Housing

ONLINE SEARCH PORTALS

• WG-GESUCHT - most used website for finding a temporary room in a flat-share (Wohn-gemeinschaft / WG / 'Wohnungen auf Zeit')
• Ebay Kleinanzeigen - more longer term rentals. Loads of apartments go up here everyday so you have to be fast and best have all your documents ready. Beware of crooks and don't make any transfers before having seen the apartment
• Immobilien Scout 24 - biggest apartment site in Germany
• Immo Welt - similar to Immobilien Scout 24
• Airbnb - no explanation needed
• Wimdu - 'the Airbnb of Germany'
• 9flats - 'the Airbnb of Berlin'
• Oh Berlin - same as above
• Move and Stay - same as all the above but run from Bangkok
• BridgeStreet - one of the biggest serviced apartment services in the world
• Coming Home - temporary furnished living. They add about 25% of commission to the monthly rent but are friendly, competent and fast
• City Wohnen - service very similar to coming-home.org but with different apartments
• Crocodilian Berlin - same as above
• Xpatrentals - more of the same
• Startup Flats and Flatshares - A Facebook group where you can get in contact with startup people who need/offer their flats!

Disclaimer: beware of crooks. Never make a transfer before having seen the apartment. In most cases you should receive the keys before you make the deposit.

''Untermieten'' (sub-letting) & ''Wohnungen auf Zeit''

A lot of housing esp. in shared apartments (WG or Wohngemeinschaft in German) is offered for a limited or specific time only as a sub-lease. When planning to stay in Berlin for a limited amount of time this is a good option as getting a long term apartment in Berlin is competitive and tedious in documentation.

DOCUMENTATION REQUIRED

When applying to be the main tenant or sometimes even when subleasing you will need the following docs:

‘’Schufa’’ check - you can do this check online or at Easy Credit (Alexanderplatz: Schloßstr. 113, 12163 Berlin) Take your ID / passport, registration document and account details of your German bank account

"Einkommensnachweis" - proof of income via payslips or bank statement

‘’Mietschuldenfreiheit’’ - a letter from your previous landlord stating that you have no outstanding payments

A copy of your passport

OTHER HOUSING RESOURCES

For furniture your one stop shop is of course Ikea. You’ll find many around the city - Spandau, Tempelhof & Lichtenberg. For second hand furniture Ebay Kleinanzeigen has loads of goods uploaded everyday. Berlin is famous for thrifting. There are tons of second hand stores and markets.

Warm-/Kalt(cold) Miete - what does that mean?

AREAS

The GTEC I Lab is located in 'Mitte' of 'Mitte' - the center - of Berlin.

• Mitte - Centre = Downtown. Its a popular residential area, easy to reach but by now steep in rental prices.
• Kreuzberg - (X-berg) Hip, lively, grungy and you can still find rentals at a steal.
• Friedrichshain - The newer X-berg. Located a bit further from the center it is also lively and rental prices lower.
• Prenzlauer Berg - Baby-berg. If you’re coming with a hip family this is the place.
• Neukölln - The "Bronx of Berlin" thats has developed significantly and is gaining in popularity. Whats used to be cheap rentals are rising but you can still get good deals.
• Wedding - If you have the desire to mingle with ‘real’ Berliners you ought to be Wedding. The district is said to be bi-lingual German-Turkish and a little rough around the edges. Rental prices are significantly lower than the districts closer to ‘Mitte’ the city centre.
• Tiergarten & Moabit - If you’re not looking for too much excitement but want to be located in the center and like going for runs or making use of the city’s largest park this could be the area for you. Its Germany’s political center and you’ll find some good rental deals.
• Treptow - Treptower Volkspark (citizens park) is lively. The more south you go the quainter, sub-urban it gets.

For the ones that don’t mind a commute:

• Schöneberg - just south of West Berlin's city centre Schöneberg's stylish pubs, cafes and restaurants make this area a popular destination for an evening outings.
• Charlottenburg
• Pankow
• Köpenick
• Lichtenberg
• Marzahn
• Reinickendorf
• Spandau
• Tempelhof
• Steglitz