Looking for fully furnished flat/apartment in Cologne

Hello Vangie_16

To increase your chances to find a nice rental, I invite you to drop an advert in our Housing in Cologne section of the site.

You could also ask for professional help : Real estate in Germany

Regards
Kenjee
Expat.com

For accommodation search in Germany, you have to consider this:
- German landlords are in general very conservative and risk-averse (mostly due to the fact that, once rented out, it is very difficult to get rid of a bad tenant). It is very unlikely that any honest one will agree to rent out a place to you before you are in the country and he has met you in person.
- Neither should you agree to rent a place without having seen it and its surroundings. There are too many pitfalls and ugly surprises you could have otherwise.
- Renting cycles are very long in Germany, with the minimum termination notice period (by law) being three months and most nice places are advertised and quickly taken up months before move-in.
- It is thus advisable to arrange for temporary accommodation (hotel, hostel, B&B or serviced apartment) for the fist few weeks or months and start your search after arrival.
- Furnished places are rare and very expensive (50%-100% more than the unfurnished rent). If you come here for more than just a few months, you should consider taking an empty flat and buying your own stuff.

I fully agree with Beppi's comments. Sometimes on University pin boards one sees a student subletting a furnished room in a shared student apartment for a semester or two. Otherwise, furnished accommodation is rather rare and way overpriced. As an alternative to a hotel, they might be cheaper for a stay of days to weeks.

For a stay of longer than a month or two, one can get used stuff or go to Ikea, furnish the place and just give it away when leaving if you don't have time to sell it and still come out ahead. One can look of course for furnished places and maybe get lucky...

The following link is one of the best for finding a place in Germany. One can put price limits, number of rooms, location etc. into the search criteria. Furnished or not furnished is not one of the criteria but any search results based on your other criteria should narrow things down and you can see the specific offers, which would mentioned if they are furnished or not.


https://www.immobilienscout24.de/

Here are also some other threads on this site where I’ve posted about the subject of furnished places and/or getting furnishings:

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.p … 14#3357526https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.p … 35#3230155https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.p … 62#2060971

Thank you so much for your replies. I'll definitely check the links you provided.

Reading all this, I think I'll find a temporary place to stay on the first few days/weeks then look for flats personally.

Renting an unfurnished place is worth considering, just a bit scared of all the buying stuff troubles. And I read that unfurnished place in Germany don't even have lightings and kitchen.

And additional question
How much is considered a reasonable price for a 1 bedroom furnished/unfurnished flat?
I would be living alone and as mentioned not really looking for anything fancy. But I would prefer is the building is new/modern

Thank you in advance!
Really helpful tips you have in the forum 😀

Rental prices differ greatly from place to place and with amenities, etc. Town councils regularly publish surveys, the so-called "Mietspiegel".
The newest Mietspiegel for Cologne is from 2015 and only available in printed form (and of course in German):
http://www.rheinische-immobilienboerse. … raum.AxCMS
It won't feature furnished places, but as I said you can add 50-100% to the Mietspiegel prices to have a rough guide.
You are right, unfurnished usually means no light fixtures, but fitted kitchens are often included.

It is true that some apartments don't even have a kitchen. Long term renters often have one built in and the take it when they leave. But many do have one, you just need to carefully read any advertisments so you don't end up with a bad surprise. If you look at inner city neighborhoods youm will find mostly older buildings but many might have been well renovated. On the outskirts of cities there will be mostly newer buildings. Newer places tend to be cut, designed and insulated better. Older places often have higher ceilings and more charm but maybe not an elevator despite having 5 or 6 floors, something standard in newer buildings.