Hi there,

Finally after around 30 visits and making around 8 applications I've been offered an apartment.

I had understood it had a cave, where I could put my bikes/snowboards etc.

After speaking with the Regie it might not have the cave, and at 50 sq meters its probably too small for too of us considering theres no cave.

Also one stipulation is that the lease is for max 3 years, after which we are kicked out.. which may be a pain.

How big of an issue is it to say no at this point?

I definitely do not want to get blacklisted or somesuch.

Any help is much appreciated,
Alan

I would think that the biggest headache would be for you. Given how you have viewed 30 apartments (your location still says Canada, it would be helpful if you changed it) - I assume you are looking in a pretty big town or city. Chances are that there'll be a queue of others behind you also looking for the place, so the agent may have little difficulty getting it to someone else. I don't believe blacklists exist - especially given how you have a valid and justifiable reason for not taking the apartment in question.

No big issue at all!

You haven't signed a contract yet and so you have no obligations at all.

There is no such thing as a blacklist if you turn down a flat that's offered to you .

However the regies/landlords work together sometimes when someone applies for a flat, you usually have to fill in a space who your previous landlord was,and we too ask for this refence and call up the previous landlord, and IF it happens that the person has got a bad record ( e.g. big arrears in rent,terrible tenant,at wars with whole neighbourhood etcetc),then they might have a problem finding a new flat...... this is as far as i know the only possibility of being sort of 'blacklisted' and this is certainly not the case in your query

So keep on househunting , I hope you will find what you want soon!

The mighty mice will crawl out of their holes and drag you kicking and screaming...

ok joking apart, nothing will happen unless you've signed on the dotted line. But question is do you want to compromise or keep looking...

Hi! Where are you looking for a flat? Depending on where it is, you should be able to find something to better suit your needs (I know you've looked at a lot of flats, but you don't seem to keen on this one). I think that 50m2 is a snug fit for (I'm guessing) 2 adults and their goods.

As the others have said, if you haven't signed anything, there is no problem to back out, and you needn't worry about getting 'blackballed'.

Most (if not all) rental agencies in Zürich have a standard clause built in to the offer. If they have offered you the apartment and sent you a contract to sign then there will be a penalty attached to the costs of preparing the contract in your name.

Mine came in at an even 100 CHF when i declined the offer.

That's similar to what I found in Lausanne - basically the relocation agency we're using said we can apply to as many apartments as we want...if 2 (or more) come back with accepting our applications - we can say no to one and it's not a problem. There's only a problem if you say yes, then they send you the contract....after you've said yes, you can still turn it down, but you just have to pay like 100 CHF or 150 CHF (I don't remember)

In Geneva, some regies let you go for free because they have many applicants, some charge up to 150 CHF if you are offered a flat and then refuse.

But if you said yes, even over the phone, you committed yourself and if you change your mind then the penalties can be very high indeed -- up to a certain number of monthly rents.

Wow, several months?

Thats crazy.

Yes over the phone we agreed, but it was on the condition that I can view the place (we have not seen the apartment, but a similar one in the same building), and that it has a cave, which it may not.

I doubt they could enforce several months rent as a penalty! Yikes.

OK, it sounds that you did not just simply say yes, but clarify the conditions with them as soon as possible.

They can't. That ridiculous. Only if you have signed the contact and want to back out. Then the three (or four) months that is in the contract for leaving the contract early will apply.

Well, finally I went to view the apartment today.

And its perfect, and not too small, plus it has a balcony which we didnt think it did.

Not sure about the cave, but at least I went downstairs and there are cave's so im guessing one of them is for us. If not maybe we can "sublet" one from a neighbour who isnt using theirs.

So we will definitely take it.

Finally the struggle is over.

What! you hadn't even seen it before you posted here etc etc.

...and by cave I assume you mean cellar?

No, unfortunately some of us have just started new jobs and dont get home till after 10

Fortunately my lovely girlfriend has been busy going around visiting all the apartments.

Always good to have a cave around, in case you want to "get away" from civilization for a bit.

How many cubic meters is it? How many cavities? Limestone or granite (walls)?