Airbnb's & Apartments

Our relocation company wasn't kidding when they told us to rent an Airbnb for a month. Leasing in Paris is quite different than in the US. At home, you can walk into an apartment complex and leave with a signed lease the same day. We had already narrowed down our list of apartments to tour before we left Houston so we decided to rent an Airbnb for ten days as we thought we would make very quick decisions.  It ended up taking us four and a half weeks to find our apartment so we bounced around ALOT. 

When you don't pay attention to the check in time while booking a flight luggage can be quite an issue. A hotel will storage your luggage if early check-in is not an option. Early check-in is definitely NOT an option with an Airbnb here nor is storage luggage. Luckily we found a hotel 10 minutes down the road that would storage our luggage [Four 50lb duffels, two small carry-ons, five backpacks and one car seat] for a couple of hours. The receptionist was so kind and excitedly gave the girls two each mini Eiffel Tower keychains. Little did we know we would end up in this hotel alot over the next several weeks.  

Oswaldo Cruz (Airbnb #1) was on the middle west side of the 16th arrondissement. Our check-in host was 30 minutes late. Not great with three exhausted littles who just want to pass out and 12 bags plus a stroller crowding the main entry door off the street. The apartment is on the seventh floor. The elevator goes to the sixth floor and then you walk up very narrow squeaky wooden stairs. Pretty sure the attic of this building was converted into an apartment. The apartment itself has alot of great space...two stories, a large family room, half-bath, small galley kitchen and laundry room make up the first floor while two bedrooms, one full bathroom and a very small tv room encompass the second floor.  The girls could not be more excited to sleep in bunk beds and share a room with their brother. There is a grand two story window with a great view of the top half of the Eiffel Tower. The kids were so excited to see the light show every night. We had a 25 minute walk to school straight down Rue de Passy. The cons were quickly noticed, the apartment was not clean, dishes were dirty, the dishwasher was broken and smelt awful, the washing machine had mold and that grand two story window with the great view was our worst enemy during 92 to 97 degree heat with no AC. Our ten days could not end quick enough.

A couple of the apartments we wanted to tour were either leased by the time we arrived in Paris or were not willing to lease to an individual. The residential market is so tight in Paris right now that non-furnished rentals are only available for residents or visitors staying for three years or longer. So furnished was our only option. Most furnished apartment owners want a company to be the Tenant on the lease and not an individual so half of the apartments we kept sending to our relocation agent would not even set up a tour. Needless to say, we didn't find a long-term apartment within the first ten days. 

Our next Airbnb wasn't available right away so we ended up at the hotel where we first stored our luggage for a couple of days. Thank goodness because we were struggling without AC in 97 degree heat. The receptionist loved seeing the kids every morning and always offered more than one candy in the afternoons. We had two rooms with a hallway that closed off to call it a "connecting room". There was a boulangerie and two great cafes right outside the hotel and it was a 18 minute walk to school. It was a nice short stay to beat the heat. 

Dangeau (Airbnb #2) was right by one of our favorite parks, the "Pirate Ship" Park. The open layout worked so well for us. There was a small formal entry way with tons of storage, THREE bedrooms, one bathroom (difficult at times but we made it work), high-end kitchen with an island that opened to the living room with a large sectional. This honestly was the perfect layout and we confirmed we could rent the apartment the entire length of our stay (it was our fallback if we couldn't find a place within the next two weeks). The prior guest must have been rowdy due to the TV playing rap music at insanely high volume when we first turned it on. It was a couple of minutes south of the first Airbnb so our walk to school was a dreadful 30 minutes. We made up games for the girls so they wouldn't pay attention to the long walk....Dad turns into a troll when we go under the scaffolding "bridge", red light, green light was always a winner and tag got a little two intense sometimes on such a busy sidewalk.  Besides finding nitrous oxide in the kids room (yes, you read that right...we ended up moving the kids in a 10x5 room where the girls slept in a twin bed together and warren's travel crib was crammed up against them) and the old lady two floors above us upset because she heard a neighbor's loud birthday party and thought it was us, this really could have been the right place, just wrong location. 

During the two weeks Brian and I fell in love with this flat in Neuilly-sur-Seine, a beautiful "suburb" right outside the wall of Paris. Even though it was a short 15 minute metro ride to school, we quickly found out the metro with three kids and a stroller was not going to be an option. So staying in the 16th arrondissement with a 10-15 minute walk to school was no easy task. We found several furnished apartments within budget but more than half said no to us as an individual. 

One agent finally explained that Landlord's do not have much remedy when it comes to non-payment of rent. It takes forever to default a tenant and remove them from the premises. So there are many tenant's not paying rent and not getting kicked out. Hence, corporations are more attractive to have as a tenant than an individual. There was a tenant who stopped paying rent so the Landlord either stopped furnishing water or they didn't fix something (I can't remember). The tenant sued the Landlord for unlivable conditions and the tenant won even though they haven't paid rent in six months. Mind blowing but I get why Landlord's are hesitant to lease to individuals here. There is a company called "Garantme" that provides a guaranty for individuals. It is usually 4-5% of the annual lease amount. We were approved quickly for more than we thought we needed and it should have made our "file" look more attractive.

After a long search, we had finally found two apartments that we thought would work really well. We originally wanted a three bedroom but realized there's not many available and none in our geographic area. Eugène Manuel was our first choice. Rent was within budget. The 80m2 layout had an formal entry, an open living room and dining room, the tiniest kitchen and a long hallway that lead to two decent size bedrooms all decorated with the quintessential Parisian design and modern furniture. The building was stunning, the location was amazing and only a 9 minute walk to school. We submitted our file and waited for a response. Our stroller did not fit in the elevator but it wasn't a deal killer. We were told that submitting our files to two apartments are the same time is offensive and we needed to hold off on our second choice. Two days later, no response from our first choice so our relocation agent submitted our file to our second choice. 

Cortambert is a two bedroom 76m2 completely renovated apartment above our budget. It has a larger galley kitchen open to the large dinning table and living room with beautiful views of the surrounding buildings and a private street, a separate washer and dryer (that's a big deal), a hidden half bath, two full bathrooms and wait for it...AC AND A PARKING SPACE! We didn't bring the car because we never thought we would find a parking space as well as driving here is nuts. The Landlord approved us right away so long as the Garantme guaranty was increased to the monthly rent. Garantme wouldn't increase the guaranty because the money I make isn't based off a salary so they completed ignored our savings and my income. Lovely. After going around in circles with our relocation agent, I finally asked the Landlord's realtor if we could just pay the difference up front, he then asked if we could pay six months upfront and we said yes. We FINALLY had a long-term apartment. The previous tenant at Cortambert had pushed back their move date so we had to move to another Airbnb one more time because our current one was already booked. 

 L'Assopmtion (Airbnb #3) was right across the street from the hotel that we stayed at and have used for luggage storage every time we have moved between Airbnbs (move out is usually 11:00 a.m. and checkin is always 4:00 p.m.). This adorable Airbnb had the perfect amount of Parisian charm with a narrow hallway for an entry that lead to a small living room, small kitchen, two large bedrooms and very small bathroom...there was a shower and sink and the toilet closet was at the front of the apartment. Basically a small hotel suite...maybe 50m2. The boulangerie was right beneath us and waking up to the smell of bread an pastries was amazing. We were back to a 18 minute walk up a very steep hill but worth the shorter distance. We brought the kids by the hotel to say hello to the Receptionist. She was so happy and had picked out all the red and pink candy for the girls. We stopped by every morning and afternoon on the way to and from school. This Airbnb was super cozy other than the toilet closet smelling like a public restroom. It was awful and thank goodness our stay was short!

October 2nd was our moving day! We had the same driver pick us up and drop us off at every location. Luckily for most of the moves, the kids were in school. He laughed as we told him this is the last move. We've settled in quite nicely after making a few trips to Ikea, Zara home and several amazon deliveries. The girls now have a bunk bed and Warren will stay in the travel crib (which is the size of a crib back home and some how lighter than our pack and plays?!). Our neighbors are very kind and we are working on being quiet at night as well as walking lightly. Our walk to school takes us down this beautiful street with large sidewalk and trees galore straight past Place du Trocadero and winds us through Jardins du Trocadero view a beautiful view of the Eiffel Tower before arriving at the school building. 

And if you were wondering, our first choice finally let us know after a week that they wanted to wait for a corporation...its still on the market available to leaes. SO Cortambert ended up being our only option. We are so in love with the area, the people and our Landlord is so kind. We are right where we were meant to be.