Munich is a highly sought-after city and finding a permanent apartment can be a daunting task. With a competitive rental market and a high demand for housing, it's important to have a solid strategy in place for your apartment search.
This guide is designed to help you find your ideal home in Munich. Inside, you'll find tips on how to conduct an effective apartment search. We'll also explore the different types of apartments available in Munich.
Finding an apartment in Munich is a pain and takes its own sweet time. We have seen some people finalizing the apartment from their home country and then there are some who struggles for 2-3 months to find an apartment in Munich after arriving.
Once you are here and have done your first city registration (explained earlier), you can start looking for a permanent apartment for yourself (and your family). The most popular site to look for an apartment in Germany is https://www.immobilienscout24.de/. There are more sites like this, but you can do your own research. There are different membership plans, and you can take the minimum plan for 2 months to look for an apartment – which will cost you around €29.99 per month).
You need to prepare your cover letter for apartment hunting. We know this is weird but yes, you need to have one. You can find some templates online for this and you should use it (you may also refer to the template uploaded in the support section).
Look for the apartments in your desired location within Munich and shortlist them. If you can call the owner/landlord, you can call them (if the number is available on the site). But do send interests to the shortlisted houses by using the cover letter and provide your details.
If the landlord/owner of the apartment like your profile, they will call you for a viewing. Since we do not have COVID restriction now, it would be a physical viewing. However, there may be cases wherein it would be self-viewing. In this case, you may need to book the appointment online from the page. Once you have booked the appointment, you will get a confirmation email detailing the location and address of the apartment, the time when you can visit the apartment, how long you can actually be there and view the apartment and most importantly, from where you need to pick the keys.
Once you have viewed the house (physical viewing with Landlord or agent or self-viewing), you need to decide whether you liked the apartment or not and send a confirmation to the landlord/owner/agent. Remember, law of averages will apply here, and you will end up viewing many houses before selected by the owners to be a potential tenant.
Once you have shortlisted and owners agreed to rent the apartment to you after viewing, you have completed a milestone and you should pat yourself on your back!!! However, there is still a long process before you can move in!
Now you will receive a rental contract by the landlord/owner. The contract is usually in German, and you can find the format online (we will try to provide a sample in the support section). You may use any translation services to translate the document in English and may ask support from your peers and friends. Once you are satisfied, you may sign the rental agreement and then pay the deposit to the landlord.
Note: Remember, you are only required to transfer the deposit and advance rent once the rental contract is signed by both parties. Under no circumstances, you should transfer the money to the landlord/owner before!
Note: Ensure that you are transferring the money into a German Bank Account only – simple way to identify a German bank account is to look at the IBAN Number. If it starts with “DE”, it is a German bank account.
Also, there are lots of scams in the housing market and you should be very cautious. Additionally, it is not a paid promotion for the sites listed here. We used these sites and hence suggesting them from our personal experience. You are free to use other sites as per your need and requirements.
You may also look for agents for apartment search, but you may need to sign a contract with them. Based on your requirements and location preference, they will search the apartment for you, but they will charge for it (roughly 3 months rent as their fee + VAT as applicable). This will be expensive solution, but you can opt for this kind of agreement.
Note: When you are taking any plan on https://www.immobilienscout24.de/, make sure to cancel by informing them. The subscription is not automatically cancelled and if you fail to inform them for cancellation within agreed timeframe, they will keep it active and charge you on a monthly basis.
We hope you find it informative and helpful as you embark on this exciting new chapter in your life in one of Germany's most dynamic and exciting cities.
Views and experience are personal, please perform your due diligence.
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