Job Discussion Forums

JZer · Joined: 16 Jan 2005 Posts: 3898 Location: Pittsburgh

Probably one of the best ways to find a room is to go to the Frei Universitat Berlin or Humbolt and look at the advertisements. Many students are looking for roomates "Mitbewohner/Mitbewohnerin" IF you can't read any German this may be a problem.

jelly donut · Joined: 13 Nov 2005 Posts: 1

If you're up for sharing you can get some pretty fantastic deals in Berlin.

check out:

www.wgcompany.de
www.wg-gesucht.de
www.studentenwg.de
http://berlin.opusforum.org

the options are not as good in english as far as I know but you could try:

http://berlin.craigslist.org
www.roomwithaloo.com (sadly a pay site - the others are free)

nobody i know who lives in a shared place (WG - Wohngemeinschaft) pays more than 250 including utilities and internet, unless they have a ridiculously nice place AND are getting ripped off to some degree. i'm paying 120 including everything but my room is somewhat smallish (13qm) and i live with five other people and not everyone is into that. i looked at 3 or 4 rooms for around 240 inclusive that were between 20-24 qm with wood floors and balconies and the whole bit, but i went for the cheap stuff in the end.

it partly depends on the neighborhood - you'll probably be able to tell from the prices which are the swankier parts of town. personally i think "bad neighborhood" in berlin doesn't hold a candle to "bad neighborhood" in most of the american cities i know, but i may just be oblivious.

i've also known a few people who got their first six months of rent free by agreeing to do the renovations, so if you're into sanding floors and stripping wallpaper it's probably a financially sound plan.

good luck!

-Jaime

jasonconga · Joined: 01 Dec 2005 Posts: 36 Location: the black forest

man oh man, is it expensive in freiburg!

3-room apartment in the nice part of town, 900euro!

you can get rooms for 200-250, and 2-room apartments for 550-600 but seriously, there is major competition down in the Black Forest!

poro · Joined: 04 Oct 2004 Posts: 274

That sounds very bad, Jason.

I'd be wondering why insufficient planning permits had been issued. They aren't above doing favors for their friends down there, but it's very difficult to nail them.

Oh well....