My Housing Situation in France (lectrice d’anglais edition)

Salut!

Today marks three weeks since I found and moved into my current flat in France as a lectrice d’anglais. As I’d mentioned in my update post, finding housing was probably one of the more stressful things I’ve had to deal with since arriving, although in retrospect, it wasn’t that bad. While not the most-perfect outcome (let alone expected), I’ve learned to accept it and, really, things are going well so far anyway.

That said, I will be recapping my story of how I came to find and move into my current flat…all within a span of a week (give or take)!

When I was hired as a lectrice d’anglais over the summer, I knew right away that I would have to find housing on my own. Most, if any, universities don’t offer places to teachers, and even then, it would’ve been living with other students, some of which could’ve been mine (awkward…). Plus, my university’s campus is situated outside of the city center, so to go into town would’ve been inconvenient, if I didn’t choose to live in centre ville.

Finding a place, then, was daunting, to say the least. I never had to worry about it as an assistante and I admit, I’d been quite spoiled, since my previous schools had provided me housing right away. That said, I didn’t have to worry about starting from scratch when I arrived, and I ended up paying very little rent (think no more than 162€/month) for a relatively-comfortable living space. This time, however, I knew that I had to take initiative, to set about planning how to tackle what’s known as “house hunting”…and abroad!

Now going in, I had a fairly-solid idea on how to find a place, thanks to reading countless TAPIF/lecteur blogs and hearing about past assistant(e)s/lecteurs’ experiences. I also got in touch with the previous lectrice whom I was replacing and got some advice concerning budget and living conditions. I started my research early, too, before I even left for France: I scoured listings on le Bon Coin (a “less-sketchy” French version of Craigslist, as I’m told) and made note of them to perhaps see once I arrived.

Just like what’s been said on blogs like As Told By Dana, I would highly recommend waiting until you arrive in France to begin looking and, more importantly, waiting to pay the deposit. Many landlords and housing agencies often want you to call or text them to inquire and set up a visit, so you would need a French phone otherwise– rarely do they respond to emails and other forms of communication. Even if they do, it’s not guaranteed that they’ll follow up with you on the intended flat. While I know of a few assistant(e)s who contacted landlords/agencies via email and wired the deposit overseas (and were fine), I believe that that’s super risky and I wasn’t going to take chances with my money. That said, I got a few ideas for listings on le Bon Coin before I left, and then I reactivated my French SIM card once I arrived overseas.

During the week-and-a-half that I was looking for housing, I stayed with a colleague who had told me that I was welcomed to stay with her until I found something– certainly beats having to stay in a hotel (and I didn’t have the money for that, anyway). I had arrived in the city in which I would be teaching on a Friday, so I couldn’t really get started apartment hunting until the following Monday, when businesses reopened. My colleague put me in touch with an agence immobilier (housing agency), since her aunt and cousin worked there, which was really nice of her. I went in on Monday afternoon, where I told the agency my checklist of things I wanted for my flat, as listed below:

• Furnished (meublé/équipé). 
• Utilities included (les charges compris).
• City center location (and near a tram/bus stop, since I would be commuting to my university).
• Washing machine (not keen on weekly trips to Laundromat).
• Studio apartment (or at least, a one-person living situation).
• No need for a guarantor (pas de garant).
• Located above the ground floor (rez-de-chaussée) and equipped with an elevator (if higher than the third floor).
• Budget around or under 350€/month (as the previous lectrice had told me).

After telling the agency what I wanted, they looked up a few options and gave me the keys to two apartments to check out that day. One was in the heart of the city and the other was slightly outside of it– both were at or under my budget, which was good. With that said, I went around the city that afternoon, taking a look at what the places had to offer.

The first one (in the city center) didn’t appeal to me, since it wasn’t furnished at all. Plus, it was located on the third or fourth floor sans elevator, which would make carrying groceries and other things quite burdensome (believe me, I’m not lazy!). The second one, on the other hand, was more what I wanted– although it was located slightly outside the heart of the city, it was still near plenty of tram/bus stops to go into town and to my school for work. It was also in a quiet, safe neighborhood, which I liked…and there was a washing machine, too! The flat was right on-budget, which was perfect. I returned to the housing agency and said that I would take the second apartment. However, I also told them that the electricity didn’t work, for some reason, so we scheduled an appointment to check it out the following day. Otherwise, for the moment, I thought that I had found my new home.

I returned the next afternoon to check out the flat again, this time with one of the agency workers. We came to the conclusion that the utilities (gas, electricity) had been completely cut off in the building, and I would have to go to the electricity company (“EDF,” in French) to activate it. I went to EDF in town to talk to them about it, and I found out that I would have to pay an additional 55€ per month for utilities, which would go over my budget. In the end, I decided not to take that second flat, since the extra costs wouldn’t have been worth it. Back to square one, it was…

As the housing agency continued searching for more options, I also took initiative and looked on le Bon Coin on my own. I found a few which interested me, although ended up rejecting them since they didn’t have a washing machine, or utilities weren’t included. Call me picky, but considering that I would be living in France for a longer period of time, the place had to be close to what I wanted. There were a few things that I would be willing to compromise on, but otherwise, being adamant about other things was the way to go…and I believe that that was a good decision.

I visited a couple of listings that I’d found on le Bon Coin later that week. I visited the place that I now live in that Thursday– at first, I hesitated, because it would be a colocation (roommate situation), but I was willing to give it a go. I ended up liking it, so I told the housing agent (a different one) that I was interested in taking it. He sent me a list of documents to upload and otherwise send to him via Google Drive, so I went back to my colleague’s house to find, scan, and send the documents that I had brought with me from home. Granted, there were a few things I missed, but he still accepted my paperwork and, after consulting with the landlords that weekend, I was informed that I could return on Monday evening to the flat to meet my roommates, sign the lease, and move in.

Elated, I packed up all of my things from my colleague’s home: until that point, I’d been living out of my suitcase and was very much looking forward to unpacking…finally! My colleague took me to the flat, and I met the housing agent and two of my three roommates– together, we went into the flat where the agent explained to us the lease, all of the legalities and whatnot. Lots of paperwork signing and, before I knew it, I received the keys to my room and settled in– success!

It’s crazy to believe that, within a week, I managed to find a place to live. Granted, I hadn’t want to live in a colocation (since I prefer being on my own) and although the rent ended up being about 40€ over my budget, I’m pretty happy with it. The place was recently renovated, so everything’s new. I get my own room with a shower and sink (and balcony!), and there’s a laundry machine, a dishwasher and oven in the kitchen, and a living room with a television. It’s not too far from tram stops to get to the bus stop for work, and it’s near plenty of supermarkets, boulangeries, and things to do. There’s a huge commercial mall not far away, should I want to do shopping, and I’m a ten-minute walk from the heart of the city, where there’s bars and restaurants for that nightlife glow.

As with my roommates, there are three of them: one’s a stagiare (teacher-in-training) and the other two are students at the main campus of the city (thankfully, I don’t teach them!). They’re all French girls, so I speak French with them as means of practicing. They’re super nice, really clean and respectful, and although we don’t interact so much, we get along anyway.

I suppose the next steps are to figure out housing insurance, since our housing agent told us that we needed to get it on our own, as well as apply for CAF, since again, the rent’s slightly over my budget and I would like some extra pocket money to save. I never dealt with CAF in the past, since my rent had been so low as an assistante, so this will be another learning curve for me to figure out. Hope it works out– fingers crossed! xx

Photos of my apartment:

 

Have you got any housing stories to share? Let me know!

 

— Rebecca