SOS! I need an apartment

Voici quelques conseils pour vous aider à trouver un appartement à Paris:

1. Définir  les priorités de la recherche : l’emplacement, la surface et le prix. Ce n’est pas la peine de courir à travers Paris en visitant chaque l’appartement figurant dans les annonces.
2. Etre prêt aux compromis. A certain moment, tu seras obligé à le faire. Moi, au bout d’un mois, j’ai abandonné l’idée d’avoir une machine à laver dans un appartement, ainsi que  augmenter mon budget.
3. Don't give up and keep calm! Même si tu as déjà visité 20 d’appartements. C’est pas grave, continu !
4. Concernant le dossier que tu dois fournir, il faut absolument apporter beaucoup-BEAUCOUP de papier surtout concernant ta situation financière. Apres il faut juste espérer et continuer ta recherche !
5. Lors des visites des appartements, il faut donner une impression d’être quelqu’un de très responsable et sérieux (si ce n’est pas tes trais naturelles, il faut prétendre).
6. Les meilleurs sites de trouver un appartement via les particuliers (www.pap.fr ou www.leboncoin.fr) et via les agences (www.seloger.fr)

Two years ago I searched for every little hint on what to do to find an apartment in Paris. I had never thought that it could be so difficult! 

I can say that you are very lucky if you have a French garant or if your salary 3 times higher than a rent of a flat per month. But what if you are a foreign student without any relatives who can be garants for you and no salary... That was my case.

I will talk about my experience of finding a flat in Paris, so it doesn’t mean that it is a unique rule for everyone. I wished to rent an apartment not far from my university which meant 16th or 8th arrondissements (17th at least) where prices are relatively higher than in 10th or 11th arrondissements for example. Anyway, I counted on finding an apartment of 20 m² (at least) for 700€ max (very naive).

Announcement #1

"Jolie appartement dans un immeuble haussmannien"

This must be the flat of my dream...- I thought

I don't know about you, but before coming to Paris I looked at beautiful pictures of Parisian buildings and thought that once I was in Paris, I would find a flat in such beaux batiments with a cute balcony.

The thing is that these marvelous houses, the one we can see on the first line, are 100m² apartments. So even if they are on rent, you can imagine that the offer isn't really interesting for students. Behind these buildings, there is the second line of houses. These one are smaller and more modest. They are for rent!

Disappointment #1

The 7th floor without a lift is not the worst thing...

It happens very often that in real estate announcements they forget to mention that there is no lift in the building. How come? In fact, buildings of the second line as well as upper floors of the houses from the first line used to be occupied by servants (chambre de bonne). That means a back door entry, small rooms, shabby stairs and walls, and sometimes no lift (hard to imagine nowadays, but there is simply not enough of space). The most shocking thing for me was that there might be no WC in the flat. Where are they? Sur le palier! In other words, in the common corridor. It’s your private WC and you have a key...And last but not least: the rent is 650€ min.

Announcement #2

The 6th floor, lift, WC...

Thanks God! 

Disappointment #2

Раньше подумала бы, что это очень забавная шутка

The announcement was correct and the flat (12 m²) really had everything. But there was a small problem: WC, shower cabin were located in the kitchen. Just imagine how convenient it is: there is a cooker in front of you, a toilet on your left and a shower cabin on your right...

Announcement #3

The announcement seems to be fine, let's visit apartment. 

Disappointment #3

I wasn't mistaken. The apartment was good and that meant that there are a lot of candidates hunting for this apartment. As I have said earlier, I didn't have any French garant and I didn’t work. Nobody cares here how much money you and your parents have on your foreign bank accounts. Good news! You can make a caution bancaire, so called bank guarantee, and to freeze several thousands of euro for one year. If you are rich enough to pay for the rent aside, why not. To do that you have to have your French bank account open. Bad news! You can't open your bank account without proving your address of residence in Paris. Virtual circle...

Announcements #x, y, z = Disappointments #x, y, z

After a month of disappointments, I managed to sign a contract through a real estate agency. Terms: 17 m², 800 € per month and payment in advance for the whole year... C’est la vie...

My advice if you are currently looking for a flat in Paris

1.    Define what your top priorities are: location, surface, price. For me it was location and price (at first). There is no point in running around Paris visiting every single flat.

2.    Be ready to compromise. In a certain moment, you will be obliged to do that. I had to give up the idea of having a washing machine in my flat and the rent was higher than I planned.

3.    Don't give up! Keep calm if you have already visited more than 20 apartments. It is fine, continue!

4.    As for the documents you need for your portfolio, the more you have, the better, especially concerning your financial situation. Then, all you have to do is to hope and keep on searching.

5.    During the visit, try to show that you are a serious person and that the landlord doesn't have to worry about the flat.

6.    You can try to find apartments without agency via web sites like www.pap.fr or www.leboncoin.fr. But note, it's quite difficult to sign the contract. Otherwise, contact agencies (I found my flat via www.seloger.fr) but be ready to pay les honnoraires.

Good luck!

Cordialement,

NN

PS
Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions!