In today’s video, Rainer takes another step towards living in Germany.
He looks online for an apartment in Berlin and calls a few people to check on availability and other things.
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Rainer looks for an apartment - Intermediate German with Herr Antrim #4
In my last video I decided to look for an apartment in Berlin.
Because I am moving to Germany alone and I’m not bringing a lot of things with me,
I don’t need a big apartment.
I also only have a little money
and can only pay two or three months rent before I don’t have any more money.
I will hopefully find a job and then I can continue to pay the rent.
The minimum wage in Berlin is €8.84 per hour.
If I work 40 hours per week,
I will earn about €1400 per month.
I have no idea how the taxes work in Germany.
I don’t even understand it in my country.
Let’s just say that I get €1000 per month.
€400 to live and €600 for the rent.
Of course, I also still have the money that I earned in the USA.
If necessary, I can use this money to pay for something,
but I want to keep as much as possible, in case something unexpected occurs,
I will still have enough money.
How does one find an apartment in Berlin?
Hmmm. In this article they wrote
that there are many websites on which one can search, but lots of people are searching on these websites.
You will be more successful if you search elsewhere.
On Facebook you can find many closed groups
in which you can find a flat sharing community.
Ok. Let's see...
Time passes...
6 hours later
Ahhh. My eyes are burning.
I can’t read any more on Facebook.
I have only found 5 apartments under €600.
Most of the apartments cost more than €1000 per month.
There is, however, this one apartment, which isn’t so bad.
It is small and looks old.
It is near Tierpark (Zoo) on the east side of Berlin.
There is also a telephone number here.
I will just call and see what I can do.
011 49 30 (Rainer mumbles.)
Landlord: Hello. Housing Cooperative Trixi. Trixi on the line.
Rainer: Hello, Trixi. Here is Rainer Steiner. I am looking for an apartment in Berlin
and saw your advertisement on Facebook.
I would like to know how big the room and the apartment are,
what the costs are and other details that I should know.
Landlord: I have many advertisements on Facebook. About which advertisement are we talking?
Rainer: It says in the advertisement “Room in Berlin to rent.
Centrally located. 12 square meters. Furnished. €750 per month.
Landlord: Oh. I already rented this apartment.
Rainer: But the advertisement was posted yesterday.
Landlord: And 5 minutes later everything is already rented.
That’s how it is in Berlin. You have to be fast.
Rainer: I can’t always be online.
How can I find an apartment in Berlin?
Landlord: Our housing cooperative rents almost 300 apartments.
Every week one of them becomes available and every week we rent them again.
I already have 50 people on my waiting list.
If I have an apartment to rent, I call a few of these people and ask if they would like this apartment.
If the first 3 or 4 don’t want the apartment,
then I post it online and within minutes it is already rented again.
Rainer: There is a waiting list for apartments?
Landlord: Yes, of course. Haven’t you heard that?
There is an apartment crisis in Germany.
There are more people than there are apartments.
Some landlord even raise their prices,
because renters will pay almost any price.
We, of course, don’t do that in this company.
Rainer: Could you add my name to the waiting list?
Landlord: Of course. Your name is Rainer Steiner, right?
Rainer: Yes. Exactly.
(Trixi types.)
Landlord: Good. If an apartment becomes available and you are the next one on the list, I will call you.
If you no longer want to be on my list, then please call me and I will remove your name from the list.
Rainer: Thank you. I hope to hear from you soon.
Landlord: Good. Until then. Bye.
Rainer: Bye.
Hmmm. That wasn’t so hard. Now I just have to wait until they call me.
(5 months later)
Landlord: Hello, Mr. Steiner. An apartment just became available in Berlin.
Actually it is a room in a shared flat.
The room is 20 square meters and furnished.
The apartment itself is 65 square meters in total.
The main tenant is a young man, who is studying at Humboldt University.
The rent is €490 and the other costs are €129.
The rent including heating is then €619 per month.
Rainer: That sounds good. I think I could live in this apartment.
I have to see the room, of course and we can talk about the details then.
Can we arrange a viewing appointment?
Landlord: I don’t have much time this week unfortunately,
but next week on Thursday we could arrange a meeting in the afternoon.
Rainer: I can do that. Maybe at 2 pm on next Thursday?
Landlord: Agreed. Then we will see each other next Thursday at 2 pm.
We will meet in front of the apartment building.
I will bring the lease agreement and the other details along.
I’ll allow you two days time to read through everything and sign it.
If I don’t hear anything from you by next Saturday, of course, I will have to find another tenant.
Rainer: I will read everything and then let you know.
Landlord: Ok. Until then. Bye.
Rainer: Bye.
I am so happy. I found an apartment in Berlin.
In my next video I will book my flight to Germany,
but next week Herr Antrim will talk about conjunctions again.
This time he is talking about a few subordinating conjunctions.
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Until next time. Bye.