Top 10 Tips to find accommodation!

Finding accommodation is a major part of preparing for your year abroad, and can end up having a huge impact on your overall experience. Having struggled a little to find accommodation in Mannheim, I thought it would be useful to share my experience and advice!

Read on for my top ten tips...

1. Don't leave it to the last minute!

   

   Whether you choose to find private accommodation, or go with the university's own student accommodation, you need to start thinking about where you're going to stay well in advance. Places in the Studierendenwerk (uni accommodation) fill up fairly quickly, and as the majority of students find accommodation privately, it can be quite competitive.

2. Figure out your priorities.

   

   Chances are, you won't be able to find your dream apartment within budget. To make your accommodation search easier, decide in advance what matters most to you. Maybe you're really not a morning person, and want to be close enough to uni to be able to roll out of bed and straight into your lecture. Maybe you really value personal space, and absolutely need to have an en-suite. Whatever it is, if you figure it out before you start searching, you know what you're prepared to compromise on which makes life a lot easier.

3. Try and include some German in your message.

   

   Even if you can't speak a word of German (which is fine because luckily most people here speak good English), it's a nice touch to include a few basic words and phrases in your message. I found that any enquiry I made was much more likely to get a response when I did. Even if it's just 'hallo' or 'danke', making that little bit of effort can go a long way!

4. Clarify what's actually included.

   

   It's really important to make sure exactly what is included with your accommodation and contract. For example, my rent covers everything except for wifi and electricity, which is an additional payment of 14 Euros a month. Another common thing that I encountered is having to buy the furniture in the room from the person who lived there before. As weird as this may seem at first, it seems to be fairly standard practice. You pay a lump sum at the start of the year for your bed, wardrobe etc. and then when you move out, you can sell that furniture on to the next tenant. Make sure you check if that's the case with your accommodation, so you don't assume the furniture is all included and then end up getting asked to pay another 300 Euros you weren't expecting!

5. Be prepared to pay a slightly larger deposit.

   

   As an international student, I found that the deposits of places I was looking at were more than I was used to at home. Three months' rent seems to be pretty standard!

6. Consider shared accommodation.