Advertised Accommodation for Rent with Estate Agents Fees

[TalkMunichAdmin]

When moving to Munich, property rental often catches people by surpise due to the high initial layout required.  Often you will have to pay three months rent as a deposit as well as the equivalent of three months rent in agents' fees.  Would it make sense to develop and publicise a web site which only advertises property for rent which does not include an agent's fee?

[bigwig]

A lot of people moving to Munich are actually doing so under a company relocation scheme whereby their provision (estate agent's fees) are covered for them.  Mind you, if they decide to move again they would probably benefit from the type of site you mention.

[KingCape]

There are German version of these sites.  I don't know how easy it would be to create an English version.  The problem is that you would need the co-operation of German landlords and they might not be too eager to do business with an Auslander.  Maybe that is a bit extreme, but it seems that other forums imply that Germans are not too happy to have foreigners here.  That could be wrong, it is just the impression I have got.

[Moomin]

At the St.Patricks Day Parade yesterday there was quite a healthy mix of Germans and non-Germans and everything seemed very happy.  Maybe the stereotype of Germans hating non-Germans is a myth.

Irrespective of that, I have been looking at renting a flat here in Munich and I have to admit, the Makler (agent) fees are a complete rip-off.  If there is a makler-free flat rental site, then I would be up for using that, even if it meant a small subscription fee.  As if the whole process of moving is not stressful enough without some parasitic middleman taking a cut of a few thousand of your hard-earned cash.