First-hand accounts from people who have successfully mastered the horror that is the "Hamburg housing market". This page is updated regularly - it is essentially our Hall of Fame of the apartment search. If you’d like to send us your story too, then simply send it to us via Instagram.
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Enjoy the read and never forget: hope dies last!
Between Classified Ads and Base Rent: A Lucky Break?
First-hand account by Malik S.
Moving to Hamburg was actually a great idea. I had let myself be seduced by the big, wide world – new city, new opportunities, new life! And then there was this one thing I had completely underestimated: the apartment search in Hamburg.
Of course I had heard that the housing market here is tough, but I thought to myself: “Pfft, those are surely just scare stories!” As it turned out, that was about as realistic as the idea that I’d become a millionaire within a month if I just posted enough selfies with a lottery ticket.
At first I thought I was doing everything right. I signed up on all the usual portals, clicked through countless listings and sent off my applications. I was almost like a swift hunter on the prowl – except that in this case the prey wasn’t deer, but overpriced apartments in Hamburg’s trendiest neighbourhoods.
First there was this studio in the Schanze, which still felt kind of okay in the photos – until at the viewing I realised that “inner courtyard” in Hamburg actually means: “We don’t have a courtyard, but there’s a wall that’s occasionally touched by another building.” But I didn’t want to give up right away. I kept writing applications, kept viewing apartments that promised to be spruced up “with a little attention to detail.” Sure, if you use “love” as a synonym for “a lick of paint on the facade.”
Then came the moment when I decided to go a step further. I thought to myself, what harm could it do to post a wanted ad? Maybe that way I’d meet the landlords halfway and get straight into conversation, instead of fighting my way through these endless mass applications.
So I sat down, opened Kleinanzeigen and typed with a mix of hope and desperation: “Young, friendly person seeks 2–3 room apartment in Hamburg. Budget: max €700 base rent. No estate agents!”
I wish I’d added some fun extra info like “I bake cookies” or “I love organising things,” but I didn’t want to overdo it. Short, punchy and – or so I thought – charming.
For two weeks, nothing happened. Nothing! I got maybe two spam messages from people trying to sell me “the best apartment in all of Hamburg” – for €1,000 base rent and, on top of that, “fully furnished, but the fridge doesn’t quite work.” And I thought to myself: “Okay, maybe that wasn’t a brilliant idea.”
But then, and here comes the surprising part, my phone rang. A message via Kleinanzeigen. I opened the message and at first thought: Oh no, not another one of those estate agents trying to sell me a “perfect apartment.” But when I read the message, it was different.
“Hello, we saw your ad and think you might be a good fit for our apartment. We have a 2-room apartment in Barmbek that’s about to become free. Would it suit you if we met this week for a viewing?”
I stared at my phone. Barmbek? That sounded somehow too good to be true. And then I realised that I had suddenly struck lucky with an ad from “two months ago”! So many rejections, so many empty viewings, but then this message came out of nowhere. Maybe it was my fate to find the apartment through, of all things, a Kleinanzeigen search that had initially reminded me of a futile hope.
I replied immediately, and after a few hours the viewing appointment was set. On the day of the viewing, I stepped into an apartment that already had a certain “character.” The old carpet smelled of countless bygone years, and the hallway looked as if it had sprung straight from an 80s film set. But it was bright, the balcony was charming and – best of all – the rent was actually within my budget! It wasn’t a designer apartment, but it had great potential, and the neighbours were friendly. So, what can I say? The apartment was “ordinary,” but for me it was perfect.
I signed the rental contract that very same day. Who would have thought? The path to the apartment didn’t lead through hundreds of viewings, but through an old ad on Kleinanzeigen that eventually called me completely by chance.
The moral of the story? Sticking with it pays off! In Hamburg, this enormous city, there isn’t just the official route, but also the small, hidden paths that can offer you a good home. Sometimes you just have to be a little patient, adjust your expectations a bit and, above all, trust in the unexpected. When I now sit in my modest apartment, a cup of coffee in hand, I know: sometimes it’s the classified ad that brings you great fortune.
Good Friends Are Worth Their Weight in Gold – Thanks, Max!
First-hand account by Anna L.
I never thought the housing market in Hamburg could be so chaotic. Yet here I stood, with lots of rejected applications and a dwindling budget.
I’d had enough. For months I clicked through listings, wrote dozens of applications and rushed to viewings where 50 other desperate people fought with me over 30 square metres. Slowly I stopped believing I’d ever find an apartment in Hamburg.
Then came the evening with Max. We were sitting in a bar, I was moaning – yet again – about my unsuccessful search, and then he said completely casually: “Oh, I’m moving out of my apartment soon. Do you want it?”
I almost choked on my beer. His apartment? Two rooms, affordable and in Ottensen?! At first I thought he was joking. But no – his landlord preferred to have current tenants recommend a successor rather than wade through applications.
Two weeks later I held the rental contract in my hand. No stress, no mass viewing. Simply because I knew the right person.
The moral of the story? In Hamburg you find an apartment not just through luck, but through contacts. So: talk to friends, colleagues, neighbours – someone always knows someone who’s about to move out!