Step 1: Determine your priorities

To be successful with your flatshare search, you must know what you are looking for in your future home. A list of personal eligibility criteria is essential, in order to find your way around the vast variety of offers. Are your priorities more about the rental costs, or rather the size of the room? Should it be a flatshare with minimal personal interaction, or do you want to sit and share your time with your roommates on quiet evenings? Only when you know what you are looking for you will find a flatshare that is likely to be suitable for you. Not only should basic information such as budget, location and size be clear to you, but perhaps most importantly you also need to consider what type(s) of personalities you are likely to happy living with. For example, if you are a calm and quiet person, do you really want to live in a flatshare full of party people? Or if you are more of a party person yourself, do you really think you would be happy living in a house where you are expected to be quiet from 10pm every night?

Step 2: Find suitable ads on the Internet

On www.wg-gesucht.de more than 200,000 ads per month are at your disposal for free. In order to find the most suitable rooms, you can filter the ads by your own personal criteria. Alternatively, you can create a Request/Wanted ad and let yourself be found by your future roommates.

As they say, the early bird catches the worm - and this also applies when searching for a flatshare. This is doubly true during the peak times, such as right before a semester begins. During such periods, the demand for flatshare rooms often outweighs the number rooms available. In such situations students are often forced to take whatever room they can find, even if it does not suit their needs. When everyone is searching for accommodation, it is better to have any roof above your head than no roof. Do not let this be you, start your search early. It is also very important to know what the current average rental prices are in your dream town. If you do not know what price is normal, there is the risk paying overpriced rent.

Step 3: Convince the house mates with your application and at the visit

Finding a suitable ad is only half the battle. Now you have to sell yourself to your future house mates to make sure you get the room. And this itself consists of two battles. Firstly, your initial contact (either via phone or email) must interest them enough to get an invite to inspect the room and meet them in person. And once there, then you must convince them that you are the best candidate for the room. Your initial contact must convince them that it is worth their time meeting you. If they have specified any details in their ad, this is the time to address them. For example, if they say they are looking for animal lovers, be sure to tell them about your own pet or how much you like animals. Or if they say they are looking for someone quiet you could mention that you like to read and ask them if they do, too. If they are looking for outgoing social people, ask them who their favorite DJ or band is, if they play any musical instruments and if they go out to many live gigs or concerts. If all goes well, you will get an invite to inspect the room and meet them.

During the visit you get the chance to meet your potential roommates and sell yourself to them. On no account should you pretend to be something that you are not just to get the room. However, you should always present yourself in the best light. If you impassively shuffle through the rooms and only give yes/no answers to their questions, your chance of getting the room will be low. Show your interest by asking questions about them and the flatshare life.

Generally speaking, it is best to go to the inspection on your own. They will want to meet your friends eventually, but at this stage they are only interested in meeting you. People who arrive with friend(s) give the impression that they are not interested in meeting the other people in the flatshare. People who arrive with their parents typically get labeled as dependent and/or needy. Typically, both are rejected out of hand.

Conclusion

The most important thing with the flatshare search is not to lose hope. Sometimes your search may last a little longer than you had hoped. But if you follow these steps, sooner or later you too can find your dream flatshare. To make sure you have the highest possible chance, start searching offers now and be sure to create your own Request ad so potential roommates can also find you.