Renting in Frankfurt
A one-bedroom flat in Frankfurt costs about $1,750 a month. Landlords usually ask for a deposit of 3 months of rent, and the average commute to the centre is 26 minutes.
How the search works
Renting here follows the usual pattern. You search the large portals in the morning, write to the agent before noon and wait for an invitation to a viewing, which arrives for perhaps one enquiry in ten. Bring a folder with a credit report, three payslips, a copy of your passport and a note from your current landlord confirming that the rent has been paid.
The landlord chooses among the applicants within a few days and does not explain the choice. If you are offered the flat, read the contract for the notice period, for stepped rent increases written into it in advance, and for clauses about redecorating when you leave. Clauses that demand a full repaint regardless of the state of the walls are often invalid, but arguing that takes time.
After signing you register your address at the local office within two weeks, and for that you need a confirmation signed by the landlord. Open an electricity contract yourself, because the default supplier is the most expensive one. Utilities are billed once a year against monthly advance payments, so keep some money aside for the settlement, which arrives long after you have forgotten the winter.
Most tenants take out personal liability insurance, and landlords increasingly ask to see it before handing over the keys. It costs little and covers the water damage you cause to the flat below. The deposit goes into a separate account in your name and comes back with interest, usually within three to six months of moving out.