GENEVA, SWITZERLAND - I'm sitting on a wonderful fourth floor terrace overlooking Lac Leman. I can see the famous jet d'eau (an enormous spurt of water that blows out of the water in Geneva's harbour) as I type. There's a strong breeze today that is causing the stream of water to spray wildly across the water. A triathlon is taking place right now. Cyclists are peddling madly on the street below and I can hear the frantic splashing of swimmers jostling to get ahead of one another. It really is beautiful.
The terrace is part of the apartment that I'm living in until the end of the month. The primary renter is a woman named Alexandra. She's rented here for her entire life. Her parents used to rent and when they passed away she inherited the right to rent. It seems a bit strange by Canadian standards to rent an apartment for your entire life, but real estate is a totally different animal here in Geneva.
I've spent the past week learning the strange process of renting apartments here and I still feel pretty lost. But at least I don't feel alone in this. Pretty much everyone you talk to shakes there heads and give you a knowing smile when you say your looking for an apartment. There are several things that cause frustration. First, things are very expensive. If you're looking for a two bedroom apartment in Geneva proper, it is unlikely that you'll find anything for less than 2000 swiss francs per month (the franc is about the same as the $C). This can often include several other charges on top.
The second frustrating thing is the system. It's not like at home where the owner of a building advertises an apartment, you go and see it and then you give them your deposit. Here, owners of buildings are obligated to hire something called a "regie" to handle the renting process. The regie is like a real estate agency. Each regie has their own listings and there is no centralized place that has a comprehensive list of apartments that are available. Some, such as Homegate, do a good job, but it's not a complete list by any means.
The third problem is availability. So few apartments come on the market that competition for them is ferocious! Almost immediately after someone advertises something several people already have made appointments to come and see it. This leads in to a fourth problem which is discrimination. You see, even if you see the place and like it, you can't just say, "OK, I'll take it." You have to make an application to the regie and they will decide if you are a suitable renter or not. In the application you typically have to include pay stubs for the last three months, your work permit (some are considered more secure than others), a special document called an attestation de non poursuite, which essentially proves that you have no outstanding debts in Switzerland, your work contract and possibly anything else. The regie is looking for secure candidates and they can reject you for no reason whatsoever. This leaves foreigners at a disadvantage.
I've lost count now...another obstacle is that I'm doing all of this in French. While I'm pretty much able to manage, my French is so bad that I sound like a bit of a moron - not exactly an ideal candidate. Oh yeah, did I mention that it is typical to have to give three months rent as a deposit once you've found a place? So if an apartment goes for 2500 swiss francs, you're looking at a CHF 7500 deposit plus CHF 2500 for your first month's rent: 10,000 swiss francs in cash.
I'll be glad when this stage is over. At least it's beautiful here. It's so beautiful, in fact, that this is top destination for wealthy Arabs during the summertime. The city is full of muslim women shrouded in black with several children in tow. Their husbands often bring their supercars with them, making Lamborghinis and Ferraris a common sight. Just the other day I was passing by the President Wilson Hotel, a preferred hotel for middle-eastern visitors. In fact, it's where the infamous incident where Muammar Gaddafi's son and his wife are reported to have beaten their servants, leading to an international incident between the two countries - if you don't know the story it's pretty interesting, check it out at the BBC. Anyway, so I'm walking by and I see a wild looking sports car. It turns out to be a Bugatti, Veyron - a 16 cylinder elite sports car that sells for $1.5 million.
A.
The terrace is part of the apartment that I'm living in until the end of the month. The primary renter is a woman named Alexandra. She's rented here for her entire life. Her parents used to rent and when they passed away she inherited the right to rent. It seems a bit strange by Canadian standards to rent an apartment for your entire life, but real estate is a totally different animal here in Geneva.
I've spent the past week learning the strange process of renting apartments here and I still feel pretty lost. But at least I don't feel alone in this. Pretty much everyone you talk to shakes there heads and give you a knowing smile when you say your looking for an apartment. There are several things that cause frustration. First, things are very expensive. If you're looking for a two bedroom apartment in Geneva proper, it is unlikely that you'll find anything for less than 2000 swiss francs per month (the franc is about the same as the $C). This can often include several other charges on top.
The second frustrating thing is the system. It's not like at home where the owner of a building advertises an apartment, you go and see it and then you give them your deposit. Here, owners of buildings are obligated to hire something called a "regie" to handle the renting process. The regie is like a real estate agency. Each regie has their own listings and there is no centralized place that has a comprehensive list of apartments that are available. Some, such as Homegate, do a good job, but it's not a complete list by any means.
The third problem is availability. So few apartments come on the market that competition for them is ferocious! Almost immediately after someone advertises something several people already have made appointments to come and see it. This leads in to a fourth problem which is discrimination. You see, even if you see the place and like it, you can't just say, "OK, I'll take it." You have to make an application to the regie and they will decide if you are a suitable renter or not. In the application you typically have to include pay stubs for the last three months, your work permit (some are considered more secure than others), a special document called an attestation de non poursuite, which essentially proves that you have no outstanding debts in Switzerland, your work contract and possibly anything else. The regie is looking for secure candidates and they can reject you for no reason whatsoever. This leaves foreigners at a disadvantage.
I've lost count now...another obstacle is that I'm doing all of this in French. While I'm pretty much able to manage, my French is so bad that I sound like a bit of a moron - not exactly an ideal candidate. Oh yeah, did I mention that it is typical to have to give three months rent as a deposit once you've found a place? So if an apartment goes for 2500 swiss francs, you're looking at a CHF 7500 deposit plus CHF 2500 for your first month's rent: 10,000 swiss francs in cash.
I'll be glad when this stage is over. At least it's beautiful here. It's so beautiful, in fact, that this is top destination for wealthy Arabs during the summertime. The city is full of muslim women shrouded in black with several children in tow. Their husbands often bring their supercars with them, making Lamborghinis and Ferraris a common sight. Just the other day I was passing by the President Wilson Hotel, a preferred hotel for middle-eastern visitors. In fact, it's where the infamous incident where Muammar Gaddafi's son and his wife are reported to have beaten their servants, leading to an international incident between the two countries - if you don't know the story it's pretty interesting, check it out at the BBC. Anyway, so I'm walking by and I see a wild looking sports car. It turns out to be a Bugatti, Veyron - a 16 cylinder elite sports car that sells for $1.5 million.
A.
1 comment:
awesome update
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