Finding an Apartment in Berlin

So you want to come over here. Indefinitely? Sure, why not? I did.

It's easy to find a lot of good reasons for coming to Berlin. But don't say you haven't been warned. The hard part is finding a good one to leave again. And one reason you will most certainly not be using is the lack of affordable housing. There simply isn't any.

For some inexplicable reason, Berlin is one of the most affordable places to live in Germany. And it doesn't really make sense. Well, not at first glance, at least. I mean, everybody wants to come here, right? It's the capital of the new "Berliner Republic". It's one of those hot "new" places in Europe one just simply has to discover first hand. It's light, camera, and action. It's "Kultur pur"!

But think about it a moment. While The Wall was still up, this place was quite literally an island. West-Berlin covered a vast area, thank goodness, but it was walled in all the same. Nobody here was getting claustrophobic necessarily, but it wasn't as if there were any suburbs out there to escape to, either.

Then The Wall came down.

"Gee, honey", said two or three or four hundred thousand Berliners, "Let's move out to Kleinmachnow or Falkensee or Teltow or…" Get it? They left town. And now it's up for grabs.

Still.

Lucky for the rest of us they haven't had enough sense to move back yet.
So here's what you do.

First, establish a beachhead - hey, this is Germany, remember? The first set of links listed below is an excellent starting point from which you can gauge the current market for long-term accommodations. Depending upon the location and number of rooms you are looking for, of course, the prices begin for as low as 450 Euros a month (you do the math for the conversion rate, please)! I dare you to find a price like that in any big American city of your dreams.

Did I just say depending upon the location? Location here, like anywhere else, is everything. Berlin is comprised of 23 large districts or boroughs called Bezirke. And in very general terms, as in any huge city, the more central the district the more expensive it is. There are lots of exceptions to that rule here in Berlin, however, and the links below give you the opportunity to find them. Most of the listed sites allow you to search by district. These central Berlin districts are:

Charlottenburg,
Friedrichshain,
Kreuzberg,
Mitte,
Neukölln,
Prenzlauer Berg,
Schöneberg,
Tempelhof,
Tiergarten, and
Wilmersdorf.

The peripheral districts are by definition further away from the beaten path, but the public transportation system in Berlin is superb and makes this all a bit relative. The S-Bahn (above ground) and U-Bahn (underground) connections are fast and reliable and can generally get you to "The City" (Mitte) within 20 to 30 minutes. Do keep in mind, however, that Berlin is a huge piece of real estate. The extremities can, well, be extremely far away, especially when considering using public transportation at night and on the weekends. These peripheral districts are:

Hellersdorf,
Hohenschönhausen,
Köpenick,
Lichtenberg,
Marhahn,
Pankow,
Reinickendorf,
Spandau,
Steglitz,
Treptow,
Wedding,
Weißensee, und
Zehlendorf.

If you would rather try your hand at short-term accommodations first, take a look at the second set of links listed below. Hotels and private rooms are a fine way to try out the water here. But there's no need to, really. Believe me. The water's just fine here.

So now you've got a place to stay. Wow, that was fast. And what do you do next? That's easy. Find that dream job, open an innovative new business, become rich and famous, and meet the girl or boy of your dreams. And while you're at it, learn a little German.

I can help you out with all of that, too. But, well, gee. Those are other articles.

Apartment links (English):

Home Company
http://berlin.homecompany.de/englisch/index.htm

All-Berlin-Apartments
http://www.all-berlin-apartments.com/en/

Old Town Apartments
http://www.apartmentsapart.com/berlin_hotels/index.htm

City Mitwohnzentrale
http://www.city-mitwohnzentrale.com/

Ferienwohnung Berlin
http://www.ferienwohnung-zimmer-berlin.de/Unterkuenfte-eng/suche.php?

ABRI Apartments in Berlin
http://www.abri-berlin.com/apartment-berlin-eng.html

Hotels and room links (English):

Hotel.de
http://www.hotel.de/homepage.aspx?lng=EN

Bookings
http://www.bookings.de/city/de/berlin.en.html?aid=301584;label=Berlin-2-de

Berlin-Hotels-Tour
http://www.berlin-hotels-tour.com/

About Berlin Hotels
http://www.about-berlin-hotels.de/

Discount Hotels Berlin
http://www.discountedhotelsberlin.com

Berlin Hotels Network
http://www.berlin-hotels-network.com/

Europe Cities Berlin
http://www.europe-cities.com/hotels-berlin.aspx

Accommodations for Students:
http://germany.accommodationforstudents.com/default.asp
123Berlinzimmer.de
http://www.123berlinzimmer.de/home/pa_id/68/lang/en

Guestrooms-Apartments.de
http://www.guestrooms-apartments.de/
Zimmervermittlung24.com
http://www.zimmervermittlung24.com/zv-google-k4.php
Berlinerunterkunft
http://www.lodging-berlin.de/index_en.htm