Job Discussion Forums

[avahanian]

Dear all:

A common question that comes up quite frequently is the housing issue....so I thought I would share a link with you, it's a fabulous website called www.postoletto.com . Those of you who are looking for information on housing prices will find this website to be very helpful.

however you will need to know at least a bit of Italian, but even if you don't it's quite simple really. After you enter the main page, click on the first button and you will enter the search page.

In the first menu, make sure you select "OFFRE" (which means offers or vacancies) and then select the region/city from the next menu. Then, click on the button that says "AVANTI" to do the search.

you will then see the listings (there are many listings every day)

now, searching for a flat in Italy can be really confusing, because most probably, you will not be able to afford your own flat if you're teaching English (this is the sad reality, as it is quite expensive to rent your own flat in Italy). Here are the distinctions (and I could be wrong, but this is my understanding):

posto letto - as far as I know, this means a bedsit, you share a room with someone else in a shared flat

singola - your own room in a shared flat

monolocale - 1 bed flat or studio

bilocale - 2 bed flat

however on this website you find that most of the listings are either a posto letto or singola

the posto letto is the cheapest of course, but you will be sharing a room with someone else. Apparently this is quite common in university towns such as Bologna.

though I bet that most of you will prefer a singola....you will still have flatmates but at least you will have your own room all to yourself.

Can anyone who lives in Italy now, add their two cents (or rather, euro cents) worth?

best wishes

Arin

[cloudsound]

Hi all. I'm bumping this 5 year old thread because I'm currently trying to figure out housing for myself and there seems to be a lack of information on the subject in the Italy forum. The above post seems about right on types of room, but I have a couple other questions I can't find answers to.

First, what is common among us teachers and the working class, especially foreigners? Is it realistic to find a singola for less than 500�/month? If that depends on the region, I am specifically wondering about Northern Italy, but it may be helpful to discuss the other regions as well.

Secondly, is this something usually arranged before arriving in the country, or is it something that can be taken care of the first few days there? I'm unsure of this because many of the ads I've seen are put out by residents rather than landlords, many say the room is available now, and many want you to come visit the place before renting.

Thanks in advance.

[Teacher in Rome]

First of all, have a look at the thread below regarding new laws against illegal immigrants. If you aren't EU and don't have working papers, you might find it difficult to rent anything at all!

Secondly, the price depends greatly on where you are. In Rome, you wouldn't find a single room in shared flat for much below �500 per month. On top of that, you'll need to pay deposit and the first month's rent in advance. Smaller towns are much cheaper.

There are a number of rental contracts, ranging from the classic 4+4 (four years to be renewed for a further four years) which applies to residents, and temporary contracts for one year. Both these contracts require the landlord to register them and pay a small tax. Then there are all the sub-letting agreements between students, friends etc.

Before I arrived in Rome, I arranged a month's temporary accommodation through a different agency. Then, within a couple of days of arriving, I found my new flat via an estate agent. Of course, it wasn't ready for another two months, but nothing runs that smoothly in Italy!

You can also find flats through papers / sites. (There are previous threads on this.)

[SueH]

Bilocale doesn't normally refer to number of bedrooms but the number of rooms apart from the bathroom - for example living room and bedroom. Bear in mind you often won't have a separate kitchen but an 'angolo cottura' within the living room.

I think you'd find it difficult to find a place without being there. As I was UK based I did a reccy visit to sort myself out. For what it's worth I have a contratto convenzionato (for 3 years) which is a bit cheaper than normal and gives the owner certain tax advantages. I pay 600 for three bedrooms, large lounge, separate kitchen (hoorah) and two bathrooms (one more a laundry room but it does have that vital loo and basin for when I have visitors). It's also got a decent balcony. The bath has lost it's patina and one or two of the windows can be draughty but given the price I've been lucky. I'm in a small Northern city.

[roset]

I have a question regarding rent and it seems to be along the same lines as this thread. I've just been offered a room in rome near vatican city, and the rent is 500 euro. The thing is that I need to pay three months rent up front as well as a deposit of 550? To me that sounds an insane amount of money to give up front for a three month contract? Is this normal? Perhaps it is, but I want to check before I commit to anything. I do know that in Italy the up front price is a lot but still, that almost �2,000, I hope that isn't normal.

Any help would be greatly appreciated thanks!

[Teacher in Rome]

That sounds a lot. I paid 4 months' rent in total:

One month to the agency as their fee
Two months as deposit
One month's rent in advance

I got the two months' rent back at the end of the contract.

[Jetgirly]

We rented directly from the apartment owner and paid only one month's rent as a deposit plus the first month's rent up front. I can't imagine renting from an agency in Italy, their fees are astronomical.

[acmurray]

I've been living in Bologna for a year. Singles in a shared flat here go for �300-�400 a month, a monolocale (studio) is going to be closer to �500-�600. As a general rule the apartments in the historical center are more expensive and a little shabbier, but living outside the walls isn't very inconvenient. And Bologna is one of the most expensive cities in Itay.

Both times I've rented in Italy, it's the first month's rent plus 2-3 months' deposit that gets returned (hopefully) by the end. Plus contract/questura fees and stamps and such. So you have to have a good deal of cash up front. But 3 months plus deposit sounds a bit excessive to me.

For what it's worth, I'm American and not legal. I'm on a regular contract with my landlady, which means that technically the questura has a photocopy of my passport and my information. I know I'm going to get a lot of flak for saying this, and it's a sad bit of racism/nationalism, but it's true - Americans (/Canadians/Australians/Kiwis) are not the illegal immigrants that the government's after, and generally they don't waste their time hunting us down. (At least not English teachers since they benefit from our presence; working in a bar/gelateria/restaurant that are regularly checked for illegal immigrants might very well be riskier.) Just don't be an idiot and make yourself unwelcome.