Accommodations in Germany is easy to come by since it offers such a vast array of it whatever your search criteria might be. Whether living in the edges of town or the inner city, a farm or an apartment, a villa or a warehouse, Germany offers a extraordinary range of habitation possibilities. A celebrated public transport system and an wide highway network means that you can live in a village in the hills outside Munich or the newly opened up outer areas on the fringes of Cologne and still be superbly well connected to the center of town. Of course, you might also be looking to find a plot of ground to settle temporarily along the rich and refined fore shores of Hamburg's lakes or among the urban innovators of the city's more spirited multi-cultural St Georg or in Berlin's hep Mitte (center). Or maybe you are searching for a pad in Munich's upwardly mobile or trendy. The rules of the German renting game are always the same, Berlin is cheaper and a more attractive buyers' market in real estate. There two kinds of rents being offered, either Warmmiete ( warm rent ),including utilities such as heating and sometimes cable TV or Kaltmiete ( cold rent )meaning the net rent. The steps to renting are the same everywhere. The basic ones are:
Either look up advertisements in key publications of cities like Berlin,Hamburg, Munich and Frankfurt or advertise yourself setting out what you are after.
Register with the police because even if you possess a personal ID,some landlords or agent will ask you to produce your police registration.
fill in the Fragebogen or a questionnaire giving information of your personal details, line of work, family size, whether you are pregnant, have a criminal record or even political orientation
Read your rent or lease agreement carefully – it may have some surprises later like the dreaded annual increase clause which automatically increases rents annually by a fixed percentage of the previous years rent. It can make an initially interesting proposition quite a steep affair in a few years.
Non-Germans are appealing propositions to landlords as they live for small periods of time in rented apartments and the property can be in the market very soon.
Apart from the rented apartments and houses, hotels, bed n breakfast establishments are too numerous in any place of Germany to be conspicuous by absence. Whatever your budget might be you can find accommodation to suit your taste and budget in Germany. However if you're renting an establishment be sure to have either a lawyer or a German speaking friend with you.
