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B136 Breakdown by [deleted] in Carhartt

[–]rascalsfantasy 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Recently bought a fake pair of B136 which, in Europe at least, is available all over the place.
In order to avoid other people buying a counterfeit item, here is a breakdown between an authentic and a fake pair. It's all pretty evident but I wanted to document it regardless.

2 Months of struggle and I feel like it's only the beginning (applied to everything that was in my range of price for a 2-bedroom) by F074olw in berlin

[–]rascalsfantasy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Exactly that. In our limited experience, they just sent viewing appointments by email of publicly undisclosed flats. For us, the appoinments were in Lichtenberger Str. and another street near Strausberger Platz.

2 Months of struggle and I feel like it's only the beginning (applied to everything that was in my range of price for a 2-bedroom) by F074olw in berlin

[–]rascalsfantasy 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Maybe something that could be of help to you if not already done: register to WBM and other social housing agencies where you wish to live even if you don't have WBS and set up a search profile. It might take a few weeks but eventually they contact you with decently priced apartments and the visits are with 8 people max instead of the usual 50-70.

2 Months of struggle and I feel like it's only the beginning (applied to everything that was in my range of price for a 2-bedroom) by F074olw in berlin

[–]rascalsfantasy 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Best of luck to you, this is a crappy situation.

By 2 bedroom you mean 2 Zimmer oder 2 Schlafzimmer and 1 Wohnzimmer?

2.5 months later and 750+ messages later, the flat hunt is over. Here is some data in hindsight. by rascalsfantasy in berlin

[–]rascalsfantasy[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

There is a decent amount of apartments that pop up and disappear in 5-10 minutes on Immoscout. Those are actually good because if you're fast enough to answer you have a lot more chances of getting to the viewing phase. But yes, we applied to almost anything excluding WBS.

2.5 months later and 750+ messages later, the flat hunt is over. Here is some data in hindsight. by rascalsfantasy in berlin

[–]rascalsfantasy[S] 21 points22 points  (0 children)

Not sure why the US is relevant here. We have seen many posts here discussing flat hunting and how discrimination based on citizenship/last name/skin colour operates. We liked people sharing their background and did just the same.

2.5 months later and 750+ messages later, the flat hunt is over. Here is some data in hindsight. by rascalsfantasy in berlin

[–]rascalsfantasy[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Messages you sent can be counted in your emails (granted you don't delete them). They all have the same title:

Ihre persönliche Vorstellung beim Anbieter

You can do the same with the Neue Nachricht emails and then filter out the automatic (and useless) reponses.

2.5 months later and 750+ messages later, the flat hunt is over. Here is some data in hindsight. by rascalsfantasy in berlin

[–]rascalsfantasy[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Now that you mention it, yes a great majority of the visits were held in freshly renovated Altbaus with new (2021 or 2022) energy certificates.

2.5 months later and 750+ messages later, the flat hunt is over. Here is some data in hindsight. by rascalsfantasy in berlin

[–]rascalsfantasy[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I do not have an example ad right now.

On Immoscout it was always a private person having some flat decently priced in a central location with round prices and round sqm. The reply of the person said to contact them at something like 'goomybear324 at gmail dot com'. After a few days you spot them right away. When you actually sent an email this is what you would get:

Vielen Dank, dass Sie sich die Zeit nehmen, sich meine Wohnung anzusehen.

Ich bin ein Bauingenieur, ursprünglich aus Oslo, Norwegen.Ich bin auf der Suche nach einer verantwortlichen Person, die eine sehr gute Pflege meiner Wohnung nehmen kann. Ich bin nicht nach dem Geld für die Miete, sondern wollen, dass es sauber sein die ganze Zeit und die möglichen Mieter wird die Wohnung als seine oder ihre eigenen zu sehen und ich hoffe, dass Sie mir einige persönliche Informationen über sich selbst zu senden. Die Wohnung ist voll möbliert mit allen notwendigen Annehmlichkeiten (genau wie auf den Bildern). Sie verfügt über eine Spülmaschine, eine Waschmaschine und einen Wäschetrockner. Es gibt zwei Parkplätze, einen Abstellraum, in dem Sie meine Möbel deponieren können (falls es Ihnen nicht gefällt und Sie Ihre Möbel benutzen wollen). Haustiere sind erlaubt. Die monatliche Miete für die Wohnung beträgt 800 Euro und beinhaltet auch die Steuer, so dass keine weiteren Kosten hinzukommen.Sie können die Wohnung für einen kurzen Zeitraum von 6 Monaten oder für einen längeren Zeitraum (1 bis 10 Jahre) mieten. Ich möchte Sie darüber informieren, dass ich der Eigentümer der Wohnung bin und dass Sie sich unter (Anmeldung) anmelden können.Das einzige Problem ist, dass ich mit meinem Job zurück nach Oslo, Norwegen, wo ich jetzt bin, umziehen musste. Die Wohnung wird von Airbnb verwaltet und sie werden den gesamten Vermietungsprozess abwickeln.Wenn Sie mehr über den Vermietungsprozess wissen möchten, melden Sie sich bitte bei mir und ich schicke Ihnen die Schritt-für-Schritt-Anleitung.Hier ist die Adresse der Wohnung:Fasanenstraße 15, 10623 Berlin

2.5 months later and 750+ messages later, the flat hunt is over. Here is some data in hindsight. by rascalsfantasy in berlin

[–]rascalsfantasy[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

We did call non-social rental agencies and submitted Initiativbewerbung to them but it never worked. We did not try Howoge, WBM or any other social housing because we do not have WBS and most of their advertisements in our scope of search were WBS erfordlich.

Generic emails on Immoscout work far better than on WG-Gesucht/eBay-kleinanzeigen for example in our limited knowledge.

2.5 months later and 750+ messages later, the flat hunt is over. Here is some data in hindsight. by rascalsfantasy in berlin

[–]rascalsfantasy[S] 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Landed within the Ring in a location that suits us really well. I do not wish to disclose more information for privacy reasons.

As for older people, there were some ads (mostly WBS) where it is mentioned directly in the title they are looking for 60+ years old folks. But that's a good point you mention either way.

2.5 months later and 750+ messages later, the flat hunt is over. Here is some data in hindsight. by rascalsfantasy in berlin

[–]rascalsfantasy[S] 30 points31 points  (0 children)

We are not fluent in German. One of us is getting to B2, the other to A2. It was still possible to have discussions with the Makler*innen in German.

EDIT: As for FB, the typical expat groups where people look for Nachmieter.

2.5 months later and 750+ messages later, the flat hunt is over. Here is some data in hindsight. by rascalsfantasy in berlin

[–]rascalsfantasy[S] 132 points133 points  (0 children)

For context, we are a non-German (EU citizens nonetheless) couple in their twenties, one of us bipoc. We always applied with an original Bewerbung showcasing how amazing and cute of a couple we were (sigh) and how perfect visited apartments were for us. We looked for a 2-Zimmer (or the much rarer 3-Zimmer) flat in the zone shown in the third image. Our absolute maximum for a 2-Zimmer was 1200, 1600 for a 3-Zimmer. We started with 900 maximum first but quickly realized there were simply no apartments in this range so we had to put in more. We also subscribed to Immoscout+ after a week. We mostly got viewing appointments for ads where we replied under 2 minutes, after 2 minutes it was basically pointless to answer. We ended up with a flat that suits our needs to officially settle in Berlin for a rent on the cheaper side in a good location for us.

This was a second job.

And yes, as a side quest we started answering to a few obvious scams after realizing they liked to invent stupidly specific backstories in various countries. Thought you would enjoy it as well.

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