Heidelberg Travel Forum

Hi, im moving from ireland to heidelberg for around a year at start of september and really want to get some accomodation sorted for when i get there. i was wondering if anyone had any information on where to look, etc. The problem i do have is that i dont speak german (yet) and find it hard to look for places on the net through search engines.
Also will be looking for a job so if you've heard of any vacancies anywhere in heidelberg please let me know, i'll be looking for a job the min i arrive!
Any help is greatly appreciated :D

Boy do you have a hard task ahead of you. When I was looking for accommodation in Frankfurt, with my basic German, while located in Germany, and having German friends to help me, it was still an immense task. There are all kinds of weird things to understand about the property market here, like the way you'll rarely get offered furnished accommodation, because Germans take everything with them when they leave: including the light fittings and sometimes also the kitchen sink. Look out for "Einbau kuchen" = fitted kitchen, and "möblierte wohen" = furnished apartment.

One way of solving that problem is to find an English speaking Estate (Immobilien) Agents to do the work for you, but they don't come cheap. They charge anything from 1-3 months rent. Then again, you often can't avoid doing business with them, as they snap up most of the property in every town. They charge what is called a "Provision" fee, so look out for properties advertised as "Provision frei".

If you are going to search for something yourself, the best site is www.immobilienscout24.de, but it is all in German. Try following these instructions:

*Click "Wohnung mieten" (Rental Apartments).
*Select B-W and Heidelberg, obviously.
*Select the area of the city you want to look for accommodation (Altstadt is the old town centre).
*Under "Suchkriterien" (Search Criteria):
**Zimmer (Rooms) - remember in Germany the number of rooms counted includes ALL rooms not just bedrooms.
**Wohnfläche (size in m2 you are looking for, estimate 20-40 for one person, but 20 is very cramped).
**Kaltmiete (Cold Rent the basic rent price.)

In Germany you always pay Warmmeite which includes various costs, like taxes, but sometimes heating and water too. This varies a lot, so the Kaltmeite price is a bit deceptive. If it does include heating, that doesn't mean the heating is free! You will be charged a certain amount estimating the annual cost, if you go mad and use too much they will charge you for this.

Warmmeite = Kaltmeite + Nebenkosten (sundry costs)

Some other useful words when searching:

Bezugsfrei ab = Available from (sofort = immediately)
Kaution = deposit
Wohnungstyp = apartment type (Maisonette, Altbau (old house), etc.)
Etage = floor (lower floors tend to be cheaper because they are easier to burgle, especially in Frankfurt!)
Heizkosten sind in Nebenkosten enthalten = heating included in rent
Heizungsart = heating style (central heating, etc.)
Haustiere = pets allowed (usually not, and landlords tend to be very fussy about adhering to the contract).
Lage = location

For everything else try using google's language tools.

When you sign a contract you will be bound to it. The Germans are sticklers for details. Sometimes these contracts will specify exactly at what times you are allowed to use dishwashers, washing machines, etc. I've even heard people have contracts that specified a certain curtain colour and no flushing of toilets between midnight and 6am.

And getting work without speaking German? Some say it is impossible, but it can be done. I didn't speak any German when I came here, but I already had a job lined up, and I work in an English speaking studio where half the people aren't German, so we are a bit special. Usually Germans think that you should damn well learn to speak German if you are going to live here - and I agree :).

oh my god thank you so much for all the info i had no idea what it would be like to move there! ive been on a couple of forums looking for help and no one has helped as much as you have so thank you so much. i'm teaching myself a little bit of german for when i get over there and hope to do a course when i arrive. i had no idea that it would be so hard to look for accomodation though and hope thats the worst of my problems :S cheers again and im going to get straight onto that website and fingers crossed i can have a place ready for when i arrive :D

Here a site which cooperates with the main newspaper from Heidelberg, the RNZ.
http://rnz.xmedias.de/immobilien/kriterien.html?markt=Vermietungen
http://www.rnz.de

Sorting out accommodation over the net (alone) won't work very well. Maybe for students dorms. Otherwise it's better to see the appartment first. And normally the landlord mostly wants to see the tenant in person also.

You could start with a Wohngemeinschaft (WG). 2 or more persons (often students) sharing a flat (i.e. common bath room and kitchen). Also a good idea if you want to learn German - as long as you don't pick one where everybody speaks anything but German.

For jobs it's certainly one of the better regions in Germany. There are a number of companies and institutions where English is the first language. But generally you need a high qualification for their jobs. And they also prefer people knowing also German. Esp. for the daily life situations some German is quite useful (guess this is everywhere the same).

Like Antistar said, boy do you have a hard task ahead of you!

Heidelberg belongs to the rim of what is known as the greater Rhine-Main area, even though it's in a completely different state than Frankfurt is, which makes it a rather expensive area for housing, because the demand is high.

Here are a few more tips when searching for an apartment:

Take someone with you who can speak German as well as English. If necessary, go to the university and ask around if someone could help you. It's important, because no one will translate the rental contract for you.

Things to watch out for:

These days, the courts have pooh-poohed the clauses that demand the tenant must redecorate before they move out, or periodically. This means you move in "as scene" and you only have to clean up, but not renew carpeting, wallpaper and paint before you move out. On the other hand, some landlords are traditional, and demand this in their contract, even though it is no longer valid.

Some landlords are now demanding a expensive so-called safety deposit, called a "Sicherungszahlung". This is different from a "Kaution" or a rental deposit. The Kaution is government-regulated, and cannot exceed more than 2 months of cold rental (rent without utility and facility costs). Watch out because the sky's the limit for a "Sicherungszahlung" - it could be up to 10,000 Euro or more. Many landlords have resorted to this, because they say that repairs for bad tenants often exceed the allowed Kaution. Be especially wary of private landlords that demand an excessive Sicherungszahlung in cash up front. Last year the courts were full of cases of bad landlords who failed to pay out the Sicherungszahlung with interest, or delayed the repayment for an unreasonable period of time. Better for this, is to take to a local banker about setting up a rental deposit account, where you simply pay interest on the deposit, money that you don't have put up yourself, and the money stays at the bank, and not in the landlord's pocket. If he has a claim, he can argue with the bank and not you. The Sparkasse is specialised in this kinds of accounts.

Make sure that you understand the contractual quitting terms (Kündigung). These are the contractual terms that dictate when you must give notice before you end your rental contract. They are complicated. Generally you have to officially give notice in writing at least 3 months before you plan to move out. But watch out, some landlords write 6 months in their contracts, and will continue to charge you rent, long after you have moved away. If you can, explain the landlord your situation, and try to get him to settle for 2 months notice, in case things don't work out the way you want. When worse comes to worse, and he starts ranting and raving about, "a contract is a contract", you can simply abbreviate your rental payment until the deposit is used up.

There is often a long list of House Rules, known as the Hausordnung. Although Antistar named some of the most bizarre ones, like not being able to flush your toilet during the night or washing your clothes on Sundays, most of them are pretty sensible, and mostly pertain to cleanliness and noise. Basically the cleanliness goes as follows: you will have to sweep the stairwell by yourself for every weekend for one month during the year, or else you will have to sweep the stairway from your floor to the one below you an alternately weekends. Nobody really can hold you responsible for shovelling snow, although they write that kind of crap in the contracts. Hogwash, according to German courts, are rules pertaining when you can use your washing machine, toilet, sinks, bath, or showers; when you are allowed to receive visitors, and what sex they can be; when you are allowed to use the garage or the cellar; and what kind of food you are allowed to cook in your apartment. The courts ruled that these rules are B.S., plain and simple. Important, on the other hand, are the rules pertaining to noise. Parties have to quiet after 10 pm, unless everyone in the house says it's o.k. Your stereo system should not be loud enough to compete with the sound check for a Rolling Stones concert, and if you practice an instrument, then only an hour a day during daylight hours and not on Sundays. Power tools should not be used on Sundays, particularly drills. Oh, and barbequing on your balcony is the best way to make enemies in Germany, because the smoke always goes into the window of the person who hates barbeques. Of course the rest of the house rules apply, like you cannot do a motor oil change on your motorbike in the living room, roast a leg of lamb over an open fire in the living room, or conduct experiments or build bombs with volatile chemicals in the kitchen.

Annoying neighbours and/or landlords is life in the big city. Some, who have no life of their own, could try to makes yours hell. Let them rant and rave and threaten to “report” you to the landlord to get you thrown out immediately, but remember, it takes at least two months to effectively get you thrown out, unless, you have done something criminal (i.e. arson, drug dealership, assault & battery, robbery etc.). In Germany, landlords cannot get you evicted at whim.

Cellar apartments – old, mouldy rooms that are semi-subterranean, and miniature windows. With the flood record from the Neckar, Rhine rivers, and this general area, they could be down-right dangerous. Your private property isn't insured through the landlord. The worst combination is when they heat with gas - explosion and asphyxiation danger.

The garden bungalow attic mini-apartment - some people think the ideal way to gain living space for the kiddies as they grow older, to make money, and offset building costs in to add on a garden bungalow / attic apartment for a business person or a student. Okay for a weekend, but not a year. Besides having to troop through somebody else's garden or house, you often have to accept that your presence is an evil necessity to their own ends. Your privacy will not be respected, but heaven help you, if you violate theirs! These amateur landlords - respectable middle class families - are the most likely candidates to give you the short end of the stick in every respect.

Caution:
Baugenossenschaften are remnants of socialism. These are semi-public collectives that banded together to provide the proletariat class with affordable massive housing. Built during the 50's-70's nobody diddled around for sticking to the building codes. The results are thin walls (noisy), poor windows, drafty rooms, and often under-heated with your own miniature heating oven. The apartments are cheap, but the heating costs will kill you! And the comrades at the collective are sticklers for rules. On top of that, these suburban communities often are home to that group of Germans that don't always take the law seriously.