(Still) Finding a Place to Live: How To Perfect Your Housing Application

Jae:
[4:53] Yes, because I like took a step back and realized like, for example, on the ImmoScout website, you have the option to have the paid subscription, and with this paid subscription, your profile always gets on the top. And then I realized that most likely they probably ignore anybody who does not have that paid subscription. And the reason also why I think this is because my flatmate is leaving for like a month, so he's just sublet his apartment, his room. And when we were on the WG-Gesucht website ...

Manuel:
[5:36] Gesucht.

Jae:
[5:37] Oh, I was close! I was seeing how he was looking through the applications, and I realized that, okay, if we're looking through it like this, I can only imagine how actual real estate agents are looking through it. One, we are looking at: Do you have a face picture? Two, we're looking at: Do you look sketchy? Three, we're looking, okay, like: How's your introduction? You know, there's these standards that if you probably don't match the standards, you're going to get filtered out because there's going to be somebody who already has that standard. And like I said, it's a very competitive market, so if you don't meet these certain qualifications, I can only imagine that you're going to just be ignored automatically. You might still be ignored even with all that, but you'll even be extra, extra ignored. Yeah.

Manuel:
[6:21] Absolutely. So ImmoScout ... By the way, both of these websites we mentioned in Episode 2, Finding a Place to Live in Berlin. If you haven't listened to that, you should still listen to that episode, I think, because we're not going to repeat everything from that episode. Inmoscout24.de is like the biggest commercial website where people announce apartments. Now it's basically ... there used to be like different ones, but now it's that's basically where it's happening. And it used to be fine to just be on the free account, but I completely agree that paying while you're looking just makes sense now, unfortunately, because whatever edge you can get, it's just going to help. And like for me, personally, the reason why I got lucky with my apartment was because I was incredibly fast. So basically, my workflow was that I had a well-defined search on ImmoScout, where I basically put the parameters of maximum price, minimum two rooms, or whatever it was, and then these areas. It was most of Berlin but not the outskirts.

[7:35] And you can define a search like that. And then I didn't have email notifications once per day or even when they come out. I had push notifications to the mobile app as soon as a new thing came out. So I was getting a lot of push notifications, but during that time I just made it a habit to immediately tap them, and then just based on the pictures, I would just scroll through like a few pictures and if I thought that might be reasonable, I would send my application, which is basically a one-click process because you don't, in that first application, you don't need to be super thorough. You don't want to be super thorough because they're getting a million applications. So it should just be a very short application where you talk a little bit about yourself, but it should be short. And I did that so many times and the apartment that I ended up getting, it was actually a couple trying to find someone to move in after them, so that they could get out of their contract earlier, and they literally just had it up for like ten minutes, and only invited the first three parties that sent an application. So it was literally just online for like five minutes. And I don't know how often that happens, but that's the reason why I got lucky. So I think that's part of being prepared.

Jae:
[8:58] Yeah. Yeah. I think, honestly, I think what really changed for me was exactly what you just said: downloading the app - and ImmoScout24 is not sponsoring this, by the way - but yeah, like downloading the app and then also putting the push notification. Because I do the same exact thing, and I click it, I click it, I click it, I click it. And honestly, it kind of just makes the process a lot easier, because at first I was just avoiding seeing the application and whatnot, but this kind of just makes it, like you said, it's just like a three-second process or whatnot. But I think ... And also, I would say, one of the good things about just a subscription is that it, like I say, creates a document for you that has all your information into it. And this information also is everything that you need, it's everything that the real estate agent or whoever is leasing out their place needs, and also it allows you to implement your pay, like your income per month, and then also ...

Manuel:
[9:57] Yeah, they have a system, right, where you can pay and then basically they ... it sounds very sketchy and I think it is a little bit sketchy, but it's probably what you're gonna have to do, is because it used to be that you would basically photocopy or scan your salary slips and then black out any personal information and send that, but that's a very manual process. And they have a thing where you connect it to your online banking and they just kind of log in on your behalf, see that you have a regular income, and then they basically vouch for you and say: Yes, this person does have a regular income. And from a privacy perspective it all seems kind of bad, but I guess it does make things easier.

Jae:
[10:46] Yes, from privacy perspective there is a hit or miss, but I will say this might be a little bit better than the other way, because my friend was telling me that he got scammed and actually he was a victim of identity theft because he had sent his application but he did it manually and he did not black out his information, his bank confirmation, so he had to go through all that type of process and stuff like that. So the one thing about ImmoScout is like it doesn't require you to put all this personal information into your documents whenever you're sending it, especially if you're sending these mass messages and stuff like that. Like you don't really know who you're ... that's the unfortunate thing, you don't know who you're sending your applications to. You could be sending your application to a scammer.

Manuel:
[11:33] Totally. You will be, probably. There's so many scammers. We've mentioned this on the last episode, the last episode that we talked about this. There is a lot of scammers. Because this situation is so dire, so many people really, really, really need to find something now, and they're willing to pay high prices, so people are taking advantage. So you just have to have your shields up all the way.

Preparing Your Application

Jae:
[11:58] Yeah. So now let's talk about preparing your application document, like what should you have in this type of thing? So I'm just kind of going by my ImmoScout document that they kind of prepared for me. In this document, the first page was just a picture of who I was, which just confirms my identity. And then a little ...

Manuel:
[12:23] Can we pause on that? It's a little weird, no, that in Germany still, even with job applications, it's changing now, but it's still the norm that you submit a picture.

Jae:
[12:34] Which is very weird, and I think kind of like not the best, especially for like discriminatory reasons.

Manuel:
[12:40] Yes, no, it's terrible because it just opens ... it just ... you know, all the biases, and you don't have to be an overt racist, it's just everybody has biases. And even just putting the gender and then especially a picture, it's just terrible. But that's still the norm, and I don't know why that would matter for a housing application. It just makes no sense whatsoever.

Jae:
[13:06] Yeah, and it's something that I talked to Rawad about too, because we're also people of color, and he was like, yeah, he probably assumes that obviously our applications are going to get even pushed down even more, because not only are we immigrants not from this country, but we're also people of color, and there's just a lot of biases about people like that. It's not my preferred thing, but it's a shitty ... Like, once again, we used to say finding housing in Berlin is a very difficult, difficult, difficult process to do. But continuing, in this first page of the application, I put my name, my birthday, also where I currently am living at, and then just put some of my contact information, and then also my working status and where I'm working, and how much income I'm getting, which, that also is something that I don't like putting into my thing, 'cause, I mean, my income is good, but like I also feel maybe they'll pick somebody who has like a higher income.

Manuel:
[14:16] No. I mean, not, maybe, I think the main thing that especially, I think in my case, where it was the previous tenants essentially picking someone and recommending someone, it was also based on sympathy. And I will actually ... I want to talk about kind of how you can ... how you should, whenever you have the chance, make personal connections, because several times in my life that made a difference. But in this kind of anonymous world of housing companies and real estate agents, the number one factor that they will use to determine who gets the apartment is the salary. And so if you don't have a salary yet because you're just moving here, or you have a really low salary, I really think you should think about loopholes or things that you could do. For example, if you have parents who can just temporarily ... well, guarantee is one thing, but also, especially now that you can hook it up to the online banking and they somehow ... they should just, even like before you move to Berlin, if they can over a series of a few months just send you a few thousand euros to your account, even if you're then paying it back to them like right afterwards, just that regular income on your bank statement might make it much easier to find something.

Jae:
[15:43] That is very true. And the one other thing about ImmoScout is you choose which income you want to show on your bank, so you can ignore that, the fact you send them back.

Manuel:
[15:54] Exactly.

Jae:
[15:55] But that definitely could be like a really good idea. The other thing I was thinking about was like, Okay, I'm just going to apply for housing that is cheaper. But I think, yeah, they always go for, even if you are well-budgeted, like I am - ynab.com, sponsor us! - even if you are well-budgeted, I think they still judge you based on ... It's so fucking stupid, it's such an annoying process. But here we are. We try.

Manuel:
[16:20] Okay. But the regular employment where you're not in the probation period anymore and you have have a regular income, that makes it a lot easier. Like if you don't have that yet, it's going to be even harder. So for the beginning, if you don't have a regular income or you're still in the probation period, the easiest thing might just be moving into a WG where it's a personal decision.

Jae:
[16:44] The personal ... and that's all ... I would always say like if you can go for to personal decisions you might have an easier time, a personal ... you might have an easier time, I would say, just navigating or getting something a lot quicker and stuff. So the next page. Can you read this?

Manuel:
[17:12] Wait, okay, you're showing me your Bewerbermappe, the PDF that ImmoScout is making for you. Okay, so it's basically a profile of what you want, Neues Wohnverhältnis. Basically it says you're flexible in terms of the date, you're not opening a business, you're not looking for Gewerbliche Nutzung, you're not looking for business use, it's purely private, you don't have any pets, you don't want to open a shared apartment or like a WG, which is also something that many landlords aren't that keen on because it just complicates things for them, and it's just one single person, and that's all that you need. And then it has additional information, Bürgschaft, so that's basically someone vouching for you. It says: Nein. That's something that you could maybe even, if you wanted to check all the boxes, you know, you could have someone vouch for you, although I don't know if it's necessary. It would really be necessary if you didn't have a salary at all, like if, you know, for a student, you do want your parents or a friend or someone with a regular income who's willing to obviously take that responsibility and turn in kind of that information. Wohnberechtigungsschein: Ja. Are you sure? Do you have the WBS?

Jae:
[18:47] No.

Manuel:
[18:48] Okay, so this might be wrong. This is the special ... this is like social housing.

Jae:
[18:53] Oh. Yeah, no, I don't have that either.

Manuel:
[18:55] Yeah, you need to change that. And then you have Haftpflichtversicherung, which is a type of insurance that I talked about in the insurance episode. Go listen to that, it's boring but important. And yeah, and then it asks if you've ever been insolvent. So basically, just a bunch of information. Then you have your Schufa, very nice. We talked about that in the last episode. Very, very necessary to have that when you're looking for an apartment.

Jae:
[19:26] And get the paid one.

Manuel:
[19:28] Get the paid one. Although it's bullshit, you could get it for free. But unfortunately, all of this money is just ...you know, pales in comparison to not finding something.

Jae:
[19:43] 'Cause like unfortunately you can choose not to, but there's going to be somebody who will do it, and you're up against that person, you know?

Manuel:
[19:52] Exactly. Yeah, and then it has the proof of income through, yeah, through their system. And I can see, I haven't seen this yet, but okay, so basically they just access your online banking and then you can select which types of income you want to show and you just pick them and they basically print it, and they print kind of who sent it, and what the name of the transfer was, and the amount. So if you're having like your parents transfer it, they should pick a good name, they should put like …

Jae:
[20:30] Yeah, like be a freelancer, you know, like ...

Manuel:
[20:32] Yeah, something like...

Jae:
[20:34] Web design services ...

Manuel:
[20:36] Regular income, I don't know ...

Jae:
[20:38] Something vague, but also something like, oh, okay ...

Manuel:
[20:41] It's regular. It's forever. It's permanent!

Jae:
[20:44] Yeah, yeah! But like, if you are doing this yourself without the help, make sure, like emphasize: black out personal information. If you're afraid that they'll ignore you for that, you shouldn't. No real estate agent or no like actual company should be expecting your personal information, especially just in this first beginning application process. If they are, that is tricky, and that is a scam maybe, but don't trust that. But do not put your personal information out there.

Manuel:
[21:15] Exactly. Maybe if you have all this, and then you're in the final stage, and they do want you to sign the contract, but they're like: Hey, we would ... at this stage, we would actually like to see your salary slip, that's one thing, but don't just randomly send your salary slips or personal ID around to strangers like ...

Jae:
[21:36] Yeah, yeah. Exactly.

Manuel:
[21:37] Good point.

Jae:
[21:38] The next thing that I put into the application was also my confirmation of my payments for the rent that I did as well.

Manuel:
[21:46] See, that's also making it a little bit easier, because it used to be - and maybe it a lot of people still want it - but you used to have to get a letter from your previous or current tenant [landlord] ...

Jae:
[21:58] Yeah, and then they ...

Manuel:
[21:59] ... confirming that you don't have any debt towards them. And it looks like here you can also just pick from your online banking all the payments that you've made, and it just gives you a list.

Jae:
[22:10] Yes.

Manuel:
[22:11] But I would say they probably still usually want that letter and your previous tenant [landlord] is obliged, obligated by law to provide it to you. So, get that letter.

Jae:
[22:24] That is good to know. And that's honestly the last page of the document.

Manuel:
[22:29] And so all of this you're sending whenever you find a place that looks reasonable? You just say: Apply, and it sends all of that?

Jae:
[22:38] Yeah, like especially on ImmoScout, I just like ... it kind of automatically just does it, because like when you have the like paid version, you can just like click: Send my profile to them. And I just ... yeah, it's like a copy-and-paste type of thing.

Manuel:
[22:53] And so, how's that been going? Have you ... ?

Jae:
[22:56] Not one ... not one has responded to it, I think. Not one.

Manuel:
[23:00] How many times have you sent it?

Jae:
[23:01] I've sent it 35 times in the last two weeks. Not one. But like, I'm faith patient. I'm thinking: Look, it's the thing where you just throw shit at the wall and you see what sticks. It's 35 in two weeks. I'm like: Okay, like this whole thing is like I'm trying to trial myself for six months because that's how ... Because with the ImmoScout, another stupid thing is you have to pay for the subscription with a contract. So this subscription that I have is the €20 a month for six months. Then they have one for €30 a month for three months. It's quite stupid. But yeah, I'm like: Okay, for these six months, I'm just going to try. I will send 200 applications if they are in my preferred realm.

Personal Connections

Manuel:
[23:50] So I think you have to do this, and it is what you said, like it's - what did you say? - throwing things against the wall and see what sticks. So you have to do that. But let's also talk about alternative methods - it sounds so scientific - just kind of what we already mentioned, personal connections. Like I think the number one thing obviously is kind of activate your network, like everybody who you work with, your friends, your acquaintances, everybody should know that you're looking and you have to remind them. I catch myself forgetting: Oh, yeah, like you know, because people tell you all the time, like: By the way, I'm looking for a new place, and you start forgetting. So kind of it ... you have to be a little bit annoying and tell everybody like: Hey, just, you know, I'm still looking for an apartment. If you know anybody ... And then like really have everybody ... Basically everybody should have you in mind as soon as they hear: Oh, my neighbor is moving places, like my neighbor just told me: We're moving out. Everybody on your behalf should be like: Okay, can ... like what's happening to the apartment? Can you maybe recommend my friend as the next tenant?

Jae:
[25:05] Yes. Those connections are always important.

Manuel:
[25:07] Those connections are the best, because I really believe, just as with jobs, most apartments don't even end up on ImmoScout. I think with jobs, it's something like 60, 70, 80 percent of jobs never get posted to the internet because companies already have a pipeline of people they want to hire. And the same with these apartments, they just, they, you know ... even the people who work at these housing companies, they probably know a million friends who are looking, so they just go to those. And so basically, whenever somebody moves out, you should hit them up and say like: Hey, can you recommend the next tenant and can that be my friend? Because to the housing company, that just makes it easier to them. For them, posting to ImmoScout and dealing with 5,000 applications is just a hassle and money, and so it makes it easier for them as well. And then also, if - this is a little less personal maybe - but still more personal than ImmoScout, is if you ... basically ... it's hard to explain this.

[26:12] So I live in an apartment and my housing company, I have ... there's a person that works at that housing company who's responsible for like my building and several other buildings. I can call them, and I've done this and said, "Hey, I have someone who's looking, and this is the profile, they're looking in these areas of Berlin, and maximum price. Can you tell me when something opens up?" And not all of the housing companies will do it, but some of the smaller ones will do it. They'll be like, "Okay, yeah, we'll tell you when something opens up before it goes on the internet." So like really trying to kind of activate people personally. And then when you get there, I mean, if it's one of those housing - what are they called? - Besichtigungen, like the... Agencies? No, when you go and visit the place and look at the place.

Jae:

[27:05] Just ... viewings?

Manuel:
[27:06] Yeah, the viewings. If it's a viewing where it's just open and they invite everybody, it's game over, you can basically turn around. Don't spend half your Sunday in a line. I saw a thing on social media the other day where it was like literally 500 people in line to view one apartment. And it's just like, just turn around and enjoy your Sunday, like you're wasting your time. But the good housing companies will still limit it to like five people or ten people and they will give everybody a 15-minute slot, or sometimes maybe you're there with one other person but they're not letting 500 people go at the same time. Use that time. I literally got an apartment because the person who was showing the apartment liked me, and I talked to him and I told him about my life and made a connection. Like don't just go there and take pictures and say: Okay, I'll send my ... Or a lot of people will take pictures and they're like: Okay, so how do I apply? And then they're like: Okay, yeah, you need to either leave your printed application or send it via email - usually they want it via email now - and people are just like: Okay. And they leave. No! Make a personal connection! Like it's ...

Jae:
[28:16] Yeah, I would love to talk more about that. That was like my next topic, is like when you are there in that room with them, how do you make that personal connection with them? What questions are you asking them as well? And what should you do in that 15-minute slot?

Manuel:
[28:29] Yeah, I mean, it's a dance because you don't want to be kind of obnoxious and crazy or super desperate, but you also don't want to go and just, you know, behave as if you were a number. If you don't want to be treated like a number, you also kind of have to, I don't know, behave ...

Jae:
[28:49] Remind yourself ...

Manuel:
[28:50] I don't know, you just have to be kind of normal and ask any questions that you have. Don't ask ... maybe don't be overly critical or don't be like, "Oh, I don't like that," you know, but ask any honest questions that you have. Tell them like, hey, you know, if you like the place, tell them: I love the place. I would love to move in. Here's my application. What else can I do? Send the email right away. Thank them. Thank them for being there and giving you the time. Have everything ready. Send it right away. Right? Like have your thing, have your application ready, printed. The PDF you showed me, you can print out. Have everything ready and printed. Then also follow up via email. Send it right away. And yeah, make conversation. I mean, I think most of the time, it's just an employee of a housing company, and maybe it doesn't make such a big difference. But in my case, it was the actual tenant [landlord] who showed me the place. And if it's the actual tenant [landlord], chances are they want someone they also like, you know, to live there. And also, I think what's really important to a lot of tenants [landlords] is that that they don't want people moving in and out all the time, so if you can make a case that you're going to stay there for a long time, basically saying like, "Hey, I have a job here and I plan to live here for a long time," without feeling fake, all of those things matter, I think.

Jae:
[30:21] Yeah, I agree, I agree. It's very important, yeah, to make those connections.

Turning Places Down

[30:25] And I'll also say another thing, like it's very important, like if you don't feel the vibe of the place, that's also okay too. I remember there was one place that you guys just suggested to me, and it was nice but like I didn't love it, love it, you know? And I think that's also something to keep in mind too. It's like, if you can, if you have the privilege to, don't be desperate.

Manuel:
[30:53] Yeah, it's such a delicate balance, but before I got the place that I live in now, I visited ... I viewed many other apartments, and I was a little desperate, and I applied to many of them, and in retrospect I'm so happy that I didn't get them, because the place that I ended up getting is so much better. But it's hard when you're in that situation, especially if you don't have a place that's not great, but at least it's permanent. I mean, many people are in the situation where they're like: I need to find something in the next month or two months, otherwise I'm homeless, essentially. I mean, it's hard to then make those calls, but I agree, like if you ... The best, I think basically what you're doing is the best strategy where you have a place that's not perfect, that's not, you know, forever, but you're under no particular time pressure. Because then you can kind of have boundaries and decide: Okay, this is ... I'm not feeling it.

Jae:
[31:59] Yes. And I learned this lesson from the last place. Like the first place I was living, it was for, I think, like six months, like my first six months that I was here, and to be fair, I didn't start looking for a place until that last month. And, Oh my God, was there so much anxiety, so much anxiety. If you can ... like even if you're living in a place for a month - and I know it's exhausting y'all, I know it is - but keep looking, like there should be ... like I'm just saying this, like just from an anxiety perspective, there should be no time where you're not looking. And like I said, you don't have to put that much effort into it. Like if you're using ImmoScout, download the app, look at like whenever something comes up, apply for it right then and there, because like there's nothing worse ... there's a lot of things that are bad, but one of the worst experiences that I had was just trying to find good decent housing and that last month ...

[32:55] Because in that last month if you're looking, you're gonna be desperate. You're not gonna find like the most suitable environment, you know. So I would say, if you don't have to like rush, then start looking now, too. It's likez put in one percent effort, at least one percent. And that will do you, I think, a lot better. You might not find something tomorrow but at least you're getting to the habit of doing it. Because to be fair, you won't find anything tomorrow. Maybe you will, great for you if you do, but most times, you're not gonna find something tomorrow, so I think it's just best to be as diligent as possible. And that's just something I'm telling myself too, because I'm a big procrastinator. I'm like: Okay, Jae, we gotta learn some lessons now.

Manuel:
[33:40] And the boundaries also apply to pricing, because there are the scams that are like actual scams where they're, I don't know, stealing your identity or just robbing you of money. But then there are the scams where it's like, yeah, they're actually giving you the apartment, but they're charging you €2000 just because they put a chair in there and now it's furnished. That's a scam too. And it's like I understand if you kind of have to do it for the first three months or whatever, but don't give up at that point and be like: Okay, well, I'm paying €2000 for a tiny apartment and and they're getting away with it because it's "furnished." No! Like that should not be a permanent situation!

Jae:
[34:23] You remember how much I was paying in the first place I was living?

Manuel:
[34:25] I don't.

Jae:
[34:26] €900.

Manuel:
[34:28] But that €900 sounds okay. It wasn't ... It was ...

Jae:
[34:32] I mean, to be fair, I guess what you get for it, like it was furnished and there was a cleaner or whatnot, but still like €900 compared to like the average rent, it was a lot more.

Manuel:
[34:45] Yeah, I mean, yeah, for, for a shared room, €900 is a lot, but I hear it more and more now.

Jae:
[34:50] Yeah.

Manuel:
[34:51] Yeah. But I mean, if it's an actual - I think we explained this in the other episode - but if it's an actual apartment with an actual contract and it's not furnished, there is a limit to how much they can charge, because there's laws. And my apartment is quite affordable, but it's also because they can't legally charge more because whatever is like the medium in that area, that's what they can charge. I can't explain the details, but basically, that's what you're going for. You shouldn't try to find something that's furnished or some kind of temporary housing where these laws don't apply. Try to find the actual place at some point.

Jae:
[35:32] Yes, I agree.

Your First Message

[35:33] So there's one more thing I wanted to discuss, is that introduction message that you send online. So I want to read you mine, and let me know if this is good, or maybe we can like do some editing on it.

Manuel:
[35:47] Did you write it or did ChatGPT write it?

Jae:
[35:49] It was a mix. It was a collaboration, as everything you write these days! It was AI-assisted, that's how I call it! Okay. "Hello. I hope you are well. My name is Justin, and I'm currently looking for a new home in Berlin. I came across your real estate offer and am very interested in learning more about it. As a tenant, I attach great importance to being responsible, respectful, and punctual in my rent payments. I work as a manager in a media production company, which guarantees me a stable income to pay the rent on time and assure a well-kept apartment. I'll be very happy to have the opportunity to discuss your property in more detail and see if it is suitable for both of us. Please let me know when you are available for a message or a viewing. Thank you for considering me as a potential tenant and I look forward to hearing from you soon. Best regards. And I convert this to German, so ...

Manuel:
[36:40] Yeah I was going to ask, do you send this in English or in German?

Jae:
[36:43] German.

Manuel:
[36:44] German, okay. Do you want to read the German version?

Jae:
[36:47] Hallo, ich hoffe es geht dir gut.

Manuel:
[36:50] Oh wait! Wait! Stop, stop, stop! It says, es geht dir gut. Okay, so that's the informal address, and you don't want to use that with a situation like this. So that's it. See, I hope you don't mind that we're doing this on the air, but it was your idea.

Jae:
[37:08] I wanted to.

Manuel:
[37:09] Yeah, you should have a native speaker read through that translation.

Jae:
[37:14] Will you edit this?

Manuel:
[37:15] Yes, I will edit it.

Jae:
[37:18] See, this is why I wanted to do this , because ...

Manuel:
[37:20] That's a little ... depending on who's reading this, they might be offended because it's not formal.

Jae:
[37:25] Interesting. What do you .. like what are you supposed to say?

Manuel:
[37:29] Sie, is the formal address.

Jae:
[37:31] It's so like ... because English is so much like we don't have this like formal and informal like structure.

Manuel:
[37:39] You do a little bit. You wouldn't use the person's name. Yeah. You would address ... If there was a person, which by the way, that's the one thing that I did do every single time when sending this automated message, because often it does have the name of the person kind of responsible, and I would always change the address. I would be put: Sehr geehrte Herr Schmidt, Dear Mr Smith, you know, and so that's something that I would do, and then, yeah, definitely use the formal. And otherwise I thought the message was very good, a little long to my taste and I don't think anyone's going to ... I'm trying to ... I just logged into my profile. Oh, that's nice! I still have the final message, here in my profile is the apartment that I actually got and it has the little picture of my living room with no furniture in it. It's all grayed out, but see, this is my living room when it was on the internet. Look at that!

Jae:
[38:41] That's such a good price! Wow!

Manuel:
[38:42] €530! Oh my God!

Jae:
[38:43] Hey, this is why I'm not giving up. I'm like: It is possible. I see people do it!

Manuel:
[38:48] It is possible. So, do you want me to read you my message?

Jae:
[38:53] Yes.

Manuel:
[38:54] It's much shorter. I'm not saying it's the correct one, but it worked. Okay, so I'll read it in German first. Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren ... in this case, there probably wasn't a personal name, so I just put the general one. Es würde mich sehr freuen ... Ah, hold on, this is not a good example because I had been in contact with them before. That's the other thing, like you end up writing the same person many times because they have more than one apartment online, and then I would tell them like: I would like to see this one as well. Okay, so my message was ... Sehr geehrte Herr So-and-so, es würde mich sehr freuen diese schöne Wohnung besichtigen zu können. Ich bin 32 Jahr alt - I was young - und bin als Medien Produzent und Trainer bei Easy Languages tätig. Nach einer längeren Weltreise bin ich in Berlin und suche hier eine Wohnung auf dauer im Berliner Norden. Mit freundlichen Grüßen, Manuel Salmann. So basically it says, "Dear So-and-So, I would be delighted to get the chance to view this beautiful apartment." Sometimes I've changed that a little bit, I think. "I'm 32 years old and work as a media producer and trainer at Easy Languages GmbH." That was my title back then, I think I made that up, but ... ! We didn't have titles. "After returning from a world trip of several years, I moved back to Berlin and I'm looking for a permanent apartment in the north of Berlin." And then, Mit freundlichen Grüßen, Sincerely," and then my name. Very short.

Jae:
[40:55] So what were the key aspects of your message that you feel is needed, and then the ones that aren't, like that's just extra stuff?

Manuel:
[41:03] I think that the key things is you want to say that you're looking for something permanently and that you're employed. I think basically ... I think maybe the sweet spot is somewhere in-between yours and mine. I think mine, now looking at it, I mean, it's very short, but I also feel like, especially if you're automatically sending all those documents, you don't need to go into depth. And they're not going to read the whole letter. They're getting inundated with these messages. And most of the answers that I see here are fully automated. Like the ones that answered, it was just like an automated like ...

Jae:
[41:39] Yeah, that's what I noticed.

Manuel:
[41:40] You know, just, "There's an open viewing at this date, you're welcome to come," or just nothing, or, "Sorry it's already gone." It's not like ... The message should be professional and good, but it should be very short, I think. Let's see, so the one that I ended up getting, mmh, let's see, there's a whole message history here. Yeah, it was the previous tenant and she just wrote, "I'd be happy to have you here for a viewing." And then she gave me a concrete date and time, and yep, and they just did that for like three people, and I immediately replied. Let's see, she wrote at 7h50, I replied less than an hour later, saying, "Yes, I would love to come," and then I went.

Buying the Furniture (And Other Bribes)

[42:43] And then also ... Okay, this is a little ... a little ... I felt a little dirty about that, but it's really what you have to do.

Jae:
[42:53] What did you do?

Manuel:
[42:56] So because it was them trying to find someone to move in ...

Jae:
[42:59] Yes.

Manuel:
[43:01] There's a few things that happen when that happens, because they have the power, right? Like they have the power and they have ... Everybody wants the apartment and they're going to recommend one person to the tenant. So number one, when you move out, you are obliged to leave the place essentially renovated, like you have to paint the walls when you move out, that's in every contract that I know of. It says: When you move out, you have to paint the walls. And so when you find a next tenant, because you're moving out earlier, they're always going to be like, "Oh, yeah, and can you paint the walls?" Like basically they make you sign that, and then you just end up not doing it. I actually did end up doing it or having it done because the walls needed to be painted, but they didn't do that because I agreed that it's fine that they can leave without. That's number one, fine. And oftentimes, you know, it's fine, you don't probably need to paint the walls.

[43:55] And then the other thing is, they were like, "Well, we're also trying to sell some of our furniture." And I mean, they didn't pressure me at all. They were like, "Which of these things would you be interested in?" And I don't know if I asked them or they had it ready already, but essentially they gave me a list of everything that they wanted to sell and the price that they kind of suggested. And all in all it was I think €1,200, and that stuff was not worth €1,200, so what I ended up doing, it's a very privileged thing to do, but I literally said, "I'll buy all of it at the price that you suggested." I even considered saying: I'll even pay you more. But like that's how much we wanted that apartment that it was like: Okay, a thousand euros is nothing, so ...

Jae:
[44:53] Yeah. For that.

Manuel:
[44:54] Yeah, so we were just like ... And yeah, I felt like saying: I'll even pay you more, at that point that, you know, it's like bribery. Like at that point, it just feels too dirty, but I literally just said, "We'll buy all of it at the price that you suggested." And I think they also really, generally ... like I think they liked us, so that I can't tell how much each thing influenced, but I can't ...

Jae:
[45:21] Yeah. But you made it easy for them.

Manuel:
[45:23] Very easy, I mean ...

Jae:
[45:24] And that is like also, it's a very important thing. It's like once again, like they have the power, and if you can make this as convenient as possible and just kind of be a little bit more submissive to the situation you might do better. Because if you put yourself in their shoes, would you rather have somebody who's just gonna buy all the furniture, or would you rather ... or someone who's gonna be like: Well, actually you have to do that yourself. You know.

Manuel:
[45:49] And you have to have boundaries, because I have read that these things happen now and someone will sell you their furniture for €30,000.

Jae:
[45:58] Yeah. Yes, I've had like €5,000 and I'm like: What the fuck?

Manuel:
[46:01] And that, you know, that's criminal.

Jae:
[46:03] Yeah.

Manuel:
[46:04] In their case, I ended up selling or giving away all of it, and it was ... maybe I got like €200 or €300 back, so I did lose on that trade, but fine, whatever, like it was worth it. And it wasn't at the level where I felt like it was completely unethical. But yeah, you have to kind of know what your limits are, but doing something like that obviously does help.

Jae:
[46:31] Yeah, yeah, that's very true. It's a game. It's a game. It's an exciting game. But yeah, I feel like: Be patient, keep trying, and don't give up.