Tips for renting an apartment in Paris

  So, you want to rent an apartment in Paris? There are a few things you should know about the process in order to prevent premature graying, wrinkles, and insomnia. If you go through an estate agency, be prepared to shell out some big bucks. It’s scaled and depends on the length of the lease, but for a year lease you’re looking at upwards of one month’s rent. Also, don’t expect the same type of customer service or much in the way of negotiations. In some U.S. cities, if you’re interested in an apartment, you might bargain with the owner and say you’d rent the apartment if he threw in a new washer/dryer or even come down a little in price. Don’t expect that in Paris. Because apartments are in such high demand, the general attitude is that if you don’t like the apartment as is or don’t like the price, you can go somewhere else. When I asked the estate agent for my current apartment to ask the owner if he’d come down in price, he flat-out refused. I asked what harm it would do if the owner merely said, “no” and the agent gave me the Gallic shrug and said that because he thought the price was fair, he wouldn’t call the owner. Dealing with estate agents can be really frustrating. They work sporadic hours, can be closed for weeks at a time (especially in August), will often times not have a key to the apartment for several days (or weeks, if the owner is on vacation), and in general, tend to act like they’re doing you a massive favor. But if you’re new in town, you may not have many choices. If you become easily annoyed, agitated, or (let’s face it) enraged, and think that “the customer is always right” mentality is the key to a pleasant daily life, then I would practice some deep breathing exercises (or maybe even enroll in an anger management program) before braving the Paris real estate market. If you do go through an agent, make sure to have a dossier with you. A dossier includes a copy of your passport and any required visa, a R.I.B (proof of your French bank account), a copy of your employment contract, proof that you earn at least three times the rent, and a French guarantor. Coming up with all of these things when you move to a new country is really hard because many of these are Catch-22s. You need a French bank account in order to rent an apartment but need a copy of your lease or gas bill in order to get a French bank account. How the hell does is that supposed to work? Some agencies will let you start out paying rent by charging it onto your credit card or paying with travelers’ checks, therefore bypassing the French bank account requirement. The French guarantor is tricky. When you move to a new country and don’t know many people, who are you supposed to ask? It’s pretty awkward because your guarantor has to come up with his own dossier and proof of income. Sometimes you can get around the guarantor by paying an extra deposit. But when you’re expected to pay two months deposit, this can be difficult. Another option is to ask your company to be your guarantor. But if you haven’t moved for your job, then this won’t work. Finally, there are guarantor companies that can act as your guarantor. This would be a last resort since you’ll have to pay a fee, but if you’re an expat, it may be your only option. There are other ways to find an apartment than going through an agency. You can look at ads in newspapers, websites, and publications like FUSAC. Some of the ads are put out by the owner, in which case you can bypass an agency, but many of the ads (especially on websites) are posted by agencies. You may go to a few open viewings–an intimidating experience for an expat–in which the apartment is open for an hour or two and hordes of people line up outside and ultimately stampede through the apartment, dossiers in hand, ready for action. One depressing aspect is that you can be fairly certain that everyone’s dossier is more complete than yours. A word of advice: it’s best to be in peak physical shape should you brave these open viewings. You don’t generally think of Parisians as being particularly physically aggressive, but once you unleash 50 desperate people into an available, coveted apartment, you may begin to feel like you were tossed into the middle of a bloodthirsty rugby field. The best and true Parisian way to find an apartment is through word of mouth. It’s how to get the best deals and bypass exorbitant agency fees. Of course, this is difficult if you’re new in Paris. You can’t exactly sidle up to the woman behind the counter at your local boulangerie your first week in Paris and whisper, “So….you have anything special for me? Anything besides pain au chocolate? You know what I’m talking about.” She’ll probably call the cops. Once you’ve found some places to look at, you’ll probably want to consider these things: 1. Location–Is the neighborhood safe? Or if you’re walking around by yourself after the sun goes down, will you feel the need to carry pepper spray and have an old-lady whistle around your neck that you can tweet loudly if some unsavory looking character slithers up to you? If it’s the latter, you may want to look elsewhere. Is the apartment reasonably close to a metro stop? It may seem fine, even healthy, to walk 20 minutes to a metro stop if you look at the apartment on a beautiful summer or fall day, but keep in mind that you will have to do the walk in frigid rain, come winter. Is it close to a market? If not, would you mind having to take the Metro if you’re if all you need is milk? 2. Floor–Remember that the first floor (or ground floor) in the U.S. isn’t the same as the first floor in France. In Paris, the ground floor is called rez de chaussez and considered to be on level 0. So if you’re looking at a place that’s on the 6th floor, you’ll be on the 7th floor by U.S. standards. Also keep in…