{Un}Glamorous Paris: Finding an Apartment, part deux

The truth about Paris: it's all a façade. Here's why.

Over the past few weeks I've started looking for a new apartment in Paris. At first it's a really exciting task, but quickly becomes daunting and painful, and just plain depressing. For instance, there are plenty of unexpected surprises along the way. You waste your time visiting places where when you sit on the toilet your feet are in the shower, or that "courtyard view" that was advertised is in fact a white wall that is 3 meters away from both windows. Sure, it reflects the light well, but in that particular place, I felt like had I been wearing heels and a ponytail my head would have hit the ceiling – it would be better fit for a hobbit. But the irony of this all, is for that particular apartment, announced the evening prior, I was the first to arrive, and by the time they started showing the place there were already two dozen people waiting (and more arrived by the time I turned around 30 seconds after seeing the place and realizing this was not my future home). And while slightly larger than my current 12m2 (129sf) shoebox, these places still ran the equivalent of $750-900 USD/mo! The depressing thing is that not only is housing pricey (and over-priced) in Paris, all too often it's for complete crap. And people compete for it!

In Paris, even if you fall in love with the apartment of your dreams, it is still not yours – the game continues. One of the first apartments I discovered I was the first or second to call and make an appointment. The landlord's very first question to me: "How much money do you make?" Oy vey! For that place, I was gathering my dossier – all my documents you need in France – at home when I got a call that the place was already taken. In that case, someone sneaked in and grabbed an appointment before mine and got it. In other scenarios you have upwards of 30 people visiting a place, you submit your dossier, which me feels like I'm handing over a recipe for identity theft. They then review all the dossiers and pick the one they like best. A popularity contest? Favorism? The richest? They liked your shoes the best? Who knows!

For me, I have a few factors working against me. Here's the breakdown to start to understand how the French do business.

1. I'm a freelancer, which to the French equates to not having a steady salary, so it also means finding a landlord willing to take the "risk."
2. In France, despite having much lower salaries than I'm used to in the U.S. to rent an apartment you are expected to make 3-4 times the monthly rent to even be considered for a place.
3. Most landlords also require a "guarant" who is someone who will be responsible and pay your rent in case you don't (which in France, I've heard several horror stories of people not paying – including my next door neighbor (a law student) who sneakily moved out of her apt at night after not having paid her rent for several months and never told the landlord!). The catch is the "guarant" needs to be French, and also needs to provide their identity card and last three payslips. (American friends without a guarant once had to block 4 months of rent in order to secure their place – that's a lot when it's for a family of 4 and that doesn't include the 2 month deposit). [I recommend VINGTParis for mid-range stays].
   
4. I am foreign = a risk to some landlords.
5. There is such a demand for apartments that landlords can get away with just about anything. (One friend paid an entire year up front in order to secure an apartment!). The reality is that even for a super small apartment you can expect to pay 2,000 Euros up front to pay the first month rent, 1-2 months "caution" [deposit - 2 months if it is furnished], and another month's rent in "honoraires" [agency fees]. It is not cheap to live in Paris!
   
6. It seems that everyone has mastered the internet, so the highly recommended PAP.fr (avoid agency fees typically) and seloger.com (I love the app) means that everyone is using these sites and there is a ton of competition for the listings. I've signed up for phone and email alerts that are clogging my inbox, but you have to act fact with most of these listings, especially the more "budget friendly" ones (ha! as if they were actually budget friendly).
   
7. There is not the same urgency by landlords or agencies to call you back as there is for you to find an apartment. You'd think the fact that I gave my contact info to an agency in my neighborhood last Friday I would have gotten a call by now (6 days later) – not so much. My next tactic is just to go in person to the agency if I find something that looks promising.
   
8. The entire process feels like a giant waste of time (admitted, I'm working on a smaller budget than some), but I honestly don't know how I'd do it if I didn't have the flexible, freelancer (formerly student) schedule! My advice if you're moving to Paris? Get sent by a company who has an entire department devoted to dealing with this crap for you, and will sponsor and deal with your paperwork as well.

So let's lighten the mood and talk about style. It's funny what a good reputation Paris has for being stylish because I have seen the ugliest interior design decisions in my life in this country (they have particularly poor taste when it comes to couches, and have this weird affinity for bad modernism). I've included a few actual images from SeLoger for your entertainment – as you can see, there is not much emphasis on even trying to make a place look remotely good.

As an aside, I recently curated some of my favorite Paris studios as part of Airbnb's new "Wishlist" relaunch which puts an emphasis on great photography -- it would seriously be a dream to find anything half as good as those listings. Great for interior inspiration and dreaming in the meantime.

Anyway, hence, Paris is all a façade.... and takes a lot of patience!

Where to go to find an apartment in Paris:

• The best/sure bet is to take over an apartment of a friend who is moving.
• PAP.fr (no agency fees; custom email alerts)
• SeLoger.com (download the app, and sign up for alerts)
• Craigstlist (watch out for scams though!)
  
• Visit actual agencies in the neighborhood you want to live in or try: VINGT Paris, New York Habitat, lodgis.com, parisattitude.com, laforet.com, fnaim.fr, 123immo.com, century21.fr
  
• Hestia (~230 Euro agency fee which is much lower than most agencies)
• FUSAC magazine or petit annonces online
• The American Church bulletin board is updated every morning (go in person)
• Appartager (for roommates – not necessarily a cheaper solution)

Relieved to only be visiting Paris? Here are my recommendations on where to stay in the city hotel + apartment wise!

For on the realities of finding an apartment in Paris, check out part one (my experiences two years ago) in my {Un}Glamorous Paris series, sharing the less than perfect sides to living in Paris.

Top image: my Instagram; Paris apartment screenshots via SeLoger; Paris studio graphic by Airbnb