Tips on renting an apartment in Berlin

Hi there!

We have just found a flat in Berlin as we are moving there next week. Some general advice: if possible I would try to give longer than three days to look.

My boyfriend filled in applications for a couple but it has been down to the landlord to go through the applications and select who they want, and we weren't picked for one but got the other. But the landlord took quite a few days to decide as he had a few applicants.

If we hadn't got the flat that we did, then Room with a Loo (English speaking service) had sent us details of flats that they had to let on a more short term basis so we could then look for something more permanent once we were there.

We also found that some agents advertised having lots of flats in certain areas then said that they didn't have anything at the moment when he rang.

Good luck with your search!

The Saturday Berliner Zeitung has the most comprehensive listings.

We found a flat as a 'nachmeiter', taking over someone else's lease, and because the people moving out liked us, they put us at the top of the list.

Otherwise, the first name on the list that passes the credit check should get the flat, although I'm sure landlords ignore this and give the flat to the person with the best credit.

Anyway, there is such a housing glut in Berlin you shouldn't have a problem finding someplace nice and relatively cheap.

Out of interest, what are the rents like in Berlin right now? Im talking about modern, or at least, fully renovated flats, 2 to 3 room. Not interested in any unrenovierte altbau, no matter how cheap (had enough of that when I used to live in Berlin).

I live in a renovated altbau, wood floors, balcony, 2 rooms at 64 sq meters. We pay just under 400 euro warm.

That's in Teptow a block away from the park and river on a quite side street full of protected buildings. 10 minute walk to the ring s-bahn, or just around the corner from the bus. You can be at Alex in 20 minutes, or walk to Kreuzberg along the river in 10.

When I tell people in the states this, they don't believe me,

The flat that we got is 95 sqm, 3 rooms and 900 warm, which compared to what we have been paying for a one bedroomed flat in the UK (650 pounds with council tax and all bills on top) is a bargain. However compared to Ami's place it is shockingly expensive!

Your's is 1/3 bigger, though.

What area are you in? Treptow is still a bargin, although in the past year or so it's become more popular.

A similar flat in Seattle would have cost me easily twice as much.

Its in the dreaded, pretentious Prenzlauer Berg as boyfriend can quickly get to work from there! Which might account for the price hike. And we needed the spare room for family invasions - I think we are going to see more of them when we are there than we have here.
Is Seattle really expensive for the US now? I know many people who would love to move over to the US and Canada (rather than have the language barriers of Europe) for a better quality of life than here.
My old housemate came from Seattle and was horrified at the nasty shared house she had signed up for over the internet. She thought for the price that she was going somewhere nice!

They dont believe you in London either. Or pretty well anywhere else in Britain for that matter.

When I first moved to Berlin back in 1990 I paid just 220 DM (about 110 Euros) a month warm for a 2 room flat, first in Friedrichshain, and then in Köpenick. In the mid 90s rents had risen and I was paying 440 Marks, about 600 DM warm for a 2 room in Prenzlauer Berg. Now Im in Frankfurt and pay double that for the same space. Admittedly quality and location much better. And nice not to have grafitti and dogshit outside your front door.

(Thats Frankfurt am Main, not Oder)

we have just returned from a 4 day flat hunt in berlin and we did all the wrong things and went to all the wrong places for 3 days and on the 4th day found something semi-civilized but missed the responsable person to sign the papers.
It was a real nightmare as beginners in berlin we were really lost. My husband starts at the charite in october - probably without us - what i find strange is that the charite offers no relocation service. any tips from anyone would be great as we are now looking at a case of sending my husband flat hunting on his weekends!
atleast we know which areas are safe and where not to go!
Everyone says don not go and pay commision to an estate agent as there are so many empty flats but we get the feeling it would maybe be better?

Buy a copy of the Saturday Berliner Zeitung. This week's edition had 11 pages of ads, sorted by neighourhood.

Relocation service?! It`s - eastern - Berlin, not Los Angeles.

You could also try the weekend edition of Berliner Morgenpost which has a big immobilien section. I think you can also access the apartments to let database pages on the web as well, which makes searching much easier, since you can enter search criteria like number of rooms, maximum rent and of course area.

good luck!

yes for sure it is just berlin and not los angeles but when you have a family and get a job in such a well known hospital as the charite you would just think a little help would be offered - ok not the whole thing but a few tips atleast would have saved alot of stress, after all they want their employees to be able to start fresh and relaxed and not exhausted and stressed!
will try to get hold of the berlin zeitung even though we are far away, maybe the station has it.
One tip for any travelling to berlin - we checked out of our hotel to return home by train and wanted to wait 3 hours at the zoo bahnhof but some one said to go to ostbahnhof instead and it was really great there, new and clean unlike zoo , kids thought they were at an airport!

Try the Beliner Morgenpost online: Berliner Morgenpost / Rent

I agree a large organisation which is staff-intensive like a big hospital in a big city should provide at least some assistance, some clue trails if nothing else. When I moved to Berlin in 1990 things were very different. Lived there 7 years, for 3 years I lived near the Ostbahnhof (Hauptbahnhof as it was called then), just off Karl-Marx-Allee. 100 euros a month for 60 sq m. Those were the days...

For tips on furnished accommodation see the related TT topic: furnished accommodation in Berlin