by Anoop Krithivasan Comment Closed

As soon as you get your admission next thing you need to look upon is for accommodation. It is very difficult to get accommodation in Germany, especially in cities like Munich, Stuttgart, Berlin, and Hamburg. In these cities the prices are too high which is very difficult for a student to afford.

Note while looking for accommodation :

  1. If your university is providing the accommodation kindly take it because you don’t have the burden of searching , checking the accommodation etc. The university will mostly provide in a Studentenwerk which might or might not be near the university, but still take it if you have good transportation facility. Even if you get it for 6 months take it because once on coming to Germany you can judge the situation on arrival and act accordingly.
  2. If you’re not getting in Studentenwerk start looking for private WG – Wohngemeinschaft in websites like WG-gesucht.de, Studenten-wg.de, Facebook pages and immowelt.de.
  3. If you’re fine with the WG you can ask your friend or college senior to have a look of the room because room scams are very common in Germany. Once you get the confirmation from your friend then proceed further.

Things to be kept in mind while taking Studentenwerk:

  1. In Studentenwerk you will have an option to have your own room with bathroom and kitchen attached or individual room with bathroom and kitchen shared.
  2. The kitchen in Studentenwerk might be equipped with basic utensils or might not be equipped.
  3. Mostly in Studentenwerk you won’t be provided with internet. So you need to get your own internet.
  4. In Studentenwerk you need to pay your Deutsche Radio bill which is called ARD bill. It costs 17 Euros per month. Even if you have TV, Radio or not, you should pay this bill. Kindly don’t ignore it because if you ignore second time you might get a warning, third time you end paying fine and final step is with the police knocking down your door.

Things to be kept in mind while taking WG:

  1. If you’re asked to transfer the money via western union or money gram etc. for sure it is a scam. If you get a mail stating that we are moving out of Germany so we rent the place and etc., then for sure it is a scam. Until someone in the city you’re going has checked your accommodation and given confirmation don’t transfer the money or do anything etc. Keep these things while checking accommodation.
  2. The kitchen in WG will be equipped with utensils except Indian utensils.
  3. In WG the internet and your ARD bill will be included in your rent. So no need to worry about it.

Few important points:

  1. Don’t try to get a sublet room because mostly you will have sublet contract for 3 to 6 months. This will lead to problem during visa extension. So get a direct contract.
  2. While checking for accommodation make sure you at least any one of the shops like REWE, ALDI, LIDL, EDEKA,NORMA are near your house. In these shops you will find almost all the products and also ask how far is the bus stop from your house.
  3. When you’re moving to a new house, Landlords will ask Schufa credit report , which depicts our credibility with repect to the landlord’s opinion of us. The report will also state  – your mistakes , warnings given to you from the house owner. For this report you must pay 30 euros and report will be sent directly to the landlord. https://www.meineschufa.de/index.php
  4. While planning to shift to new room, you need to inform 3 months in advance or else you need to pay a fine and break the contract.
  5. If you’re in a shared Studentenwerk / WG kindly keep your bathroom and Kitchen clean every time after use because people here expect high hygiene.
  6. If you’re in a Studentenwerk / WG kindly keep your room clean because monthly your room might be checked. If they didn’t find your room clean first time you will be given warning, second time you will be asked to vacate the room in a week or month.
  7. If you’re planning to do party with your friends in your house kindlyinform  the house in charge well in advance so that the neighbours / roommates won’t complain and you won’t get into trouble.
  8. When you’re sharing the kitchen ask if  you are  allowed to use pressure cooker or else get an electric cooker Many people wont accept , because of the sound from pressure cooker .
  9. Check whether your kitchen has gas stove or electric stove because based on that you need to get your cooking utensils.
  10. You need to segregate the wastes into bio-degradable, non-bio-degradable and paper.
  11. If your Alcoholic / Smoking person say it to the House / Studentenwerk in charge clearly.

An interesting thing I heard from my friends which might occur very commonly in big cities like Munich / Stuttgart etc. while searching for accommodation is you might need to write motivational letter or might have interview to assess your personality.

In some cases the house owner might be very friendly. He will pick you up from airport and drop you in the house. In my case house owner picked me in the Munich airport, drove me till Ingolstadt and also showed a small city tour of Ingolstadt.

These are my learnings based on my Wohnungssuche in Germany.

Viel Spass, Viel Glück with yours!!