We are moving to Lugano in October. Right now we are in the US. Can anyone give me any idea about how far in advance we should try to get an apartment? From looking on homegate, immostreet and comparis it seems like there is a lot available. Is it reasonable to just show up, rent a hotel room for a few days and try to find a place? Or should we contact potential landlords several months in advance to apply and give a deposit?
Thanks
http://www.englishforum.ch/apartment...ghlight=lugano
are you relocating your belongings and when?
in theory, you should find a place reasonably easily. As you've done some groundwork and see the market from the websites, do you think you need to make a trip over to organise it?
the number of members in the Lugano area isn't so high - but I know there are many English-speakers down there.
Do you speak Italian or German?
We are coming for around 2 years and dont plan to bring our belongings with us. Now that I think about it, it probably makes sense to do a vacation rental for a month or two so we can figure out where to buy furniture, kitchen supplies, etc. I read that there are some Ikea stores in Milan - so we know we at least have an affordable option for most things we will need.
I speak a little Italian and my wife speaks a little German. Maybe after a month there we will know enough of the language to successfully get a good apartment. I have seen lots of posts where people have trouble if they only speak English...
So, I think the answer to my question is this: 3 months is too far ahead to worry about this stuff!
Furniture-wise, many of the stores over the border are very geared to dealing with Swiss buyers. I actually bought a lot of furniture from Arredo Píu near Varese.
The locals will speak Italian first (naturally ) then you have a toss-up - German (begrudgingly) or French (you'll likely be treated nicer if you choose this) and finally English. Within the service industry, you'll find English should work. Failing that - mezzo di birra is going to be a phrase you'll need
Anyway, I don't think that there is the risk to not be able to find an accommodation at all, rather to have to pay much more than the real value of the apartment, or to find it in a place that is not the one you like (also don't rely too much on public transportation).
Try taking a look at www.homegate.ch
thanks!
I live in a small center around Lugano (6 Km, 5 mins by car when no traffic) and we have 1 bus per hour, and no one at all after 18:00.
I think that working and living in the center of Lugano is nice but it's not very good if you have small children, either you'll have lot of smog, either you'll have traffic noise (or both). If you want a quite place (and maybe even a small garden) without having to pay a lot, you have to look a little around the center.
By the way, my wife is from Zurich, she is used to public transportation there, and she thought we didn't really need to have 2 cars. Last week we had one car in a garage, so we had to share the other one, well .. she was literally going crazy.
Bike is nice, I like riding but can't use it for going work, because at the arrival you are sweat and full of mosquito's in your face, or simply wet when raining.
It could be that you can find a nice house in a well served area, but I believe that for this, you will have to look well, it's not the kind of accommodation that I think can be found in one month.
if you need a place to stay i can rent you, my apartment. it is available for all of august to sept 20th. it has an amazing view of the lake.
because i will be back in the US. let me know.
PS
where in the US are you from? why are you moving to Lugano
Javo
[[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
I am moving to Lugano this August for two years with my girlfriend (we are from Iceland the land of aurora Borealis ). I am going to take my master's in USI starting in September.
How large are the apartement and the pricesn if they are still available?
We got an advice that the best thing to do is to get a temporary accomidation while looking for a permanent place to live.
Best regards
Gunnar Berg
i'll let you know as soon as i find out. but its 1,400 per month as its has a view of the lake.
if you want to save money on apartments its best to find a place close to campus they are cheap around there, but the area is not so nice.
its a good idea that you are coming early in august as by september-october all the students are looking for apartments too. im currently taking my masters at USI now, its a good program.
best of luck, let me know if you need anymore help.
Javo
I am moving from New England to Lugano.
thanks for all the posts on the apt search in Lugano.
I have found that the agencies want you to have your paperwork in place before they will rent to you. And they want first last and deposit as well.
Is this pretty standard?
Im looking for a 2 bedroom apt with a view of the lake.
I seem to be finding plenty on the websites and have talked to 3 agencies in person when I was there in early July.
I have to say I have not found that people in the service industry speak English. Most speak Italian and French. Going out to dinner, going to the store I have not found anyone who spoke English. The hotels and touristic places seem to have people who speak English. But I used my French a lot in the two weeks I was last there.
Any suggestions for a good bike shop?
Thank you,
No720s
http://www.lugano-online.ch/e/
http://swissinfo.org/eng/index.html
http://www.cerca-trova.ch/homepage.asp
http://www.immobiliaregaletti.ch/
I also walked into a few places close to USI and looked at their lists.
What seemed to work well was to inquire about a place and tell them a lot about us (including our work situation and that we have a dog) and what we were looking for. Several companies got back to us with apartment options that were not on their web site.
We made appointments with them and viewed 6 places before finding the perfect flat to rent. Now, I am still getting repsonses from folks telling me they will show me another property.
We sign the lease later this week. So, I say it takes at least 2 weeks from start to finish to secure a place here. Mind you, we spent many hours the 1st week looking at classified online and off and visiting houses before making the appointments. I recommend that you have a car (rent one) so you can get a feel for the locaion of places. What seems far on the map can actually be close (10 minutes from USI) if the traffic is tame. Some roads are very hectic and some are calm.
One thing we learned about property owners here: just like the US, some are amazing and make you want to rent from them so bad because they are so nice & others are just like you find in the US (high pressure and demanding (ex: you better sign now because others want this place). We found so many places to rent that decided to discount any property from a high pressure person right away. The guy we rented from is awesome and very accomodating.
Also, I've already found numerous bike shops right downtown. Cycling is awesome here and bikes are everywhere. You will have no problem in this area.
ive been looking for apartments with a lake view too. but they are very hard to comeby and much more expensive. best bet is to subrent one. also if you dont have a car you can rent out your parking space for some extra cash.
i have to say many "local" people in lugano do speak english, but dont want to, they are just rude. also alot of people lie about it. but there is a huge english speaking community in lugano, so i dont think it should be any problem for you.
Pick up a paper copy of cerca e trova. It's a small paper w/ tons of classifieds (like the penny saver/auto trader magazine in North America). It's 4 CHF and worth it. We just got one at the Shell gas station a short walk from USI. It has far more options than are in the online version ( www.cerca-trova.ch ) and will help you learn Italian.
It also has listings for nthings like scooters, motorcycles, bicycles, vacation rentals, and services.