SF Apartment Search Update

So I just posted my rather disheartening post about my dismal attempts at apartment searching in SF and guess what...right when I was about to give up ---I FOUND ONE!!!!! Woohoo!!!

So maybe it's not in the best neighborhood, and I don't know who I will be living with and I can't move in for another month, but you know what? It's MINE, its affordable and...there's wifi! What else could a girl ask for in this world?!

So f%cking happy right now! Funny how your luck can change so fast huh?

-Ran- A Smiling Nomad :D

Countdown to...???

The clock is ticking down to the end of my lease in Copenhagen and ....I'm still not clear on my plans.

I know strategically that opportunity lies in SF at the moment but logistically how will I move my stuff over? or should I move everything?

I have a feeling I will be commuting between Europe and America often in the near future, but where do I make my home base. Not to mention, I'm not sure I even have much of a choice as I will again be homeless in less then two weeks and no clear plan in place.

I have scoured Craigslist in SF and so far no luck ....urrrgh. No matter what happens, this will be my fourth move in less than a year---oh the life of a traveler.

A Morning Text

GUESS FREAKING WHAT? Im homeless AGAIN?

Woke up to a text from my landlord that his job offer didn't work out and I need to move out by May 1. Are you kidding me?? I am so busy right now with work and I have several conference trips already prebooked for April and May. How can I manage this?? and finding an apartment in CPH is near to impossible in one month :(

Its really been such a struggle with apartment hunting here. So much time and money spent moving, packing, unpacking and searching.

Ive been living out of boxes and suitcases since I arrived here because I was never sure when I had to move again. You know I am as much a nomad as nomads come, but right now for the next three months- while we are working on our campaign- a bit of stability couldn't hurt. And guess what the irony is, I was just planning to go to IKEA this upcoming weekend to finally get some "real" furniture so I could officially finish unpacking and make my apartment feel like a HOME...

Damn, I really, really liked my current place (but I guess it was never really mine was it?) I was finally starting to feel like I belonged in Copenhagen. And now- yet again- everything is up in the air and I have to start over again.

Yes. I think might cry a bit today. Just a little bit.

Man this sucks.

-Ran

Finally, a fitting end to my Danish housing saga!

Finding housing in Copenhagen, where do I begin?

Yes, it is competitive!
Yes, it is time consuming!
Yes, there are a lot of rules!
Yes, it is much harder for expats!
And of course it is expensive!!!

But if you don't give up, think outside the box and with a bit of luck, I believe everyone can eventually find a place in this city!

So, how exactly did I find my place? Well, if you read my previous blog posts, you know I tried everything I could think of- even paying a hefty subscription to several Danish apartment hunting sites and staying up all hours of the night prowling online listings. However in the end, my Danish apartment lead actually came from the most unlikely of sources...

Back during my final month in Stockholm this winter, I was getting a bit restless so I embarked on an excursion to Lund and Copenhagen via Couchsurfing. I had such a fantastic time with my amazing and musically gifted CS hosts in Copenhagen that I decided I had to repay the CS community in kind. So upon my return to Stockholm, I hosted two sets of CSers during my final week in the city. The schedule was tight, and my apartment was cramped but we made memories and friendships for a lifetime! However, little did I realize, just how pivotal this experience was going to be...

As it turned out one my Couchsurfers actually lived in CPH and when he heard I was moving to town and was struggling to find a place, he generously connected me with one of his friends who just happened to have a fully furnished apartment available. So, long story short, I am now the happy tenant of a comfortable, dog-friendly, and affordable apartment in Østerbro! Not bad, eh?



The takeaway message for the day? The Couchsurfing community is truly amazing and...all hail KARMA!

"Hygge"-licious! A place to call my own in Copenhagen :)

--Ran--

I am listening to:
Cloud-Shake the Ground(Nordic Lounge)

Why I am awake at 2:53 am...

Sure, I would love to be curled up, warm in my bed right now, but thanks to a 7 hour time difference I am instead pounding back a steaming cup of joe and feverishly trolling Danish rental sites for new listings. I am frustrated, exhausted and on the verge of a caffeine overdose.

So, what is all this painstaking effort for?
I am but a simple girl and I would be more than happy in a studio or a humble one bedroom. I lack bicycling skills, so I would prefer the apartment to be somewhat close to Copenhagen Business School. I think these are very reasonable requests. Yet, I have tried everything from Couchsurfing forums, expat blogs and Facebook groups to subscription online listings and apartment company websites, all to no avail. If the dark bags swelling under my eyes are any indication of my effort, then I can safely assure you that I have been trying my damn hardest. So far, my email inquiries have been met with either the all too familiar "apartment is already reserved" message or... a cold unnerving silence. When I called into apartment companies, I was told that there was a 100+ person waiting list for current listings, and nothing new is available until November. Oh and the kicker - company policy mandates that rentals are for professionals only, NO STUDENTS ALLOWED. When I pushed the the agent to elaborate on their policy, she explained that the landlords in their company view student tenants(even graduate students) as liabilities since they are often "unreliable with rent" and "irresponsible with the apartment".

WTF??! When did students become second class citizens and marginalized to derogatory stereotypes? I am having trouble reconciling this discrimination against students with my perception of Denmark as a country known for its politically correct rationale. Why do the naysayers fail to consider the fact that if a student is paying a full year's tuition up front, then they are more likely than not to be financially stable. Additionally, in order to succeed in school and gain entrance into a graduate program, graduate students are by default, responsible!

Why is it that a smart, capable gal like me, with a more than generous budget can't seem to catch a break when it comes to finding a place in Copenhagen?! To be fair, it seems that I am not the only one in this rapidly sinking boat, because everywhere I look there are post after post from desperate people(mostly students) looking from rentals in CPH. Hell, I even stumbled upon a Facebook post by a Danish TV reporter seeking students for a segment about the daunting challenge of finding a place in CPH. And I would like it to be noted that in less than half a day there were over 80 comments!

Sigh, my journey to Copenhagen has not even begun and I am already feeling defeated. As a lowly graduate student I guess I might just have to settle for a sturdy box under a bridge...

-R-

Final Month in Chicago

p.s.
During my two previous forays into Copenhagen I fell in love with the architecture, the food(oh the hotdogs!) and most of all the people. I met some truly upstanding characters in my brief stay, and it was precisely because of this refreshing open-mindedness that I chose Denmark over Sweden as the place to continue my studies. Therefor, I sincerely hope my negative house hunting experience is just a small blip in an otherwise auspicious beginning and...not a foreboding forecast of things to come.

Denmark Countdown: One Month

Wow I cant believe it! Only one short month until I'm off to Denmark to embark on my year long study at Copenhagen Business School!

Excited, Nervous...and a bit frazzled, I've been trying to get everything done in time, but I have learned from experience that international travel is never mishap free and an international move is even more stressful. Lucky for me, it seems to be smooth sailing so far. With one more month to go, I am pretty much on point with the tasks I need to accomplish before departure from USA and my previous stay in Stockholm has definitely provided me with valuable insight on what to expect upon my arrival in Copenhagen. However one thing, actually quite a big thing has been starting to give me a headache. I have been apartment searching for over two months now and very aggressively searching for the past month...but still nothing! I've tried a variety of Danish websites and even paid a hefty subscription fee, but the only responses I have received were stock messages informing me that the apartment(which listed a mere 5 seconds ago) has already been reserved! How is that even possible?! Do Danes have magical Danish fingers that can somehow type and click twice as fast as mine?!

While my Swedish apartment search was frustrating and full of twists and turns, with the help of my Swedish friend, I was able to secure a beautiful apartment in Stockholm two full months before my arrival. So, then what am I doing wrong in my Danish apartment search?

Should I be reposting my ad in English? Is it because I have not included a picture of myself? Do the owners not want to rent to expats? All these questions with no answers, I can only speculate...

My budget is reasonable and I'm not a (complete) weirdo, so I really hope someone will give me a chance!

Please, please, please, travel gods answer my prayers for a beautiful apartment in downtown Copenhagen! :D

-Ran

Renior Ma, my little card shark!

I am listening to:

James Yuill- "No Surprise"

Impossible is Nothing: Apartment Hunting in Copenhagen

So now that I know I will be living in Copenhagen, Denmark for the next year, I have started in earnest the long and grueling process of apartment hunting. From my previous experience apartment hunting in Stockholm, I know that this process is NOT going to be easy and apartments in the city center are definitely NOT cheap! I was very lucky during my Stockholm apartment search in the fact that I had a "sweet" Swedish friend in Chicago who aided me greatly in my search. After I nearly fell for several scams on Swedish Craigslist, my friend helped me compose an apartment want ad in Swedish and we posted it on Blocket.se. Consequently, I was lucky to find an amazing apartment in central Stockholm, just 15 minutes via the tube to my work! However... I am not sure I will be quite as lucky this time in my Copenhagen apartment search :(

I have several things working against me this time:
1. Time- For Stockholm, I started my search 3 months in advance, while this time I only have 2 months total to find a suitable apartment, obtain a residence permit and pack and ship my belongings(and I have a massive amount of belongings, aka clothes...), and adjust to living in Denmark before school starts.
2. Budget- I am working with a smaller budget this time. In Stockholm I paid 1200 USD/month for an one bedroom apartment and this time, I am working with a smaller budget of 1000 USD. I am not sure that is enough for a furnished one bedroom or studio in central CPH.
3. Everything Danish- Sadly, I don't have any Danish friends living in Chicago, and my Danish language skills are all but non-existent. Additionally, while Stockholms neighborhoods were very distinct because each one was located on a separate island, I am still struggling to understand the unique dynamic of the various neighborhoods of Copenhagen.

My search this time will be further compounded by the fact that I do not know how to ride a bike... and this seems to be a major mode of transportation in Copenhagen. I know what you are thinking, how can I be Chinese and not know how to ride a bike?!(lowers head in shame) But in all seriousness, I am really not sure if I should be living near the tube stop? the bus stop? or .uh..a bike shop!? Also, I want to make sure I focus on the right neighborhoods. Last time in Stockholm, while both my apartment and neighborhood were beautiful, I unwittingly ended up in a very wealthy and very "old" part of Stockholm, and by old, I am not referring to the architecture, but rather to the fact that I was a good half century younger than the majority of my neighbors! So, this time in Copenhagen I would really like to live somewhere young and...dare I say hip!? :D

My apartment hunt has just begun and I already feel like I have gotten myself in over my head. I guess it doesn't help that I keep trolling Danish apartment hunting forums and reading horror stories of scams and fruitless apartment searches(yikes!). So dear friends and readers, any CPH neighborhood advice, transportation knowledge, and magical apartment hunting secrets will be deeply appreciated...anything to help a nomad like me to find an affordable, convenient and fun place to settle down (for a year)!

-Ran- the homeless

København-Can I afford to live here?

I am listening to:

"In Search of"-Mike Snow

**Thank you everyone for the support, here is a growing list of websites that have been recommended to me for apartments in CPH:

http://www.dba.dk/boliger/lejebolig/vaerelser/reg-koebenhavn/

http://www.boligportal.dk/en/

http://erasmusu.com/en/erasmus-copenhagen/student-housing

Apartment Blues in Stockholm

Since I will be in Stockholm, Sweden in less than one month, I feel that I must make the inevitable post addressing the myriad of difficulties surrounding the Swedish housing market.

Firstly, Stockholm is built on 14 islands so there is a lack of available land for expansion. Stockholm is a bustling international city with an increasing number of new residents every year, then factor in the fact that there has been a severe lack of new construction in recent years. What do you get? A ridiculously complicated and scam-filled housing/rental market!

From reading articles and from listening to my Swedish friends, I have heard numerous horror stories of unsuspecting foreigners getting ripped off by online scams. Even I, the well-seasoned traveler, almost fell for a scam.

What NOT to do:

1.     DO NOT use Swedish Craigslist!

2.     DO NOT use Swedish Craigslist!

3.     DO NOT use Swedish Craigslist!

Did you get that? I repeat DO NOT USE SWEDISH CRAIGLIST! From my own personal experience and from word of mouth, this is the number one sure-fire way to lose your money, dignity and end up apartment-less in Stockholm!!

“If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.” Nowhere does this saying ring more true than on Swedish Craigslist.  Almost all the listings are for apartments located in coveted downtown Stockholm. You will look at these listings thinking you have hit apartment gold, but NO my friend, look again! You will be temporarily dazed by the possibility of living in a centrally located apartment that is stylish yet affordable, but after that initial excitement has worn off, you may want to take a second more careful look at the posting. You will notice that the pictures in the apartment-posting look “too good”, almost like they came straight from the pages of a design magazine, or that the shots of the many rooms look like they came from completely different apartments with utterly different styles. MMM… suspicious yet?

If you are a trusting "utlänning" (like me), you may even respond to one of the *amazing* apartment listings on Swedish Craigslist. You will get an email from the "owner" of the apartment telling you how special the apartment is and how much they want to make sure you take good care of it in their absence. He will tell you that he wants to trust you, so he will kindly ask you to provide him ALL you personal information including but not excluded to your birthday, job, current address, phone number and a scanned copy of your passport! Then the "owner" will tell you that he is currently not in Sweden, but hey! no problem, you can conveniently transfer him the first months rent plus security deposit and he will mail you the keys.

WHAT?!!  DO NOT send in your passport! DO NOT transfer ANY money! Because believe me this, once you send in your precious kronas, you will NEVER hear from the "owner" again or see your money again.

I am embarrassed to admit that after struggling for weeks to find an apartment in Stockholm, I foolishly responded to apartment listing on Swedish Craiglist. I even provided my information to the "owner" of the apartment, but when the "owner"of the apartment asked me for a copy of my passport and the first two months rent up front, thank god, I had enough sense to stop and think. When I hesitated is when the harassing emails demanding money started-five emails in one day asking me to transfer money or I will lose the apartment! When I did not respond to the emails, is when I started getting calls from international numbers. I picked up the phone thinking it was my mom calling from China, but instead the caller actually turned out to be the "owner"of the listed apartment, who had a distinctly NON-SWEDISH accent, calling to again to demand an immediate money transfer. Needless to say… I was no longer interested in the apartment.

To avoid getting ripped off, I would recommend googling the apartment address provided in a listing. Often times you will find other listings with the same address that have already been reported for being scams. Also, google the name of the apartment "owner" and the email address, or even better, copy and paste their entire email to you and click “search”. More often than not, you will find identical copies of the email online listed as confirmed scams!!

I have included link for Swedish Craigslist because of the off-chance that there could be some legitimate apartment postings on there, but I warn you again…click it that your own risk:

http://stockholm.sv.craigslist.se/apa/

Now I understand that after reading my post you may feel discouraged and overwhelmed by the daunting task of finding a reasonable apartment in Stockholm, but do not worry there ARE still many ways to search for legitimate apartment. Here is a great blog breaking down the right ways to apartment hunt in Stockholm:

http://lostinstockholm.com/2009/11/05/living-in-sweden-finding-an-apartment/

Personally, I found my apartment in Östermalm by creating a want-ad on http://www.blocket.se/ . Apparently since  there is a lack of apartments, it is more common for the would be rentee to put in the effort to make an want-ad than for the owner of the apartment to post an apartment listing. If you decide to post on blocket.se, then I would recommand getting a Swedish friend to translate your ad to Swedish, because while it is true that many people in Sweden are fluent in English, Swedish is still the universal language there. For example, the owners of my apartment are not very fluent in English and have mainly communicated to me in Swedish.

So what is the take home message from this post? Yes, the Swedish housing/rental process can be throughly confusing and even hair-pullingly frustrating at times, but if you start searching in advance, are persistent and make smart decisions, then you too CAN find your own little piece of Stockholm to call home! ;)

 

Success! All mine!

To all my fellow apartment hunters-Good Luck and DON’T GIVE UP! –Ran-xoxo-A Nomad in Heels.