Accommodation

OK I think I found a place for myself they might have more free rooms it's cheap and very good locations. I will keep you updated when I get any answers from the landlord, but most probably they will have some free rooms available. It's just next to Schuman.

As I just wrote in the facebook-group:

What about this one? I just wrote an eMail to the landlord for further informations... because the whole thing just looks way too perfect for being really true ;-).

http://www.expatriates.com/cls/5584253.html

Seb, it looks nice indeed!! Let us know when you get an answer, I only don't know what is a kitchenette - is it a normal kitchen?? Would be difficult to survive without one
I will have a friend in Brussels in 2 weeks, she'll will be doing an internship, I would send her there first to see if the house really exists and if the conditions are acceptable.

yeah Seb, that looks pretty surreal! Please let us know if you find anything out...
Aneena, I think a kitchenette is just a little kitchen, usually with all the appliances but a small surface (i.e. a little corner of the living room or something - not a separate room).

And again just copy & paste from facebook:

Ok, here's what I've got:

The house should be about 15-20 minutes footwalk away from Schuman. In principle all four rooms become available as from October. Not all rooms
are free in August-September since at least 1, and maybe 2 present tenants
are prolonging their stay. The price is the same for all four rooms. No extra costs except 15-30€ on departure for cleaning + laundry of the bedlinen if you don't bring your own.
No dishwasher or washing machine, but there is a laundrette 2 blocks away (open 7/7 days). While the stagiaire have their rooms & commons on the second floor, the owner of the house occupies the ground and first floor of the house.


My comment on that as spoiled as I am ;-) :
a bit too far away from the city centre (at least if you don't want to walk about an hour or more on a friday/saturday night to get home). Unfortunately no dishwasher and washing machine. And I have no idea how this is going to work out with us living just above the house-owne...

Well, perhaps I'm too picky because there is still enough time

Exactly what I thought Well I'm going on holidays very soon and coming back in the middle of August I think that's the good time to start thinking about housing. And I still want something closer to the city centre and work. Something like 5mins walking in the morning would be perfect

Hello everyone,

I'm going to work at ECFIN and have read all your posts, that's really great! Anyway, I am also at the fasebook-group and wouldn't mind sharung a flat! I shall also look around and post it here and on facbook, if I find anything! I hope we can maybe find something together??

See you all in October!

I plan to go to work every morning from another city...... do you guys think it is possible,,,,,,,it costs me around one hour,,,,and much cheaper than in Brussels....

Which city? Leuven is nice. But if it's because of money I would still go to Brussels - we'll be paid well so it's not such a problem I guess. And you can always find a cheaper room somewhere further from the centre of Brussels.

I 'd like to live with a friend living 30 min away from Brussels, and I am gonna miss those parties, OMG!

Copy&Paste as usual from facebook...

here's something new:

I found a nice apartement(well at least the pictures look nice) with 4 bedrooms, walking-distance 10-15min to Schuman/Madou, furnitured, kitchen equipped, livingroom, 2 toilets, one bathroom, WiFi available ... short-term contract until february and flat-share is generally possible (starting 1st of September), but there are still a few things I have to check...

perhaps if everything fits I could need some help from someone who's in Brussels by the beginning of August

Ok, time to gather all the informations...

Furnitured Duplex-Apartement on 1st & 2nd floor in Boulevard Clovis 85. There is an equipped (dishwasher, washing machine, microwave and oven) kitchen with large dining-table, 4 bedrooms (12; 13; 17 & 23m²), 2 toilets, 1 bathroom. WiFi-Access available.

Every bedroom has a bed (one of them seems to have two of them) and a small table or desk. 7 wardrobes should be in the whole apartement (I guess, that every bedroom has one). The large rooms seem to have each access to a terrace or balcony. The bedroom of 23m² consists in fact of a small bedroom and a separate livingroom. I'm not sure but I think it is the only livingroom in the apartement apart from the kitchen with it's big dining-table. Either the big room stays as big room with someones private livingroom-area or we make it as a common livingroom but than someone has probably to accept that people are passing through his room.

The costs:
1650 euros/month as rent
200 euros/ month charges (taxes, assurance, common parts of the house, water, use of internet and telephone for only receiving calls)
100 - 150 euros/month for gaz and electricity (central heating with gaz).

Deposit of 1650 Euros, that has to be paid when signing the contract. Short-term until end of February is possible. Contract is signed with only one person, so the others will be subtenants. Appointement with the landlord for viewing the apartement and signature of contract can be made in the week from 17th - 21st of August (before that he's in holiday).

All the informations are based on the ad and the eMails I received from the landlord, but at least the outside-front of the house corresponds to the one shown on the picture in the ad. I'll check again how big the big bedroom really is (so 23m² minus the separated livingroom) and than calculate the costs.
My first calculation is based on the fact that I regarded the big bedroom as a private area for one person, so that in this calculation the rents are: 436,25 euros (12m²); 451,25 euros (13m²); 511,25 euros (17m²) & 601,25 euros (23m²) - everything included and been calculated with the maximum costs of electricity and gaz.

Hey, Seb, just read your post (just as I had lost hope of sharing an apartment and was about to settle for a single room, in an awesome location, in some long term hostel). Any news on this? Any takers? What do you think, is this going to work out? I'm supposed to get back to the landlord by today...
And thanks for searching!

Well, there won't be any news until mid of August because the landlord is in holiday now...

There are still some questions or problems that have to be solved:
- I have to see the apartement before, because the pictures are nice but are they real (therefore I could be in Brussels shortly after mid-August)? But as far as I can tell everything sounds quite serious...

- Have to find a solution with the big room. Either making the separate living room as common area (although there is already a large kitchen with tv etc.) which would lead to different costs for everyone and that there has to be someone who doesn't mind living in a walk-through-room. If the big room stays as big as it is by now for a single person perhaps some small changes have to be made regarding the costs for the other room to make the big one less expensive. I doubt to find any EC-Trainee, earning 1048 Euros and leaving roundabout 600 Euros for renting a room.

- Still don't know how to deal with the deposit. First of all I definetely can't afford it on my own and I don't want to. I don't want to imagine the case if I am the only one who likes the apartement and have to live in a 4BR-apartement for in total 2000 Euros...

Ok, that's all for now I think... in case of any further questions, please write me an email on facebook

Hi Everybody,
for someone who is still searching for a room for rent.I have top floor of my house for rent (bedroom, living with semi equipped kitchen, lovely shower room and huge tarrace).Location 5 min from Daily Place and Meiser Square. I bike to my work to the Center (15 min). Rent 400 Euro all included plus very family atmosphere! If interested contact me goldik27@yahoo.co.uk

obie wrote:Hey guys -
So what exactly is the deal with these stagiaire houses? I've looked but couldn't find them - perhaps they haven't been posted yet? I'd love to live with more trainees, but I have no clue how to go about it...Any ideas?
(BTW, Rue Marie Therese or R. des Deux Eglises would be IDEAL for me, as I'll be working in Madou).
A lot of the "collocation" offers I've seen are with non-trainees, so perhaps the way to go is to get a few of us together and book a multiple-room apartment (so we "form" the stagiaire house, so to speak?)
Anyhow, I'll be looking for multiple-bedroom apts, and if I find anything cool I'll post here (and if some of you want, you can do the same).
I also feel it's perhaps a little too early to look for places, since a lot of stuff hasn't been posted yet (many places are available for the summer only or have been posted a long time ago...)
Happy planning!

I have found a place for stagiers mixed with Erasmus students:

http://www.chab.be/FoyerUK.html

it's a brand new building and prices are reasonable! I have a room booked there already. The menager - Franck Parrod (franck.parrod@chab.be) is very very helpful but almost all the places are booked. I asked him to let me know if somebode resigns and he called me back - so maybe if you are interested there would be some places left.

See you all in Brussels!

Paulina
pirania0@poczta.onet.pl

Are the rooms still available? Have you been there? They have no pictures and I'm not very keen of renting somehting I haven't seen on a picture or at all.

Another option is http://www.lviimmo.com/residences/index.php?id=36. With pictures and everything, and cheap. I've booked a room there already. Check it out!

obie - in which house? I am also thinking about getting a room there, I'm still waiting for something better but it's getting a bit late...

I'll be in Botanique /Traversiere, it's a 10-min walk from Madou where I'll be working and 20 mins from Schuman...So, the location is ideal, the price is almost ideal, we'll see about the room and stuff, but frankly for 5 months I don't really care that much if the location is good...

Hi there,
Thank you all for a good advice!! I'm looking for a studio/flat to rent for a reasonable price near Madou. Any clue?

hi everyone.

i'm also looking for a place to share with other trainees. Is anyone looking for a flatmate? i will be arriving in late september but hope to find something beforehand... thanks

Séb wrote:As I just wrote in the facebook-group:

What about this one? I just wrote an eMail to the landlord for further informations... because the whole thing just looks way too perfect for being really true ;-).

http://www.expatriates.com/cls/5584253.html

Hey guys,

Just saw Séb's threads about this place near Mérode, in a huge house occupied by the landlord on the ground and first floor and by 4 stagiaires on the 2nd floor.
I'm actually gonna move in one of these rooms in October and I have had the chance to visit the house a month ago. So if anyone has any questions about it I'm happy to answer them!

cheers

hey!! I'm also looking for a place to stay!!!!

if anyone's looking for a roomie, let me know!!!

Ciao

I found a place next to place Flagey

Hey guys,
Long time no chat Anyhow,
- anyone living in LVI immo? (www.lviimmo.com)? I'll be there....
- anyone wanna meet up for a tasty Belgian brew before the stage begins (Sept. 28, 29, 30...)?
- any of you experienced Bruxellois have any advice on banks to open accounts at and cell phone plans to be on?
Good luck with apt hunting!

Hey obie,

well Ill skip the beer part as I answered in the other thread

usually getting a bank account is pretty straight forward. I dont have my old one anymore so Ill just take Fortis again. As for cell phones, base seems one of the best deals, though I liked mobistar as well when I lived in Brussels previously. All depends on your usage though (internet, calls, etc.)

@Aneena: a place for you or a place with some rooms left for the rest of us?

@obie: ING as a bank is quite popular and is to be found nearly everywhere. There's an ING at Schuman and Arts-Loi, I've heard that they are "specialised" on trainee-accounts.

I think I'll be in Brussels on the 28th of September... so yes, I'm in for some belgian beer.

Well actually the room found me, a friend of mine contacted me and said he has a free room, so I agreed to move in I don't even know exactly where it is and who lives there. If they have more free rooms I will let you know but I'm not sure about it.
I will be arriving on the 1st of October.

@ Openeye and Seb: thanks much for your advice! (Seb, I take it that that apt close to Madou didn't work out?)