Looking for 2 individual rooms or an apartment with 2 bedrooms.

ingracr wrote:

Hi all,

Me and my friend are coming to Cologne in March for studying in TH Köln until the end of July.  We have been looking for acommodation, but with no results .
We are looking for a shared flat with 2 individual rooms available or a flat. Our budget is around 350-375€ per person. Thankss!!!

You should ask the University for help. Many German Universities can provide cheap accommodation in a student residence but availability is usually limited. Otherwise, the best way is to find a place after arriving. Usually there are pin-boards at Universities where one will find advertisements offering or looking for accommodation, especially rooms in shared apartments knows as a Wohngemeinschaft or WG.

I’m not sure how but maybe you can make contact to someone at the University to look for you or to hang up an advertisement to actively look. The reality though is that Germans rarely let a room to someone they have not met first, making it difficult to line up in advance of arrival. Such an advertisement will get the most attention if it is graphically eye catching say with a photo and short description with name, age, where you are from, what languages you speak, area of study, interests and hobbies, if you smoke or not, if you have animals or not… In general it is very difficult for foreigners to rent an apartment in Germany. Finding a shared room with other students is usually the exception. The question will be more if you share a lot of things with the flat mates.

Important is not only the cost but the location and availability of public transportation. And sometimes it is better to spend a bit more or even have a bit smaller room but to have say a nice kitchen where one can cook, a living room to relay and if there are such things like internet access, TV, washing machine etc.

Another thing to be careful about is if a place is a sublet. Many students go off for a semester or two and will rent out their rooms - but for a limited period of time. This might mean getting a place extra cheap and/or partially furnished. The problem is if the time period doesn’t fit to your schedule. Once in a location one can look for a new place if they need to stay longer but it is kind of a pain in the ass to have to move multiple times.

Since you are coming for only five months, I must add that most landlords prefer long-term tenants and anything below a year is a matter of luck.
Also, furnished places are rare - and for your short duration buying everything is not an attractive option.
Thus you might want to consider short-term or temp housing, which cost much more of course (€500-800/month for a one-roomer), but everything is included and the short duration is not a problem.