Finding an Apartment Overseas

Well, I think I've hit the hardest part of going to school in Germany. Finding an apartment overseas is tough. Craigslist is great for finding listings but this is really making me nervous since I can't really meet people or tour any facilities prior to arriving in Germany. There are too many scams out there, and I'm not comfortable putting down a deposit on a place I haven't been able to see. I've already filtered out at least 2 (more likely 4-5) scammers.

The people I like best and am most inclined to trust, seem to be equally reticent about sharing a flat with someone they haven't met before. And for good reason.

I'm thinking maybe line up a couple potentially good apartments and then arrange to stay in a hostel or something for the first night or two just to give myself a chance to check things out first.

what part of germany are you moving to? one of my friends is from cologne and all his family is there. I might be able to get you a contact there

I'll be in Berlin. I know we have a member on the board who lives in the next town to the west of there ("Brad", I think). I've narrowed my search down to a few regions in central Berlin.

Is there any help available from the school to find another new student who also needs a roommate? Any facebook type thing for the school to find other students (ironically what facebook was started for.)

jrw1621 wrote: Is there any help available from the school to find another new student who also needs a roommate? Any facebook type thing for the school to find other students (ironically what facebook was started for.)

I checked with them and they did put me in touch with another student. We had been hoping to find an apartment together. Unfortunately, he's running into problems getting leave from work. He works at an Anheuser-Busch brewery down in LA. He got permission for extended leave from his boss a while back. Then A-B got bought by InBev, and they "restructured"... so his boss got fired. Now, he is trying to get permission from his new manager, but it's tough because his division is smaller now. So, he might not be going, and suggested I start hunting on my own first.

The other students have more funds to find apartments than us Americans. Typically, the Americans are the only ones who fund themselves. Everybody else is getting their way paid by the brewery they already work for, so they're not in the same bind to find a roommate.

So these fully funded individuals could "profit" from getting a roommate. That is, have the whole thing paid for and then get you to give them multiple hundreds worth of spending money each month.

Maybe. But I wasn't put into contact with them.

I know an American professor type that may still be working in Berlin. Send me your email address & put you in touch.

Kendall

Salanis, Ed from this thread lives in Germany, PM/email him through the thread if have trouble contact me.

http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=12863