I moved to Hamburg, Germany, from Russia together with my brother and the rest of the family in November 2022. 

About 5-6 months before the actual move, I have started looking for an apartment. Having an apartment rented in advance gave me peace of mind and later on as I arrived in Germany helped me go through initial bureaucratic procedures faster.

In the text below I have tried to turn my experience into a practical guide of how to rent your first apartment in Germany as a foreigner. This the first post on the apartment search topic and several more are upcoming in the next couple of weeks. And now without further ado, let’s dive in.

How to choose the city area to live in?

Because I read a lot online, I know of a website by Pieter Levels, called hoodmaps.com. The site shows you the city map and the types of people that live in different districts. So once I knew I would be living and working in Hamburg, I looked up Hamburg on Hoodmaps and circled the areas I’d want to live in based on my personal preferences.

From there on, I have started looking for apartments to rent. 

Where to look for an apartment?

It is important to know that in general there are two types of apartments for long-term rent in Germany: unfurnished long-term apartments and furnished long-term apartments. 

Unfurnished long-term apartments

I personally have looked for unfurnished apartments on the following websites:

• ImmobilienScout24: This is the biggest platform for apartment listings in Germany with hundreds of thousands of listings. You can filter by location, size, and other preferences. It has an app and many useful functions in it. 
• Immowelt. Basically this one is the same as ImmobilienScout24 and the listings can sometimes overlap between them.
• Kleinanzeigen: Similar to Russia’s Avito or American Craigslist, this platform has listings for apartments and shared spaces offered by individual landlords.

Two more sources for finding apartments that I know of, but don’t have any experience using myself are:

• WG-Gesucht: If you're open to shared apartments (WG), this website is an excellent resource for finding roommates and affordable options.
• Facebook Groups: you can look for local expat or housing groups in your city, as they often have apartment listings and helpful advice.

All of the sites above do have scam listings, which would try to lure a security deposit out of you, promising to rent out the apartment online. I have come across a guy like that, who said he is living in Barcelona and is renting out apartments in Hamburg for a living. 

Anyway, as several months went by without any luck renting an apartment through ImmobilienScout24, I have decided to turn to the option of furnished long-term apartments.

Furnished long-term apartments

There are several websites in Germany offering furnished apartments for rent. The ones I have used myself are:

• Wunderflats: This platform specializes in long-term furnished rentals, providing a comfortable home away from home. 
• Homelike: Another great option for finding fully furnished apartments for extended stays.
• City-Wohnen: Service is similar to Wunderflats and Homelike, but with specific focus on Hamburg.

All of these services have a variety of apartment options, including big and small ones, close to the city center as well as on the outskirts of it.

I have found our first apartment in Hamburg on Homelike, which was a reasonably priced 3-bedrooms furnished apartment not far away from the city center and my work office. We have been living in it for about 6 months before finding a long-term unfurnished apartment nearby. 

What are the pros and cons of renting an apartment with Homelike?

While renting an apartment through Homelike, I have highlighted some convenient and some not so convenient things about it for myself.

The cool things about Homelike were: 

1. I chose and rented the apartment completely remotely without being present in Germany. And the apartment had all of the amenities for life, I didn’t have to bring anything with me, super convenient.
2. I didn’t need a long list of documents to prove my income to rent an apartment, whereas with an unfurnished apartment you need to show your German employment agreement, 3 months payslips and other documents. 
3. I paid 1st month rent and 2 months security deposit with my Visa card online without me having a European bank account. Such rent and deposit amounts are a standard in Germany.
4. The landlord issued me and my family a residency certificate for the apartment I have chosen, which is one of the first and most critical steps for German immigration paperwork. Without a residency certificate you cannot register yourself with the city office, tax office, get a bank account, etc.
5. I had the option to rent the apartment for up to 12 months, which gave me a comforting thought of having a roof over my head.

My top downsides are: 

1. The rent price can sometimes grow significantly, when prolonging your rent beyond the initial period.
2. Landlords at Homelike do take some time to return the security deposit back. In my case it took only 3 days, but sometimes it can take longer depending on the condition of the apartment, when you return the keys. 
3. The apartment was a bit cold in Winter and had a mold problem. The latter though is a problem with most of the apartments in Hamburg especially the ones in old buildings.

You can learn more useful details in the Homelike FAQ.

Ok, I think this is enough information for the 1st post and I’ll pause here. Hope this information was helpful for you. 

Feel free to shoot me your questions about renting an apartment in Germany on Twitter or email. Or if you have already rented your first apartment here, do share your experience with me on Twitter, Linkedin or email.

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Thank you for reading. 

Ilya P

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