Sylvain and I were really lucky to have the opportunity to live in our friends apartment for the first 9 months of our lives in Paris. There is nothing as stressful as moving to a city and having nowhere to stay and feeling desperate to find something while at the same time trying to maintain a sense that life is fair- because put in that circumstance, desperation makes you ripe for those who would take advantage. You could end up paying much more for the monthly rent than the apartment is worth, but you could also be completely screwed over, you could trustingly give your money to someone who has no intention to handing over keys, or who is renting you the apartment without having any right to, leaving you susceptible to being robbed of your worldly possessions, your life savings and your trust in humanity.
Looking for an apartment in Paris is a sketchy experience, we used craigslist and vivastreet almost exclusively and for every ten emails we sent out begging to get a chance to just "look" at an apartment, we might get one response. We had all the typical rental experiences: showing up to find no one to let us in, showing up to discover prostitutes on every corner, showing up and having the place be awful, showing up and having it be a scam to steal your three months up front in cash while the owner is in Morocco.
It's hard to imagine not being a renter (as opposed to an owner), my life has not led to growing many roots anywhere, but at times it seems like a delicious taste of freedom that makes settling down almost worth it. We finally found a place about a week before we had to be out of our old place, we paid more than 4,000 euros in cash upfront for the 4 months we are renting it. I love our new space, it's perfect in every way our budget could expect, but the stress that built into a fever pitch leading up to finding it makes me long for the day when I am no longer living in a owners market in one of the biggest cities in the world.
Give me some outdoor space and an oven already.
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