Written by Chris Titus

Avoiding the Nightmare

Apartment hunting for expats can be a real nightmare. Spend five minutes surfing an expat bulletin board and you might think twice about your journey. However, with some help, you can avoid these problems, save time, and protect yourself.

Few Deals to Be Had

As an expat, you expect to find cheap accomodations. As a language teacher, it’s necessary to find cheap accommodations. You might think, “people here make 1/5th of your salary back home, so housing should be 1/5 the price of an apartment in Boston.” This has not been the case in Greece or Prague. Idealistic thoughts of finding a cheap accommodations are quickly squashed when you realize that expat flats carry expat prices. Your options are limited by language and cultural differences. If you don’t speak Greek, Czech, or whatever the local language happens to be, you must find a landlord who speaks English. With limited options, rising real estate prices, and a continued influx of western expats, you will not find any cheap deals in Prague’s expat rental market. In Greece you may fare a little better.

Note: When deciding upon your destination country, do not rely upon average salary data. These numbers are skewed downward by the large discrepancy between urban and rural cost of living data. Once you leave the major cities, the economic landscape changes far more drastically than in the US or other more developed countries.

So, Where Can You Look?

Athens
Athens has no established short-term or expat rental market. I was repeatedly told, “nobody will rent an apartment for 3 months. The landlord will only accept a long term lease. One to three years.” One to three years! Are they crazy? ‘Short-term rental’ in Greece means a minimum of 6 months. I needed a three month rental and a hotel was not going to cut it. I was unable to locate real estate agencies that served the expat community in Greece. Most brokers do not speak enough English and their selections were too limited. Your best bet is to look in the English newspapers, online searches, and the Greek newspapers:

• Athens News
• Expatriates.com
• Golden Opportunity (furnished real estate section)
• Dicts.info (all languages)

There was one broker in Athens who I highly recommend, Syros. He was very creative in his approach to finding flats. We looked at flats that were ‘for sale’ because the amount of time it would take the owner to pass papers would match my time requirement. Having lived in England for four years, he speaks English quite well. Syros manages the Nea Smyrni branch of Aspis Realty, a large real estate company in Greece.

Eventually, I found acceptable accommodations through the Athens News. Using my broken Greek and the landlord’s broken English, we were able to make it through the five months with few problems. For more difficult negotiations, she put me on the phone with her son. It is quite common that the children play a large role in renting out the flats. Overall, I was very pleased with the flat, despite the view of people dying in the Navy hospital across the street.

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It was located at the bottom of Lycavitos Hill, one of the choicer sections of Athens. A short walk up the hill and you are privy to views like these.

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Prague
Fortunately, Prague does have a full-service expat rental market. However, be prepared for the cultural differences. If you are used to apartment hunting on a Saturday or Sunday, think again. Real estate offices are closed on the weekends in Prague. Additionally, most of the brokers I dealt with expected you to do most of the work. You tell them what you are looking for and they tell you to search their site to find it. It seemed like they have a lot of business and didn’t really care.

After having paid one real estate commission to someone who put forth little effort to find me a flat that didn’t work out, I was determined to take a different approach with the next broker and make him work.

Fortunately, I ran into Jan at Happy House Rentals. Jan had lived in Australia for a few years and knew exactly what I was looking for. He did a lot of the leg work and was very patient in showing me many places before I settled on a modern flat with a great view of southern Prague . As you can see, there are many shades of Prague.

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Lastly, Jan knew that I had just wasted money by paying a full commission to an ‘Expat’ rental company that claims to be experts. To help me out, he cut his commission in half. I definitely recommend Jan to anyone seeking decent accomodations in Prague. His company also handles vacation apartments. You can find Jan at Happy House Rentals.

What To Do If Problems Arise?

Problem #1: Noisy neighbors, street, etc. Move! If you are in a city for a short period, you should enjoy your time. If you cannot work out differences with loud neighbors, or adjust to bright lights outside your windows or a noisy street, you should move. Your improved sleep and enjoyment will pay dividends in the long-run.

Problem #2: Landlord Requests Keys. So, you’ve decided to move. Most leases contain an escape clause (two months is customary). If the landlord finds another tennant, they will return you your deposit and rent (pro-rata). If you move before they find another tennant, DO NOT RETURN THE KEYS! This is your only bargaining chip.

I’ve moved twice in both Athens and Prague. In Athens, I moved due to cockroach infestation. The landlord was nice enough to return me all of the money on the spot. In Prague, I moved due to noise, light, and a poor quality bed. A tuba-playing neighbor who starts at midnight combined with a bad back was not an ideal situation. However, luckily I didn’t return the keys, which saved me a lot of money…

When I decided to move, the Prague landlord asked me to leave the keys in the mailbox when I finished vacating the premises. I’m paying for the next two months, so why should I return the keys? I told her, “I will only return them once you have another tennant who has signed the lease and you return me my money”. I had friends coming to visit who could use the flat for free. She accused me of not trusting her. It’s not that I didn’t trust her, I just didn’t see a reason to trust her. I’m in a foreign country where I don’t speak the language. Who am I going to turn to for help when she decides not to return my deposit and last month’s rent?

Two days later, she phoned to arrange a meeting to return my money. I figured she had rented the flat. I never asked about the new tennant. A month later, while walking past the old building, I noticed my name was still on the mailbox. I don’t think she ever found a new tennant. And, as I thought about it, the girl who rented it before me only lasted three months. Some apartments are just cursed. There’s no need to subject yourself to this when you are on vacation.

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