Well the place we saw on Sunday is offline which means it was rented, and they never called us to follow up -- so I'm guessing it's been rented and wasn't meant to be. But really who cares because I'm not ready to settle for an apartment with a big ugly oven in the living room and dark "faux" wood plastic floors. Can you sense my tone? Yeah, I have a tone all right because let's say that we even DID want it, the fact that they never bothered to call us back after we filled out the renter's form and left our number is a bit annoying.
Finding an apartment has been a nightmare, one I never imagined having in a city that I thought was pretty low on the "hot spots to live in Germany" list. My friends are still searching, they have the same criteria as mine, in the same neighborhood -- and none of us have found anything. Tomorrow we're going to another "open house" but the apartment is facing the subway on the lower floor so I'm wondering if I should even bother?
My husband tells me to give up my search. He says that, in the same way we found eachother, a place will also come to us when we are not desperate or in want of heart. But to end my search scares me. Perhaps I should though. My friend already told me that if she finds an apartment that we can have her flat, and though it's only one extra room more than we have now, at least the kitchen is eat-in and she has a balcony and is located across from the forest and near all of the shopping on Hannover's best street. Maybe that will be where we end up because at this rate, it doesn't look like we'll be moving anytime soon.
What a drag.
(image: holly becker)
Comments
Thank you for sharing this process in your blog. I appreciate knowing I'm not alone in the House Hunting journey.
In hope, Sara
glg Jeannette
It might make you feel better. At least you currently have a lovely apartment with no circumstances that are forcing you to move (ie lease ending, etc)...so take some time to destress! (-:
And now I LOVE our little house. When I think of all the others we looked at and did not get, all the heartache, I know it was all worthwhile because OUR house was waiting for us.
Hang in there, Holly-- your apartment is so pretty and you put it together with such love. The right house is out there, just waiting for you! I know it is.
I've noticed in your apartment-hunting posts, the comments seem divided into two groups: those that say to take a less-than-perfect apartment, turn it into your dream home and then move on with your life, and those that say hold on, don't settle, you'll know the perfect flat when you see it. Both arguments make a lot of sense, but which side resonates more with you?
Maybe don't end your search, but put it on hold for a few months. Let the market turn over a bit, let your own head clear up- come back to it with fresh vigour in the summer?
Also, I'm serious when I say this: Lots of families (in those 4-5 ZKB places) move in the summer, when kids are out of school and it's easier for parents to get time off work. March/April/May should be good times to find a bigger selection as people give their landlords that 3 month notice.
We live in a tiny university town, and even here it can take years to find a new home. I've been so impressed with how many places you've found even worth visiting! Be encouraged!
So! I want to find an apartment that I love in the end and one where I can make some changes, if needed, without the landlord looking at me like I had bad taste/ideas. :) I'm very open-minded, I have renovated around 40 properties in my lifetime (or more) and designed about 20 client spaces so I have no problem getting dirty and working hard to accomplish something. It's just not happening here so far though and this does break my heart.
By the way -- my husband told me that the landlady kept asking everyone who came in the door to view the apartment if they had kids and she was very excited whenever couples did, so this may be another one of those discriminating landlords again. We run into them all the time here now, it's common -- if you are over 30 and don't have kids and want a 5 room apartment they don't want to rent it to you - they'd rather give it to parents. I don't GET this way of thinking, but whatever.
I think you should give yourself a bit of a break and not bother with places that you know already won't work...like this one that's next to a subway station. Save your time and energy for the places you can really see yourself in and avoid all the burnout. You're already such a busy bee!
Bon chance!
It is not easy to find something affordable here... But we try to keep positive and hope that everything will work out in the end. I am sure everything works out for you too, things usually do, and you've probably learned a thing or two along the way :)
Good luck!
One more thing you should probably think of - when it comes to choosing, German landlords tend to pick someone with a "normal" job which, for them, screams "stable income". My self-employed friends have reported discrimination in this area, too. And please, don't expect them to call and tell you they're not taking you, it's not common here at all. Unfortunately...
Although I've just written a bunch of depressing things, the dream apartment is what happening in your head. Try writing a very detailed letter to the universe, describing every inch of that apartment and put it into some lucky area of your current dwelling. These things work!
And maybe - just a thought - being a kilometer further from Lister Platz/Eilenriede and other must-have locations will finally get you your dream apartment. Best of luck, Holly!
My sister once sublet her place for 2 years. She had 29 people come to look at the apartment. 22 of them said they were interested. She told everyone if they didn´t hear from her until day X, then the apartment would have gone to another person.
Landlords often can not give every person who looked at a place a call. It is just too much!
You are such an inspiration Holly and whatever you decide to do, sit on the fence for while or keep going I am sure we will all still be here to help you with your search, or just to watch your life unfold.
If I was in Germany you could borrow my children to look at homes! That way you wouldn't face the discrimination!
So don't give up! We also had loads of landlords that NEVER gave us reply to say yes or no. I find this very rude! What I would say is, don't make this your main occupation or let this take you whole attention, and things will get better, you'll see!
I am an architect, i also wanted something nice and my biggest expectation was a new bathroom. Didnt dream with a old style flat because that would be impossible to get in a reasonable price in munich. Trust me, Munich is very hard to find a place, and also very very expensive! And we got it in the end. For the price we wanted and provisionsfrei. And we could not believe!
My husband was just starting at his new job and I was on experience still on my job,and we still got it. So just be patient (I know, it is hard!) and things will find its place soon.
Good luck!
This is Germany, not everything is so great. Get real, and don't be so picky!
Germany has its ups and downs just like any other place. Maybe you are a bit to picky!
That´s NOTHING! Some people look at six places each weekend.
Maybe in small towns or unpopular areas you could find a perfect place in no time. But in most towns (meaning: worldwide) popular neighbourhoods have very limited housing on offer.
You have very specific ideas and are still lucky enough that apartments which match most of your criteria are on offer. Some of the places you write about sound great and the prices are low compared to most cities. And still you are not interested in them!? I think it is your good right not to want a new home that you do not like the look of. You should feel comfortable in a new home. But there is no reason to sulk because a landlord does not choose you. Landlords also have the right to choose tennants they feel comfortable with. If a potential tennant asks about changing a floor that was newly installed, I wouldn´t prefer him to move in, either. Would you? Anyone would choose the tennant that seems positive and happy about the space on offer.
Sorry, no offence! But you seem a little naive to me. It´s good to have high expectations. But you can not expect others to satisfy your needs for you.
I read in a previous post you might locate to London, as you are fed up with the real estate situation in your town. Thats as if an eskimo wants to move from Alaska to Africa, because he expects to find nicer igloos there ;-)
Still, i wish you luck. And my experience says you will find a place that is good for you.
And the type of place you would be interested in, in all honesty, normally comes with huge strings -- a limited time rental contract (something that ONLY benefits the landlord) or simply a much higher per-square meter rental price.
That or you will have to invest 5-10-20k of your own money renovating a property which is maybe more ideal for you but is not renovated. I have many friends who have done that without blinking an eye. Some try to arrange that they can charge an "abstand" if they leave the apartment - but most lose everything.
I was one of those people who looked at 5 -10 places a week for half a year every time we changed residences. And I still had to compromise big time. Hamburg is much more sought after than Hanover, of course, but the point is really that any city has sought after neighborhoods and everyone in your demographic wants a place there for a good price with real wood floors etc etc.
For 4-5 rooms, 120-140 square meteres in the best areas of any city in Germany, altbau, the prices are high and the choice is small. For that size apartment in Hamburg, for instance, renovated, you are looking at 1700-2000 a month rent cold. If you expect to pay 800-1000 a month cold, with an unlimited rental contract, there will be huge compromises regardless.
Man bezahlt so oder so.
Are there no nice, gentrifying outlying towns near Hanover that could be a possibility?
I would be looking in Celle also if I were you.
So I agree with your husband. If you let it go it might come back to you in a different form.
It might help you a little to think of this from the opposite position.
If you had a nice apartment that you were trying to rent out in Germany, you would advertise it and get the floods of people to your door.
Here would be your main concern: In Germany it takes, on average, over two years to get a dead beat tenant out -- count that from the first time they skip the rent. If they even show intention to pay -- like giving you a 20 euro bill when they owe you thousands, that can count in the Court as an intention to pay and delay the entire process further. In the end you have to get a Gerichtvollstrechungsbefehl which gives you the right to break into your own apartment to get it back. And of course, deadbeat tenants leave a messy, trashed apartment behind. The whole process can take years, and in the mean time you might lose the apartment because you could not make the mortgage payments.
And it is not just at the lower socioeconomic end of the scale. Fact is, some very educated people in Germany end up being deadbeat tenants because they know they can get away with it.
This is what is on many landlords' minds. This is why we opted to sell our apartment in Hamburg instead of renting it out.
This is why landlords go with the lowest possible risk: someone with a solid, unlimited employment contract, a history of making rent payments, and a good SHUFA (credit report). Someone that looks like they won't make waves. So when you ask if you can replace the floor (as an American without a German employment contract etc), you can see what goes through the landlord's mind -- rather to take a safe German working for Opel. See what I mean?
Being a tenant in Germany is tough. Being a landlord is also really tough. Maybe you can arm yourself with this knowledge and come up with a new strategy which increases your odds, in how you approach the Landlord.
Just some thoughts.
Wishing you peace of mind and success!
Suana