Ein furnished flat in Berlin, bitte

July 18, 2011 10:16 AM

What is the best way to rent a furnished flat in Berlin?

I'm moving to Berlin from Toronto at the end of August (hooray!). My plan was to find a furnished flat for Sept 1 to last through the first few months, until I can figure out neighbourhoods / gather furniture.

Does anyone have any recommendations for non-Craigslist sites to search for sublets / non-scammy brokers? It's just going to be me at first (a grad student) and my boyfriend will join along in October - so, short term corporate leases aren't good options (we need more than just a single expensive room).

posted by smallvictories to travel & transportation around Berlin, Germany (12 answers total)

so, short term corporate leases aren't good options (we need more than just a single expensive room).

Oops. To clarify, I mean that the types of aprtments geared towards short-term business trips would probably not be good, not that I am opposed to renting from some sort of corporate landlord-type.
posted by smallvictories at 10:25 AM on July 18, 2011

How's your German? Lots of people use this site:
http://www.wg-gesucht.de/

Or you could try airbnb.com.
posted by the_blizz at 10:31 AM on July 18, 2011

9flats is a Euro equivalent of airbnb. I've never used either, so no endorsement implied. I also get the feeling that they're meant for much shorter terms than you're looking for, but it might be worth a look.

Alternatively, maybe something through your uni? I can't imagine you're in a completely unique scenario, and they'll at least be able to advise you re: neighbourhoods etc.
posted by Magnakai at 10:55 AM on July 18, 2011

I came in also to recommend www.wg-gesucht.de -- lots of sublets and rooms for rent, and most postings seem to be on the level.
posted by matlock expressway at 10:57 AM on July 18, 2011

I've heard good things about Crocodilian.
posted by Hypnotic Chick at 12:34 PM on July 18, 2011

Thanks for the recs so far! My German is currently nicht so gut: is wg-gesucht.de just for finding roommates or are there non-flatshare sublets available too?
posted by smallvictories at 12:36 PM on July 18, 2011

There's both. You can search for a WG-Zimmer (room in a shared apartment), a 1- or Mehr-Zimmer Wohnung (1- or more-room apartment) or a Haus.

Some more vocab, just in case:
Miete: rent
Nebenkosten or NK: utilities (sometimes a listing will refer to a rental as "cold" or "warm", which simply means the cost without or with utilities)
Kaution: security deposit
möbliert: furnished
saniert: renovated
posted by the_blizz at 1:01 PM on July 18, 2011

möbliert: furnished
Thank you, the_blizz! That's wonderfully helpful.

And there are a few solid leads on Crocodilian. I'm optimistic!
posted by smallvictories at 1:32 PM on July 18, 2011

Oh, and to clarify - my uni suggested that I check craigslist. So, no, not exactly helpful.
posted by smallvictories at 1:33 PM on July 18, 2011

Thirding wg-gesucht.de, and also studenten-wg.de is pretty popular - they even have an English version of the site, which I've linked to.
posted by coraline at 12:49 AM on July 19, 2011

Ah, just realized I messed it up - it's wg-gesucht with the English version of the site. Here is studenten-wg's (German) site.
posted by coraline at 12:51 AM on July 19, 2011

Follow up: I got a place through Crocodilian. As a bonus, the agent who facilitated the entire deal was incredibly patient, helpful and kind.
posted by smallvictories at 7:15 AM on August 4, 2011