Hi guys,

Would it be frowned upon to hand in multiple applications (for different apartments obviously) to one Regie?

It just so happens that Regie Du Rhone happens to have in fact 3 apartments that I'm interested in.

And in the essence of spreading the risk, and finding a home asap, I would like to hand in 3 applications. In fact I've already handed in two in the space of a week, and would like to hand another one in tomorrow for a place I viewed tonight (In fact its the apartment I like the most out of the 3).

Any help would be greatly appreciated,
Alan

I would say that this poses no problems at all. Since the regie gives no guarantee that you will get any of these places, there is nothing wrong with trying to submit as many applications as possible. I actually think this is a good strategy as long as you are applying for flats that you would enjoy living in.

In the past in Geneva it hasn't been possible to apply for more than one place with a given Regie at a given time. This may however have loosened up due to the ridiculous pressure on the market right now.

I would suggest consulting with ASLOCA before during and after any tenancy in Geneva.

Better yet if you can afford to hire a lawyer to take care of the application process for you then you stand a much better chance of surviving the process with your emotional health intact.

-mark

I think this is a bit alarmist, you normally do not need a lawyer to rent a flat. But I agree that it is a frustrating experience -- how much it damages your emotional health I am not sure, but I am quite sure you actually forget the frustration once you nicely settle in your own flat.

I'm serious. When there are 30 or 40 other applications for a place, which would be a low figure in Geneva then anything you can do is a leg up. The reason I suggest using a lawyer is that if you have a Genevois friend, or any other francophone helping you they can certainly make phone calls to the regie, but a lawyer will also be able to act for you, because you can give them power of attourney.

I used one of these services the last time I did an apartment search and it made getting the papers right a whole lot easier. The thing is that I think it's something any lawyer could do, and it's likely to be a lot less expensive than the 1month of rent that the services ask for.