Home on the Price Range

Mundane and not-specifically-European though they are, I would be remiss in not at least mentioning my recent efforts to find my first apartment. The following is basically my process of elimination:

1.) Don't spend more than 600 euro per month on anything, one-person or flatshare, because net monthly salary is about 780.

2.) Make plans to share a place with a fellow American teaching assistant from Idaho, who seems like a great future flatmate and helps you search for online listings from the U.S.

3.) Ignore anything connected to real estate agencies. They often insist on a fee equivalent to the first month's rent (that's before the equivalent deposit and rent itself through the landlord). They also want you to have a salary of at least three times the monthly rent (well, so do I, but...) and/or a French guarantor (which I can't get).

4.) Scan (hourly) a few trusty internet sites for listings direct from landlords, including BEP, the real estate agency for people who don't want to use real estate agencies. You pay them a one-time charge of 170 euros (which - in my token joke about how bad the exchange rate is - is about how much Obama proposes his new jobs plan will cost). In exchange, you get 5 months of access to regional ads from landlords who post on BEP's website about a week before they post anywhere else. After that, it's between you and the landlords BEP puts you in touch with.

5.) Through the various websites, arrange viewings for studios, because there are no 2- or 3-person apartments in Grasse. (Or, if there are, have fun wondering why the guy has time to re-post his ad every day to keep it on top of the list, but somehow can't manage to return a simple email requesting a visit.)

6.) Visit apartments, all of them one-person studios/multi-rooms. Decide that they could make okay backups, but are too expensive or don't come furnished, or have the inherent future problem of leaving you lonely in a small, quiet town after one month.

7.) After a week and a half of this, finally make contact with the Italian assistant assigned to a high school in Grasse. In addition to seeming very sweet and desirous to share a flat with other assistants (just like you, and by "you" I of course mean "me"), her high school has reserved for assistants the only 3-person apartment in all of southern France. It costs 400 euro per person per month. It is completely furnished (except sheets and plates), has a great big living room and kitchen, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a big balcony, a pool and tennis courts, top-notch security, a decent location (remember, Grasse's geography forbids any location from being actually convenient). It also offers this view (enlarge by left-clicking the image once, then again when it appears by itself on the screen):

...Aaaannnnd YOU'RE the next contestant on THE PRICE IS RIGHT!



-Andy