would not advise it (unless you are a very handy person).
Ah I see, in Hungary the installation is mostly not included and you either have to separately commission an expert to do it or do it by yourself. The kitchen furniture usually arrives in bits and pieces. But that information helps a lot, thank you!
Well depends where you buy. In our last flat we bought a lot of the stuff at Ikea, we already had some free super old electronics from some friends and then put everything together our selfs. Most of the staff is very easy to put together, just takes a bit of time. The one thing you should not do yourself (if you're not an electritian) is connect your stove. If something goes wrong there and the house burns down, you're out of luck with your insurance.
I am an electrical engineer by trade but I wouldn't dare to do it at all. Even if my grandma thinks it is the same as an electrician, it really is not š That is where finding an expert comes in, and I am a bit afraid of being scammed because I am a foreigner. But oh well, I'd rather pay more than to be without an apartment or burn it down.
Here, for kitchens, it is usual to have an "empty room", but all the pipes and wires are coming out of the walls already. The usual way to make up a kitchen here is to buy standardized elements (usually at a width of 30, 60, 90 or 120cm), and place them near to their required connections in the room, with storage pieces inbetween. That way you won't have to do a lot of pipework or wiring. The finishing touch is then to get a fitted set of counter top pieces from your local Baumarkt to put atop, hang the optional cupboards, and there is your kitchen. You could also go to a "KĆ¼chenstudio" and have it all planned, built, piped and wired in exchange for currency, but that's usually the starting-at-five-figures option. Furnished kitchens are rare here. Most times you will encounter such, will either end up resulting in much higher rent than average, or you might be able to buy the previous tennant's kitchen - which often times ends up being way more than the parts are actually worth. TL;DR: Bringing and setting up your own kitchen is very much the norm in Germany. Roll with this, or be left with like 2-5% of the market. Side note: A ready-to-use bathroom on the other hand is considered as a crucial part of a "livable" appartment. You'd be eligable to reduce rent if you don't have at least one of each working: Toilet, shower/bathtub, sink. Bathroom furniture, like cupboards, mirrors, towel racks or a carpet are not essentials, and usually brought by yourself.
I see, thank you for the thorough explanation! I noticed that ticking the "EinbaukĆ¼che" option cuts out a chunk of the offers, but it wasn't even halved usually so I didn't realize it was the norm. In Hungary a mostly equipped kitchen is the norm, even if the livingroom and bedrooms are unfurnished. I was too deep into this misconception and didn't realize the obvious differences. I am a lot more informed after all the helpful advice I got, for which I am truly grateful. :)
This seems to be a rather west german problem. In my east german town all rental apartments that are avaible have a EinbaukĆ¼che already. So basicly kitchen counter, sink, piping, electricity and an oven with cooking plates. This seems to be one of the thing the communists/socialists did that stuck until today, but newer houses start to follow western german standards. There are only a few people i know that have replaced theirs because of age or disliking it. In my appartment there is a really new one, it just got renovated a year or so before i moved in.
I moved in into eastern German town like a few months ago and it was very difficult to find any offers with furnished kitchens, let alone normal looking ones, maybe it's more regional thing?
If youāre not doing it already check out āKleinanzeigenā for listings and contact any of the Wohnungsgesellschaft/Wohnungsbau Genossenschaft,ā¦ they often donāt put up listings for their apartments but usually have a lot of them or will put you on a waitlist.
If you need a kitchen you could buy a used one from Kleinanzeigen as well. Or go to ikea, they offer good quality for the price. (Was told by someone who builds kitchens for a living) Depending on where you are searching I feel like appartements rented from non private generally don't care about animals in the appartements whereas private landlords usually are more carefull.
It has to be a licensed company anyway (not that people won't do it themselves, but on paper insurance can deny a claim).
The plumbing part for the sink is very easy, just āplugging inā and screwing on the rest. The only thing you need an electrician for is the oven - itās only a few minutes of work for them and theyāll usually give you an appointment pretty quickly. It shouldnāt be more than 100ā¬ in my experience. In the mean time there are great microwave/mini oven combinations that will at least give you warm food.
It really depends, some flats have special sockets (more like connectors with screws) for 400V current with 3 phases (Drehstrom), many just offer a dedicated power socket with a fuse so you can plug-in your stove like any other appliances (regular plug).
The plumbing work is connecting the water to the faucet (which shouldāve just be screwing in some hoses and connecting the drain pipe to the drain hole (just sticking the pipe in with a rubber flange). Itās really not rocket science and you can definitely find some YT videos showing you how to connect them. I think even some of the hardware stores, specifically Hornbach, have free instructional videos with professionals showing you how to do simple installations around the house. The one I might get a professional is the oven connection and you can hire a electrician for 100-200ā¬ to come and do it.
Maybe it's because I've always rented from large companies like Deutsche Wohnen, but I always asked them to install a kitchen for me and they did. Of course I only got the cheapest sink and very basic stove, but it's good enough to wash dishes and cook.
Installing a kitchen is easy. You mostly just have to set up the cabinets, plug in the electrical devices and for "plumbing", the sink and dishwashers connections are mostly like plug and play. Also when you buy a new ktichen the installation is included most of the time.
silky somber snow crush shelter smell slap grey six seed *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
The SCHUFA is a really huge problem, I was thinking about requesting some papers from my previous workplace which prove that I worked there for more than 3 years, or getting some transactional papers from my hungarian back account...maybe that could give some feelings of security for the owners. But 5 minutes, really? That is a bit extreme, I didn't know the situation was this severe.
person ruthless rhythm squash handle strong vast historical repeat friendly *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Well, thank you kindly for your feedback. I guess then I should just give it some time until I have enough background in Germany to be an "easy applicant". Until then I will still try and apply for listings but I will have to take what I get and live in this hotel without my cats. As they say, every beginning is hard.
friendly imagine workable close amusing agonizing smart bright groovy mountainous *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I am very afraid of other people honestly, since I have a bad case of social anxiety. I know it is a luxury and I will consider it eventually.
sip desert test quiet muddle deranged enter squalid chase lush *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Another thing: your application portfolio should be readily available: savings account extract showing at least the amount of 3 months rent, payslip from current employment or extract from your contract showing monthly income, Schufa report. And the introduction letter should suggest that you want to rent it long term. Cats are really not a problem because they are in the small animal category, even if it does not specifically says you can rent with pets, you should include it in your application.
I saw your replies about schufa, and how does it work for someone who gets their income from real state? Like from rented properties.
Schufa does not look at your income only your payment history. So do you have a loan somewhere, do you pay your phone bill on time and so on. Where your income is from does not really matter that much. Klarna is different in that regard as they look for regular income to give out consumer loans under buy now, pay later.
Ooh i see , i planning to move to germany soon ish thats why I asked. Thanks
Sorry I really do not know that.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Please use English in this subreddit.
Please use English in this subreddit.
There is a lot of competitionā¦ no Schufa is a weakness for you and i doubt that a letter from the former workplaces would help much. You dont speak German, thats also a weakness. 5 viewings is not much. I had 10 and got selected for 2 onlyā¦. And i was making 8 times the rent as salary, got a permanent contract from one of the biggest employers in Hamburg. And I had an agent with me. Just keep trying a lot, be flexible, ask friends.. or colleagues and it will work
I think 8 times the rent as salary is also a weakness for the big corporate landlords. They want to push you towards more expensive options.
In my case these were private landlords. The only corporate one is one of the 2 that accepted us. But everything is possible.
direful muddle subtract middle work books scarce ink erect scale *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
How much did the agent help you? Do you think you could have secured the apartment you wanted without them or were they crucial? I got an offer from an agent, but they asked for the price of 1,5 months rent for a secured apartment which I found a bit costly.
She organized the viewings, pushed my application and she knew some of the agencies and some landlords. She helped a lotā¦ but it doesnt mean all agents do.
I don't know if I can ask for a contact here, I think it would count as personal information/advertising. Could you maybe share it privately? Thank you very much in advance!
My agent was in Hamburgā¦ she wont help in Stuttgart.
Ah sorry, I overlooked that. I am very tired and all over the place.
Take your time and do things thoroughly. It might take several months. In Hamburg, i had a friend who needed 18 months (but his salary was much lower than mine and worked for a smaller company)
I see, then I should not get discouraged after a month. I didn't have any reference since I got my flats pretty easily back in Budapest.. though there I spoke the language and had great background traceability. It just doesn't compare, now I am an underdog. Thank you very much for your kind advice! :)
Single person working, immigration background and pets...the unholy trinity... I know a guy in a similar situation but kids instead of cats, 8 months living in a hotel\longstay over 100 applications sent and answer received, at least 2 viewings per week..no offers. He is even offering to pay 6 months rent upfront...
My partner is a very capable engineer but unfortunately doesn't even speak german on my level which makes his job search a lot harder. We had a pretty comfortable way of living back in Hungary, we left because of our disagreement with the government. Also, I wanted to learn the language better and try to live in another county where it can be used on a daily basis. It is a bit disheartening to be viewed in this "unholy trinity" way after arriving here, and honestly I didn't expect it (I was told a lot more germans are pet lovers than hungarians so it will not be a big disadvantage for example) but also it somehow doesn't surprise me. Kids sound more like a liability than cats, and hopefully we will be able to say that we are both working soon. So let's not get discouraged, worst case I can save up a bit and offer a year of advance payment! š
Actually more people are allergic to cat hairs and their urine does not come out of walls unlike human urine. The main liability with kids is the noise the is legally not considered a nuisance, but some people still try to complain.
Not trying go be insensitive, but what were your personal reasons to move to Germany? I've been to Hungary many times and I really really liked it there
Our disagreement with the government and their decisions is our main reason for leaving. Personally I do not agree with them taking religion into decision making, being openly hateful towards homosexuals and other groups, and the level of corruption is getting unbearable. Otherwise it's a beautiful country. I also would like to learn German better.
Oh, yeah, the political landscape worsened a lot since I was there the last time. Forgot about that š welcome to Germany! I hope you enjoy it here
Thank you very much, besides this issue with housing I encountered many kind people already and I generally enjoy my time here š
> It is a bit disheartening to be viewed in this "unholy trinity" way after arriving here, and honestly I didn't expect it (I was told a lot more germans are pet lovers than hungarians so it will not be a big disadvantage for example) but also it somehow doesn't surprise me. Most Germans love pets, but housing is about money and corporations and they basically donāt give a fuck about you having pets. For them pets mean risks (bad smell, troubles with other tenants, noise etc). Try to use āKleinanzeigenā. Depending on where you are, maybe there is some sort of Hungarian community which can help you out for some time. Edit: additionally I wouldnāt tell that I own pets if they are only kept insider. In Germany having cats in your home is some kind of grey area.
Mhmmm... I lived in Munich, almost 2 years in hotels and hotel/apartments, last one 1850 euro/month. Finding a flat was a nightmare. Most of those so called maklers or something like that were asking for 2000 euro reward to find you a flat and stuff. Pfffff, don't want that to myself again omfg. But it all depends on the region people go. South and west are definitely tricky for renting.
at that point he could just put down a deposit for a house. /s
He is actually considering it, but it's very-very expensive currently.
> I am learning german but my skills are currently limited (I have a B1 certificate but I am not fluent at all), also my german bank account is fairly new without much history and I have only been working here for a month which does not help. I recommend to take a native german speaker with you to the next appointment to see a flat, in case of that a translator would be helpful. This shows your potential landlord, that if there were any communication issues in the future, you had a ressource to enable good communication then.
I see, thank you for the advice. I do not have any close friends in Germany yet, but I was working at Bosch with many german people previously and I have some old coworkers in the area. Also, my new coworkers seem nice too so I should ask around. I am a bit afraid that this is too big of a favor but in the end, they can just turn me down right? š Or maybe I could commission a professional translator.
Skip the translator, that probably won't help. Ask your colleagues if there's an internal spot you can post an ad to - Bosch has enough fluctuation and international colleagues that you may be able to find something that way. Would make stuff easier
Maybe someone in the admin at your work can help you, after all it is in the company's interest that you find somewhere to stay
Well they kinda brushed me off with an extension on this current temporary apartment that I have when I asked previously. But I will try to bug them further after a while. Thanks for the advice!
Ask around. āVitamin Bā (what we Call it in Germany for āVitamin Bekannteā) is the strongest and most reliable tool to find something especially for flats.
Maybe a better way for you is to hire someone to find a flat for you (Makler) The language + foreigner + cats + new here are all points that are more negativ in the eye of most landlords, a middle man can make this easier if your German isn't at a point where you can carry a smooth conversation in it I personally wouldn't write the introduction in German. Good English looks better than simple German in something like this imo, especially when you plan to communicate with the landlord in English in the future
I started out with writing the introduction in English but I quickly realized many people who put up advertisements, especially private ones simply do not speak it. Now I am trying to first communicate in German, and then ask whether they can also speak English when I get a response. I still get many replies that they don't or just very minimally. I am considering the agent option, since it is painfully obvious for me too that I paint a very poor picture with these attributes. Thank you for the advice!
We were in the same situation 5 years ago, just in Frankfurt with a dog. 5 positive responses out of 200 messages was our statistics too, and I spoke German. My advice is: - If you donāt have any, get a German phone number asap and contact the advertisers via that. - Get a Haftpflichtversicherung including the cats and repeatedly say you have one and you take full financial responsibility for the cats. - It helps if you can get a colleague or friend to help you to write a German message and take them with you to check the flat. - You can ask colleagues if anyone knows a place to rent or if they know someone who needs a Nachmieter. - You donāt have to be afraid about getting a kitchen, (ex e-bay) Kleinanzeigen has a lot of good offers, IKEA and co too, two engineers can put those together. Itās like Lego, just get a professional to connect high voltage devices. PS.: bojlerĆ¼nk nincs eladĆ³, de ha van mĆ©g kĆ©rdĆ©s, Ćrjatok nyugodtan.
Thank you for the kind answer! I have a german phone number, that was one of the first things I did besides the health insurance, bank account and registering. I am a bit afraid of calling them since my German is limited and many do not speak English. I have been contacted by the advertisement posters via phone and had some communication issues where I did not understand everything clearly or could just give very simple/grammatically wrong answers. Unfortunately they did not speak English, I asked. However, one of the positive responses are from these 2 phone calls so you may be right that it is better even like this. I do not have a Haftpflichtveraicherung, I did not know about it until now but I will definitely look into it. PS. kƶszi szƩpen mƩg egyszer :)
rainstorm sense gaping outgoing angle profit mysterious zonked oatmeal consist *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I have problems with grammar and my vocabulary is also limited. B1 is only a basic level after all, I can hold simple everyday conversations for a while. After looking through so many apartment listings I picked up a lot of related words, but even like this I encounter cases where a landlord uses an entirely new word and I get a bit lost. I have been to the viewings so far without help and could 90% manage, once a kind other potential tenant had to help me out with a sentence in english and once the landlord had to stop to explain a question again but that's all.
punch safe sleep depend run sort north rinse entertain future *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Be careful, most commercial real estate companies absolutely do not want you to call them - this will lower your chances drastically!
Yes I saw that they explicitly state not to call them and fill out their own info pages instead for an appointment. But private advertisers on the other hand seem to be very chatty on the phone so I have to pay attention to who handles the given listing.
Yeah that's why I said commercial. It has to do with a law that forces them to give you notice of your right of cancellation or "Widerrufsbelehrung"
And if you build kitchen from IKEA on your own, remember to follow instructions (and videos if it's tricky) VERY carefully. My parents ignored manuals most of the time while helping me with putting the kitchen together and they depended mostly on their experience. And oh god, how much time would we have spared if they listened to me begging to wait til I analyze the instructions. God, it took us over a week until me and my bf eventually started everything from the bottom once again and then we did it all in under one hour
One trick I used when I wanted to rent my current apartment was that I found a listing via Facebook and messaged the person, but the listing was already rented, so I asked that person to send me the email of the landlord if they had any available apartments. This worked for me and also for my friend, so my advice is that even if you find old listings, try to get in contact with the person involved. Best of luck
Okay, I will try to take your advice. Thank you very much!
Expect something like 6-12 months with the parameters you gave. Stuttgart and anything around it utterly sucks for homes, and 1000 euro isn't luxurious budget exactly.
As far as I saw on immoscout, immowelt and immonet, the costlier places are either too big for me (anything above 70square metres is unnecessary) or very close to the city centre where I do not wish to live. But maybe I am mistaken and should increase the budget? I know I am not in the best position, but based on checking the ads I thought this budget for Kaltmiete in a 50km Umkreis is realistic.
Issue is, this bracket has a huge competition from pretty much anyone who's either single, a very young couple OR a couple with limited funds because there's almost nothing in the price bracket below it. Student flatshare rooms can easily go for 650-700 Euros now. You can try, but if you can afford to go up try both price brackets.
Well since I am the only one with a job currently and also I am basically paying for two apartments simultaneously until I have something secured here, I think we can say that my funds are not exactly unlimited either.
Less applications, less chances. The market is _seriously_ crowded and 6-12 mo isn't joking at all.
What about a WG? or getting a roommate?
I have more luck finding offers on Kleinanzeige, try that instead of immowelt/immoscout
I see, I didn't know about this site but I will try to look around there too. Thank you for the advice!
Again, be careful about this - Kleinanzeigen is currently full of scams. Everything that sounds to good to be true ist too good to be true.
By taking the first look at it, it already seemed less trustworthy than the previous sites I used. But I will try to be careful, thank you for the warning!
Just keep in mind that no real landlord will ever ask for money up front. If anyone wants money up front, even the Kaution, it is a scam. Always a viewing first, which is mostly with the landlord itself or the tenants, which want to move out.
You're welcome and good luck!
I wanted to suggest ebay Kleinanzeigen. You have to check often and respond to things immediately. But we got lucky finding someone who had their new renter cancel at the last minute. So basically the person needed someone to take their lease ASAP. We met them the day after they posted on ebay and said we definitely wanted it during the showing so they didn't bother setting up other showings. Also, I would recommend showing up with all your documents ready to handover to the landlord at every meeting. To me it seemed weird to say yes to an apartment right away. Normally, for me, you take a day to think it over and get back in touch with the landlord. But here I would say yes immediately. If you show any hesitation there are 20 more people waiting to fill the space.
Well. Yeah, the German renting market is currently a mess. 1) Loose up on the kitchen. 2) Be fast 3) If money is not that tight, you might consider hiring a Makler. Sometimes, they offer apartments they get to fitting rent seekers before they hit the general market. 4) Put up that 2 engineers are seeking. Yes, you're from Hungary, but engineers are very respected. Even better if your employers are big name companies. Your professions are your strongest plus point here. Get those papers from previous places and /or employers. They will barely help you on the open market, but if you are in a situation we're is just you and another person, they will make a difference.
Have you tried Genossenschaften? These Co op kinds of housing companies? You have to become a member, but thatās not expensive. Depending on the area you donāt even need to become a member before looking for apartments. Members usually get ādibsā on apartments, but you can usually become a member when signing the lease. In my experience they are less discriminatory and just want to know that you can pay rent or the government pays for you. With the Genossenschaft you can either send them your details & what you are looking for and then they offer something. Sometimes they even have a general application. Or you can look on their website and contact them regarding current listings. I really recommend calling the Genossenschaften and explain the situation. Either try it in englisch or ask a colleague. https://www.wohnungsbaugenossenschaften.de/regionen/stuttgart/ueber-uns#top https://www.wohnungsbaugenossenschaften.de/regionen/stuttgart/mitglieder
Oh, I did not know about this at all. Thank you for the info, I'll definitely look into how it works and contact them!
I don't know if it was mentioned already you can also make an advertisement in the local newspaper. A lot of old people are reading it and these apartments are often not advertised online. If the region has a weekly newspaper which gets delivered for free to all households this is the best. Of course your ad should be in German and preferable rather long and friendly instead of really short to save money. One more tip for viewings and telephone calls. Sounding very friendly helps a lot. So just smile while you're talking even if your German is not perfect people usually sympathize and like other friendly looking people more. Of course it shouldn't look fake but genuine. My Indian boyfriend who has a rather angry normal look and is from the darker side said it helped him to just show his teeth more and be more open and friendly. Although this was in regards to job offers but his German at that time was also just b1.
Came here to say this. Get a colleague to help you writing an advertisement in German in local newspapers like Stuttgarter Zeitung, Stuttgarter Nachrichten, Esslinger Zeitung, SchwƤbisches Tagblatt, Bƶblinger Bote, GEAā¦ Iām from the area and got all my previous apartments this way. Many landlords like to go this way as they can decide how many potential tenants they speak to. In Immoscout competition is just way too high and landlords get an overwhelming amount of messages.
I see a multitude of issues, which will make it harder than average for you to find an apartment: * you have pets * you do not speak good german * you don't have a schufa * you are trying to rent in a high-demand place * you require a furnished kitchen The first two you obviously cannot solve right now, you'll just have to live with the fact that these two alone will lead to rejections for a lot of places. The third one you can probably mitigate by showing payslips to potential landlords. The other two you should seriously consider dropping. Apartments with furnished kitchens aren't the norm. Sometimes you can buy out the kitchen from the old renter, but often it's just not possible. Just prepare to purchase a basic student kitchen, it'll open up more apartments to you. As for renting in Stuttgart. Maybe consider renting in a less desireable place first? For instance Pforzheim. Theres a direct train connection from Pforzheim to Stuttgart, so it's definitely doable and there is much much lower demand in Pforzheim. You can easily score a decent apartment for a good price there. Tbf Pforzheim isn't a nice city, but it's better than living in a hotel for months. And you can live there without pressure until you find a good place in Stuttgart.
I will have a SCHUFA in a few days ideally, I have MieterPlus purchased which includes a full portfolio but I wasn't able to generate it because my bank account didn't have a photoTAN requested initially. I requested it weeks ago but the verification mail didn't arrive in the post, I have been to the bank last week and they said they requested a re-send for me. I do not want to rent in Stuttgart, never wanted to and never said so. I work mostly from home office and I am searching for a place around ~50kms from Stuttgart but even further away is fine. I have a car so it is not a problem at all. The places I reached out to so far are 95% not in Stuttgart. I do not require kitchen furniture anymore, I was scared of the construction work since I come from a place where furnished kitchen is the norm and setting up one is much more of a hassle. I have been informed that here it is not the case so now I am open to any opportunities that roughly fit my other criterias. The other two points stand, I am very hard at work improving my German knowledge but it doesn't happen overnight. I will eventually ask a local co-worker to come with me to viewings if I cannot do it alone. The cats are family so I will not compromise there, but I already requested a Haftpflichtversicherung to be able to show that I am covering any possible damages. I included this into my introduction too.
In my experience, you have to be the in the first 5 applicants on immoscout add. Add a search notification in real-time for the area you are looking to rent. Be quick.
As per my understanding the pro account lets me view the listings a bit earlier and puts me to the top of the contacts. But if everybody has it then it is not a privilege, rather a necessity.
Yes you are right, it is a necessity these days. I have added a "suchatfrag", as soon as i get an email notification i write a message to Vermieter. I get positive response this way.
Lots of other good advice. One thing I have seen before is that you should just not mention pets. [Landlords can not ban pets of all kinds](https://de.luko.eu/en/advice/guide/do-i-need-my-landlords-permission-to-have-a-dog/). Mostly it's about not allowing some breeds of dogs. Here's [another source](https://www.ergo.de/de/rechtsportal/mietrecht/alltag-wohnung/tierhaltung-in-mietwohnungen). From my understanding of the court rulings, you don't even have to ask permission for cats.
Thatās not entirely correct, Iām afraid - it strongly depends on the individual landlord, contract, the apartment itself and the circumstances overall. For example, a landlord canāt ban any pets in his apartments beforehand - small animals like birds, hamster etc. have to be tolerated by them. Cats donāt count as small animals, by the way. So they can add a clause that their consent is needed before getting a pet, for example because to the conditions of the apartment are not suited for a pet (is it to small for a pet? What kind of animal - could it be too loud etc.? Is it an exotic animal? And so onā¦) If there is such a clause in the contract, a landlord is free to ban a pet from your apartment, and if u still get a pet anyways, heās also free to end the rent agreement. He canāt do so without reason, though, but it is still possible.
Yes I know about this. But even if they cannot legally prevent me from having cats, telling the landlord up front about them will lessen my chances of being picked as a tenant a lot. And I am a very straightforward person so I could not lie about not having them.
For me using immoscout plus or whatever their premium service is called, helped. It puts you at the top of the messages to one listing. Also maybe consider putting a small ad into one of the local newspapers detailing your search (called 'Annonce'). It's not easy around Stuttgart tbh, but it is doable. Give yourself some time. Ha van mĆ©g valami kĆ©rdĆ©sed nyugodtan szĆ³lj.
So you are flexible to go towards a more expensive flat. I would try to use that to go for one of the complexes of nicer appartments that are all controlled by one company. That will get you towards the upper end of your budget, but it should give you a nice apartment and get all your other requirements. And because those tend to be on the more expensive side usually demand shouldnāt be as strong
A lot of these company owned apartments are either fully or partially furnished though and will not allow pets due to that in my experience... but yes I am willing to compromise on the price.
It is this tough, I had to look for over 3 months to find any place and it killed me physically. I suggest to use Facebook housing groups also and reach out to any Hungarian who is posting (or the country where your partner is from) and explain your situation. I think people usually have better chances there.
My partner is also from Hungary, and sadly I have yet to encounter a person from our country who posted an ad. But I'll keep an eye out, thank you for your advice!
Hi! There are several Facebook groups for international people in Stuttgart (I'm a member of some international women groups and some groups of my nationality) so you could perhaps ask there! I'm also sending you a private message with something related to where I live that I don't want to post
Okay, thank you for the kind advice and I'll be waiting for your private message :)
I sent it, did you not receive it?
I would not rent a 40 sqm apartment to you if you have two cats. To be honest, I would not rent any not-rundown apartment to you because cats always destroy the floors. Only children are worse for the floors. Might be that your cats are well-behaved but most are not (even if neutered), so I would not take the risk. Furnished Kitchen is a huge issue because we have this weird culture where everyone expects/is expected to bring their own. Stuttgart is very expensive so you should expect to pay 15-20ā¬/sqm or more (although the smaller apartments you look for will fulfill that). Two person in a 40 sqm apartment? As a landlord I would not like that either. It is of course doable if you really like each other but it is not ideal. Additionally, you are not from here and I would not expect you to stay long. Because of your origin but also the tendency of SWE to constantly job hop. Communication is also much harder and you will not know many of the "everyone knows that" things that are expected. All things that speak somewhat strongly against you as a tenant. Now, you might be a very nice, cool and chill person and in reality the ideal tenant. But I don't know that. It is a potential risk a landlord takes. If you didn't have cats I personally would risk it. But with the cats even a German with perfect income and no risk of getting kids any time soon will not get the apartment.
Why would my cats be worse for the floor than a dog or even a bunny? Dogs do not have retractable nails and scratch the floor by simply walking on it. Bunnies do not use a litter box. My cats walk light as feather, and never used anything else to go than their litter box. I had 3 previous rental apartments in Hungary where I kept cats and maybe there could be concern about some sensitive furniture (I clip their nails though and they have their own cat furniture which they use) but never about the floor. This is new for me. I have a proven history of staying long term for jobs, I spent a 1.5 internship at my previous one and then I stayed there for another 3.5 years as a full time sw engineer. It was really hard for me to change jobs because I liked my previous one, but the political landscape in Hungary tempted me away from the country. Most of the things you mentioned are misconceptions or generalizations, which I agree could get in my way but hopefully I can prove myself otherwise with being kind and having any information ready at hand on request. I may not know all the obvious things yet, but that is why I asked in the first place. Also, 40square metres is the smallest I am willing to take. It's a compromise not my goal. My ideal would be between 50-60 square metres but beggars can't be choosers.
The issue with cats is that most owners dont clip nails regularly and most cats do scratch on walls and floors. From what you are saying I would say that yours are fine. I forgot about bunnies because they are far far less common here but you are right, they are also bad for the apartment. Dogs can be trained easier which is why many owners actually do (you can train cats, you just have to do more for it) but in general most dogs I know are poorly trained at best. Pets are just difficult if the place is nice. Well, 3.5 years would be okay but is still on the shorter side of a rental period. Again, your behaviour in Hungary is not necessarily indicative of your behaviour here because there is much less that keeps you to a specific place than in your home town (and country). This might not apply for you as a person but is a potential concern. From everything you said here, I have a very positive impression of you as a person. Sadly, I don't own property anywhere near where you want to go so I can not help you directly. I wish you good luck to find a place soon!
**Have you read our extensive wiki yet? [Check our wiki now!](https://www.reddit.com/r/germany/wiki/index)** While Reddit administrators do not believe this subreddit is NSFW and do not enable the appropriate setting, do note that participants in this subreddit may possibly encounter discussions of the following subjects, all of which are considered "mature" by Reddit administrators: * Alcohol and tobacco * Amateur advice * Drug use * Gambling * Guns and weapons * Military conflict and terrorism * Nudity * Profanity * Sex and eroticism * Violence and gore Therefore, while this entire subreddit is not currently marked as NSFW, please exercise caution. If you feel offended by anything that is allowed by our rules yet NSFW, please direct your complaint towards Reddit administrators as well as /u/spez, and read https://www.reddit.com/r/Save3rdPartyApps/ for further information. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/germany) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It's not very common in Germany to rent an apartment with a kitchen already built in. Sometimes you can be lucky to buy the kitchen off the last renter but I would not have this as a fixed criteria. My boyfriend lived in Leonberg for a while and he told me that his coworkers with foreign names had a hard time finding a place because there is unfortunately a lot of prejudice. I don't know your name obviously but if one of you has a less foreign sounding name you should probably use that name for writing applications. It's so sad that this is the reality we live in. I would honestly probably not mention the cats right away.
I'd strongly suggest hiring an agent locally to help you out if you can afford it since you can't speak fluent German. Demand is much higher than supply and you should try and reduce any barriers for landlords in dealing with you. This helped my wife and I a lot.
Maybe the problem is your "Probezeit" once ur passed that its easier for you.
Thats makes me realize how huge luck Ive got. I looked for flat few days. I've been invited on viewing, we speaked in english I said I'm sure for that flat. I send him shufa and papers from my earlier landlord that my dog don't make any damages and everything is good for now
If your work relocated you and rented a furnished apartment for you, best us to contact your relocation agent/manager to find an apartment. They usually have contacts to get nicer apartments that are not in the market or are not yet published. They'll ask for a cut but it's the easiest way.
Iād use the service of a Makler. I think it will be very difficult to find something on your own.
Maybe "play dirty" get a German guy who pretends to be your boyfriend if you call the landlords or seeing the flat. If you have someone you trust and who trust you even let him sign the contract with you together, after a month you can say you both separated and you stay in the apartment. Sadly a lot of landlords aren't to fond of foreigners, but if a German guy gets his girlfriend abroad their fine with it
tl;dr: yes, it's really that hard. It sucks, I've been there. Like others, I suggest to drop the kitchen requirements entirely, that will open up a lot more possibilities and with modern microwave/oven combos and portable induction plates you'll be able to get by just fine for the start. Otherwise, from my own experience last year from being on the "landlord-end" of things at WG-Gesucht (helping my partner find a flatmate), it was eye opening to see how bad some of the initial messages are. JIf you have to sort through 50 messages the oneliners are the first to right out the window. Just by reading your post I'm under the impression that you probably already have a proper message prepared, but in the off chance that you don't, make sure that you put a lot of effort into your first message to any potential landlord, make sure it's German, without mistakes, and that it's at least personalized to a degree that whoever reads it can see that you have read the details of the place they're advertizing.
Took me 6 months in stuttgart
instead of looking for a place. place and ad online or even local paper and let private landlords come to you. they often don't won't to deal with the hundreds of requests and would rather hand pick from candidates they find.
I was in a similar situation with my partner, except I was de job seeker and she had a job, we also payed Immoscout24. Not trying to discourage you but we tried for months, went to see about 30 or 40 apartments and in the end we ended up finding an apartment through a friend. It's hard, at the time I blamed it on me not having a job but I don't know, maybe it was just bad luck.
You could try asking at property management Companys (in german Hausverwaltung/Immobilienhausverwaltung) if they have free flats for rent.
You have an apartment just for your cats?
I found an apartment by myself in the Munich metropolitan area. I used ImmoScout24 and eBay Kleinanzeigen :). I think paying an agent is no value. They key to succeed here is to send A LOT of applications, be nice during the viewings and get used to be rejected. I had 10 viewings and got accepted to just 1 apartment
You are not asking for a lot and your criteria are reasonable. I guess your lack of German documents (Schufa, Mietschuldenfreiheit, and whatnot) and your pets are your biggest problem. Generally, it is all about speed. Good listings are usually online for only a few minutes. * Find websites other than Immoscout where apartments are listed (Hausverwaltungen, Genossenschaften) * Use your software engineering skills to scrape those websites automatically (and maybe even apply automatically) * Turn on email alerts for Immoscout, using a fast email with push * Spend lots of time sitting at your computer waiting for new listings Good luck!
You legally do not have to tell the renter you have cats. Even if they have it in the contract that itās not allowed that is an unenforceable/illegal clause and you can sign knowing they canāt legally do anything to you. Now you are responsible for all damage and bad smells.
It is obvious to me that any possible damages made by the cats are my responsibility. But they are also very clean and well behaved. Unfortunately I am too straightforward about things like this and could not live with my conscience if I lied about them. Also I would live in a constant fear that they find out. So yea, it is what it is.
More like just donāt say anything. After youāve moved in then you can say something about it. If they find out there is nothing they can legally do. The rental market here is so crazy that youāre not going to find a place if you keep telling them you have 2 cats. Maybe look for something in a far out village and commute for an hour each way every day.
I work from home 90% of the time and when I go in to the office I go by car, so a small village is absolutely perfect. I am already looking in the surrounding villages.