Hello everyone,
We are planning to move to Basel next month, and I wanted to get some housing related advice from this
A few questions I have:
- Which websites should we use for finding apartments?
- Are there any agencies you would recommend which help with finding homes/apartments?
- What documents should I prepare in advance for rental applications?
- Which neighborhoods/communes of Basel (open to City and Countryside) would you recommend living in, especially as a non-German speaking family coming from the US?
- What factors should we consider most when getting a place e.g. rent, distance to schools and work, nearby public transport, nearby grocery store, nearby park etc.
Thank you for any helpful advice.
https://homegate.ch is the main one.
i suppose you are getting temporary housing from your employer as 1 month is not sufficient time to find a place unless you are very lucky.
also, word of mouth is an important element. some of the best housing stock doesn’t make it onto the market: when someone is moving out they often ask their friends/family/co-workers if they want to take over it.
a house with garden is also much more rare than apartments.
how many kids do you have and how old are they? what do you like to do in your free time? are they school age? will you want to put them into international school? these will influence where you might want to live. distance to public transport and direct connection to work is important (although in Basel, cycling to work is often a good option). i lived in Basel 5 mins walk from the office. when kids came along, I moved a 20 minute bike ride away into Basel-Land where there’s more space and greenery. both are good options and it depends on what your priorities/activities are, but you can easily live in either.
also steel yourself for a potentially tough process. there’s a housing shortage in Basel and can be tough to find something good. but at least it is better than Zurich. I remember going to viewings with the queue to see the place going round the block and you are literally competing with 100s of other potential tenants.
i know of a house that will be coming up for rent in the coming months, but not sure the timing will work out for you.
1 Like