I’ve been living in my current apartment, rented from Airbnb for 12 months now… and I have no plans to move. I know I’ve got a good thing going here and if things are good, why change them?
Why I ended up in an Airbnb and not a ‘real’ flat:
I’ll admit that I never intended to be here this long. Initially Ben and I signed on to this rental for six months after our previous lease was up. We were desperate to get out of our last flat located on Mulackstraße in Berlin’s Mitte neighbourhood as we’d had some bad experiences there including being robbed of all our electronics. That, among other things including a hefty commission fee (over € 1600) an exorbitant deposit (€ 2400) and very pricey cleaning costs (€ 280) left us with a bad taste in our mouths. I can think of about seven thousand other things I would have preferred to spend that money on. So it’s fairly safe to say that we wanted to avoid these unreasonably high costs in the future.
Yet, we still wanted to rent a fully-furnished flat. To be honest, I just couldn’t be bothered furnishing an apartment from scratch. In Germany, unfurnished flats are exactly that: completely bare. No built-in cabinets, no kitchen sinks and, quite commonly, not even any lighting fixtures! Unless I saw myself committing to live in it for at least a good two to three years, it just wasn’t worth the hassle and the cost. So we were stuck searching for fully-furnished options with no commission fee. Not an easy feat, I tell you.
And then the Airbnb light bulb flashed on. Some friends had rented a beautiful, bright and spacious Airbnb flat in Prenzlauer Berg with high ceilings, wooden floorboards and a homely feel for a few months and were approaching the end of their lease. After visiting them one evening, we immediately fell in love with the flat and got thinking: could an Airbnb be the best option for us? Yes indeed.
An Airbnb love affair
Our friends were due to move out just as our lease was ending at our old place so the timing couldn’t have been more perfect. We contacted the host and were able to negotiate an even lower rate than what was listed on the Airbnb website given our wish the to book the apartment for a number of months. Score! The security deposit, can you believe, was only € 200 too. Double score! We booked for six months initially, you know, just in case we didn’t love our new home (highly unlikely). As expected, we felt right at home from the beginning and settled in so comfortably that when the end of the initial lease approached, we weren’t ready to leave. We immediately signed on for another six months and before we knew it, our Airbnb 12 month anniversary had snuck up on us.
A few weeks ago our friendly host who has been so wonderfully helpful with any issue that has arisen over the past year, visited to discuss our desire to extend the lease even further. She was more than happy to continue leasing the flat to us and so we signed another rental contract, this time outside of Airbnb, just between us. We’re attached to this flat, you see, and we’re not ready to leave just yet. It’s been good to us. We’ve made a home together in these three rooms and it feels right. Will there be an expiration date? Of course, but not just yet.
That’s so interesting! I’ve never really thought of living in an AirBnB flat for living purposes, not travel. Such a fantastic idea!!
Chalsie | The Workshop Co. x
It’s another great alternative, Chalsie, especially for people with commitment problems (like I tend to have over here in Berlin!) x
OMG what a brilliant idea! I am currently planning on moving to London by myself but am struggling to find any decent permanent accommodation that won’t cost a fortune! There’s so many amazing properties on airbnb, hopfully I can convince them to give me a discounted rate!!
I imagine that finding reasonably priced accommodation in London would be tricky, Vanessa! Definitely have a look at Airbnb as an option, although I have found that even Airbnb rentals seemed to be very expensive over there. Your move sounds very exciting. Where are you from originally? I have my fingers crossed for you! x
Thanks so much! I am from a small town near Byron Bay in NSW, Australia. I am so excited to be planning to move over. I’ve found some amazing apartments, although a little pricey, for a 6 month rental some apartments in Notting Hill turn out cheaper than a small share house in somewhere like shepards bush which is just amazing!!! I think a long term rental with Airbnb is the way to go! Thanks so much for this amazing psot! Yayy!!
I’m so excited for your big adventure abroad Vanessa! It will be one of the best things you’ll ever do, trust me. And is there a more perfect city for Aussies to move to than London? I don’t think so! You’re going to love it. Definitely check out the Airbnb option — I just love the flexibility and ease of it. Thanks again for your lovely comments. Keep me in the loop about your new expat life! x
We used AirBnB often and always been happy about it, we haven’t used it as long term rental yet, never say never tough 😉
It’s a great option Franca, particularly in cheap cities like Berlin, around eastern Europe or Asia. Happy travels!
Here in the U.S., this isn’t as easy to do. There’s been a lot of issues with Air BnB squatters and each state having their own policies with long term rentals (30+ days). It can cost the landlord a lot of $$$ and going to court to finally get squatters to leave. I love the idea though!!
That’s a shame Megan. I had heard about some of the issues with Airbnbs in the States. It’s so unfortunate because it really is a great alternative to pricey hotels. I plan to visit the U.S in summer and I was hoping to get a long-term Airbnb rental for about six weeks… maybe I’ll have to rethink that plan now! Thanks for your comment 🙂
Don’t give up on using Airbnb in the U.S! I’m staying in Airbnb apartments all over Europe for about 4 months and just booked a month in the U.S. “subletting” a fully-furnished, modern 1BR as the current tenant needs to exit her lease early. Flexibility is key - you might want to break up 6 weeks into a couple of stays in different places as long as the “service fees” don’t exceed your budget. Splitting your time in 2+ apartments is a great way to explore neighborhoods or balance your budget so your average price per night is doable.
Thanks for all the tips Linda! I’ll definitely look into it all the AirBnB possibilities in the US before I go! Glad to hear you’ve managed to make it work for you. Happy travelling! 🙂
Hello Rachel,
My partner and I have left Australia for a year of full time travel, and we are using AirBnB the entire time. We absolutely love it and you’re one of the first travel bloggers I’ve stumbled on that use AirBnB as a permanent way of living overseas! We have currently based ourselves for the next 3 months in Vancouver, using AirBnb for the exact same reasons as you! It is the perfect way to live abroad!
Hey Jess, wow, what an adventure! So glad to hear that your loving AirBnB just as much as I do! Using AirBnB just saves so much of the hassles of furnishing an apartment, setting up utilities, etc, which can be a headache. There are so many great AirBnB apartments out there. Enjoy your travels around Canada — I’d LOVE to head over there at some point! Where are you off to after Vancouver?
Really adventurous! I also like using the Airbnb! Many of our clients are moving constantly and we always recommend using Airbnb. Lovely post! Greetings, London Removals Ltd.
Great blog post! I am from Australia and moved to Berlin last week. We originally booked two months in an air bnb place to get our grounding and planned on finding a rental property. After reading your blog however I think the best and easiest way is to go through air bnb! Cuts a lot of corners, seems cheaper and at least the places are furnished! I have one question however - is it still possible to submit a Anmeldueng (residency notice) at the local office using an air bnb address?
Welcome to Berlin, Laura! AirBnB is a GREAT option and my advice would be to stay there to avoid those hefty commission fees and deposits. It is definitely possible to get your Anmeldung at the Bürgeramt with an AirBnB. You have to get the host to write a little letter in German saying that you’re living there. I took that with me and it was fine. Good luck! 🙂
I’m moving to Berlin next month and have been looking around online for any good accommodation options for me when I stumbled across this post. I am originally from Sweden, currently living in Tokyo, Japan, so I guess you could say that I have commitment issues as well, haha. I will be taking an evening course at a language school in Berlin (to at least learn some basic German) and they recommended AirBnB for longterm accommodation.. To be honest, I didn’t even know that that was an option, but now after reading your post it really seems like something worth considering at least. Thanks for this post! 🙂
Hi I just stumbled upon your blog via instagram and I love this post - I have made moves to new places couple of times myself and it definitely takes a level of commitment to say “I want to be here long enough to deal with installing light fixtures” 🙂 good luck with your temporary move back to Australia! I am happy I found this blog and will be following your adventures
I am considering this very idea and this just confirmed it is so possible. I dont want to be tied down to one location anymore.
We had such a great experience doing a long-term Airbnb rental – I’d highly recommend it if you can find one that suits!!
A potential landlord has just suggested that we make the transaction through Airbnb. It seems like you’ve had a very positive experience with it. But were there any cons? My main concern is that for my visa I have to prove my residence in the flat. Do you get some sort of long form rental agreement like a lease?
Yes it was a great experience for us Alicia! We also needed to prove our residence for visas so we just asked our Airbnb host to write a short letter in German that basically said we were living at the address and it gave her contact details. This was all the visa office required and we had no issues 🙂 There were no cons for us – we had a great host who was super communicative and helpful. Wishing you all the best with it!