Archive for the 'Housing' Category

Watch for the hidden rent increases

When you rent an apartment in Paris there will probably be a small clause that defines a yearly rent increase. It’s your responsibility to keep track of this and increase your rent payments on the anniversary of your apartment rental.

Most people, like myself, discover this the hard way when they move and find a bill for the backdated rent increase.

This is actually a pretty reasonable function. It removes the arbitrary rental increases and uses a schedule developed by the French government. My apartment that cost 1,250 euros/month had a rent increase last year of 55 euros/month. I’m not sure how that relates to other cities, but I thought it was reasonable and similar to what you’d pay in California.

Easily convert square meters to square feet

Paris in SpringIt’s a bit difficult shopping for a new apartment in France when you come from the United States, the non-metric country. How many square feet is that 35m2 apartment listed on Craigslist? Can I really fit my clothes and computer equipment?

I’ve gotten pretty good at converting temperatures, money, and lengths in my mind, but squaring those measurements just causes a headache. Luckily, I found this simple web page with an easy to use grid for comparing areas. Metric Conversions has several other useful tools as well. Add this bookmark and you’ll find it much easier determining what you need in an apartment.

Metric Conversion Charts




); ?>