Hi Tinka,

What you say is generally true, and is definately easier to find an apartment when you are already here. Recently however, there are a lot more apartments on the market than usual, and some of the regies I have been to have pages of vacancies. Many are not advertised, so it is better to go to each regie and get the list.

You can also look on anibis.ch.

If you are coming here for academic purposes, perhaps there is a notice board or other service at the University.

Good luck!

If you’re going to be in Geneva for five years what’s the hurry about finding the ideal home immediately?

If you take a short-term lease of, say, three or four months you’ll have plenty of opportunity to make some new friends and contacts who know the local scene and can help you explore the city and its surroundings, so that you can  make a decision based on what will suit you and your life rather than the “advice”, however well-meaning, of a housing professional.

Even during the height of last year’s restrictions there was still plenty to do during the summer in and around Geneva and this year should be even better.

Also, September can be a good time to moe into a new home and settle in before  coping with the charms of the winter season.

All the best,

R.

Thank you Sean! You said I could go to the régie and see what places are not advertised online? How would this work? Just ask them for the listings not posted online? 

Thanks Ritchie! I have been to Geneva a few times and already know what I want and in which area. I just want to keep my costs and the stress to a minimum because I have a full apartment to move and - if at all possible - I don't want to go through the trouble of storing it away and adding the extra cost of storage to my already high costs of moving. 

If you go into the office they have a printed list. Maybe they could email it to you if you are not in Geneva.

Not wanting to scare you, but real estate market in Geneva is extremely difficult. Unfortunately, finding an apartment you actually like will probably take years.

This because of the very low rate of available apartments (0.2% to 0.5% in the last 20 years), the exorbitant price of leases (prices are inflated by 40% minimum with respect to the real market value), and the very poor quality of the housing.

It might be time for a reality check. Since you have to move a whole apartment, can you tell us how many bedrooms you need? It might be a good idea to look for something in neighboring France.

Hi Tinka,

We are leaving our beautiful flat in the center of Champel Geneva. It's a lease takeover from the 15.april or 1st of may.

Are you interested? I can send you more infos and pictures

All the best

Hallo Tinka,

just be very careful with scammers - a lot of them here.
The best in my humble opinion if to use comparis:
https://www.comparis.ch/immobilien/result/list?requestobject={%22DealType%22:10,%22LocationSearchString%22:%221203%22}

It is almost impossible to visit all flats and for this reason, I believe you can just submit the application, in case you would be contacted by the regie, you visit it as fast as possible. Important to observe that before submitting your application you would have already visited the flat, however, this can become a full-time job and after weeks of doing it, we may need to increase our chances by having multiple simultaneous applications. 

All the best!

https://www.cagi.ch/

www.homegate.ch

petit announce.ch

CERN help desk

I applied to around 15 apartments before being offered one I thought was decent. Most of them looked like they were about 20 years overdue for a renovation sadly. It's a grind. I almost wish I had gotten an agent and paid them standard one month's finders fee.

Hi..

is the room still available?

Did you look at the date of this thread?

If you need a room your best bet is to click on the Classifieds tab where you’ll find plenty of offers and also insert an ad. of your own.

All the best, R.