Life in mulheim

I don’t know the area personally but the housing market is very tight in German cities. You mention not finding a house and I don’t know if you simply mean accommodation including apartments? People from many countries just see a house as the standard and look to rent one. But the vast majority of people in Germany live in apartments and especially for rentals one will rarely find a house or be able to afford it. If someone is limiting their search to a house rather than apartment then they will be eliminating 90% of the possibilities.

As a foreigner one is anyway at a disadvantage. Not necessarily due to xenophobia but landlords want security. They will almost always feel more comfortable with people who grew up in Germany than with newly arrived foreigners who might not speak fluent German.

And it is usually much easier to commute with public transportation so one should look not just at distance to work but how optimal the transportation network is to get there.

Thanks a lot for the quick reply. My bad as I wasn't clear in my communication. We are definitely open to stay in apartments as well,in fact prefer them. And I agree to your point of landlords being more comfortable with German people renting. I have now started looking at Essen and Dusseldorf as well for accommodation as I gather it's under 30 minutes by train to Mulheim. Do you have any idea among which is the better place among these too,specially with kids.
Thanks a lot for your time.

keerthin wrote:

I have now started looking at Essen and Dusseldorf as well for accommodation as I gather it's under 30 minutes by train to Mulheim. Do you have any idea among which is the better place among these too,specially with kids.
Thanks a lot for your time.

Sorry I have been through Düsseldorf a number of times but really don't know the area well enough to give specific advise.

It is also a lot harder to rent a place when you are living outside the country. This seems to be the norm in a lot of countries more and more. Maybe your future employment can help you?

It's in the middle of the Ruhrgebiet; I used to live near there (learnt to speak German at a school there); you have Oberhausen to the North, Essen to the East, Duisburg to the west, and of course Dusseldorf to the south.  All are commutable to Mulheim.  The motorway network around that area is always packed, but they introduced special segments for buses and trams so they can run despite the rush hour conditions.

If you're a soccer fan, Fortuna Düsseldorf have their stadium in that part of Dusseldorf.

It's a nice area with plenty of green parts; Dusseldorf is the regional international airport; the Golzheim area of Dusseldorf is right on the bottom of the  flightpath, so is cheaper than much of the rest of the region; their are schools all over the area, the only real difference is the costs; you can use the Numbeo website to do some price comparison; this link will take you straight there.

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team

Thank you so much for your kind replies. Not knowing the language is making searching on sites really tough as there are too many terms which I don't understand and don't want to get into a contract without personally seeing the house. I guess for now will do more research and try to learn at least elementary German is the key. And perhaps looking for an accommodation once we are there. Not sure how good that plan is though. Any inputs??

keerthin wrote:

Thank you so much for your kind replies. Not knowing the language is making searching on sites really tough as there are too many terms which I don't understand and don't want to get into a contract without personally seeing the house. I guess for now will do more research and try to learn at least elementary German is the key. And perhaps looking for an accommodation once we are there. Not sure how good that plan is though. Any inputs??

Hotels and possibly an Airbnb can be booked online from overseas but like Beppi mentioned, almost nobody here will rent an apartment to someone they haven't meet yet. And of course it is to your advantage to see the place before signing a contract. Unless the employer can help to line up a place, then most people will have to go the route of a hotel or Airbnb upon arrival until they find something for the long term.

But even hotel rooms are complicated at the moment if one can even get to Germany. Rooms cannot be rented to tourists but business travelers should be allowed. But many hotels might simply close as long as the current Covid measures are in place. Worst time imaginable to try to move here!

I understand, situation is really precarious now. Hopefully things will be better in coming months. Thanks a lot for all the guidance. Stay safe.

keerthin wrote:

And perhaps looking for an accommodation once we are there. Not sure how good that plan is though. Any inputs??

This is the ONLY POSSIBLE plan. Don't waste your time on searching before you are in Germany!
It is common for employers to provide the first one/two/three months hotel (negotiate here - you will need that time!).

Thanks beppi. It's good to know. They haven't specified yet what are the benefits that will be provided. It seems it's different for different companies. Any idea what the general companies provide when they say compensation plus bonus plus benefits.

There isn‘t really a standard, so up to your and the company‘s negotiations.