Hey everyone, sorry for writing in english as I don’t speak german, this might come off like a rant I guess but it’s a question.
My partner and I are looking to move to Austria in the upcoming months, we are both hungarian and live in Hungary at the moment. I have a job offer and I will start working in Vienna in december as a developer. She works remotely in IT related field too. We found a fairly nice place, has garden, allows dogs, near the mountains, it’s in a smaller town with around 2,5k population.
I told the realtor everything about our situation, sent her IDs, payrolls, she told me there should be no problem, so I travelled there to inspect the house.
Now I understand we are first time moving to Austria, with our current paychecks etc. we are are probably a risk to them, and so I received the following email from the realtor: https://i.imgur.com/BTbn7fw.png
It shocked me at first because that is 12 months up front + 2 months provision, we would be the first ones moving in so I guess it’s somewhat understandable. We are lucky enough to be able to afford this and really liked the place, so I told her alright, I want to see the contract to check that atleast.
Then what actually baffled me and I am not sure if it’s actually the norm here, now the owner wants to meet me personally, before actually giving the OK to it. I am willing to give them more than 16 thousand euros and they are still not sure, they think I travel more than a thousand kilometers just to fuck with them?
As I said, I am not sure what is normal here and what isn’t, I knew tenants are protected a lot so filtering out is key for landlords. But I can’t help but feel discriminated in a sense. If this is the norm then I shouldn’t take it so personal.
Sorry for the long post, the main question is: Is this normal? Bullet dodged? Should I expect this everywhere except big cities?
11 comments
Well, I myself like to ask for 6 month deposit when renting out my apartment but asking for 6 month rent upfront is rather unusual. Especially if the deposit is so high.
But this is only my 2 cents.
>Is this normal?
No
>Bullet dodged?
Yes
Its called “österreichischer Alltagsrassismus”, you will see that a lot here as a foreigner.
No. 3 month deposit is normal. Sometimes 4 month, but 6 is crazy. Also 6 month rent in advance is not normal. I never payed more than the current month in advance. I would be careful, could be a scam.
It’s not normal if you rent an apartment, but I can see how someone renting out their house it would be a bit different, because they most likely will be a private person, not a company renting out the house. With this they are carrying more risk as they don’t have a portfolio like a company that rents out flats and can mitigate risks.
Your landlord is probably and old guy or lady in the country, suspicious in general and trying to get a sense of safety by the high deposit and now wanting to meet you in person. See if you are an ordinary seeming person or looking suspicious or whatever. People like that want to have a gut feeling.
It’s not the norm, but it is understandable and not totally off for a private person in the country to be like this and have such requests.
If you were from the neighbour village it wouldn’t be like that, but seen as you are from “mysterious” Hungary, they want to make sure. And yes, that’s a form of racism too.
Ridiculous demands. Don’t give anyone rent up front and don’t pay such an absurd deposit. It’s true, the landlord can decline you for basically any reason and there is a certain truth to being skeptical about first-time renters who aren’t Austrian citizens, but you are an EU citizen, and have you thought about what could happen if you give someone 16k euros just to prove you’re okay? Landlords can often be notoriously annoying when it comes to getting back your deposit, and paying this much rent up front is just asking them to screw with you. Consider that unless that house was built a long, long time ago, the law doesn’t actually afford you a lot of protections and rights.
It’s not normal, you are being discriminated but that is pretty normal.
Six months deposit seems ok to me – it’s usually three months, but up to six is definitely within the scope of the law. The six moths rent in advance, on the other hand, I have never seen anywhere before. Seems ridiculous to me, as the deposit is already the safety net for the owner.
I’d ask the realtor if this seems normal to her, and try to negotiate – I’d be fine with the deposit, but not the advanced rent payment.
I’ve heard about 6 months of deposit before with new expats, however paying rent in advance… never.
This is ridiculous. 6 months deposit is already bad enough, but 6 months rent in advance? Why would you do that! Talking about the needed safety, the 6 months deposit is more than enough. No way you should pay that much and I highly advise you to not take this “offer”.
Also, that realtors English gives me secondhand embarrassment
I would say it is common to meet in person before signing the contract – I did it every time. But I also didn’t pay more than 1 month of rent up front. And also I wasn’t “forced” like you are.
What I would do in your situation if you do not want to find another house/apartment: go there in person, and haggle on the spot. You could say “I understand you have risks but you must understand we are a young couple. We think it is reasonable that you get your ‘insurance’ of 6m up front, but the next month we pay is the 7th.” If you are a little charismatic, I think that will work. Might also depend on the translation skills on the realtor :/
In case you make it and want to stick with it: Remember that Austrians have a huge boner for cash. I tried to pay my deposit online and had to postpone the signing of my contract. The lady was nice about it though.
I had to meet in person every time so far so that’s not uncommon. I would most certainly try to discuss the price upfront thing