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Datamining a Flat in Munich

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Re: Datamining a Flat in Munich

#11

Post by freyfogle »

corv wrote: post #7
freyfogle wrote: post #4

My sympathies, I lived in Munich 15 years ago and it was a nightmare to find a place even back then. I've heard it's only gotten worse. We (Nestoria.de) aggregate listings of most of the players in real estate in Germany (IS24, immowelt, immonet, süddeutsche, others) and offer an API. We also offer an API of price trends (ie what the avg rent is in an area and if it's going up or down). Enjoy: http://www.nestoria.co.…

Thanks for the link, your site is brilliant!

Thanks, you should tell EVERYONE you know.

In seriousness though, while we do try our best (not just in Germany, but eight other countries as well), the situation he describes is one that the internet doesn't do a good job of solving. Basically demand way outstrips supply in cities like Munich. As a result, if you have a good flat or house you want to rent out, really all you need to do is tell 5-10 people and via word of mouth you'll very quickly have more than enough high quality applicants. You really don't need online tools.

An interesting result is that we're now starting to see start-ups that reverse the model. In Köln/Düsseldorf there is https://salzundbrot.com (a Nestoria partner) who are free for owners/landlords, but charge applicants a small fee to make contact. Will be interesting to see if it catches on.

The reality though is there is just way more demand than supply. Normally that would be solved by price rises, but the rate of rent increases is reguated by law.

All that said, while I have sympathy with Munich renters, I now live in central London, where the problem is at another order of magnitude. As I always say "London isn't expensive, the rest of the world is cheap".

Re: Datamining a Flat in Munich

#12

Post by praptak »

ilovefood wrote: post #8
petercooper wrote: post #5

The conclusion from this little study, is that a girl with an italian name, gets an 90% answer rate, a guy with an arab name and is younger than 25 gets, 1% answer rate. The master of all, is the young munich guy who is around 25 Sadly, this doesn't surprise me. Across Europe, numerous anti-discrimination laws have been (rightfully) enacted, but it just pushes any inclination to discriminate that might exist into pri…

Thanks for the input ! Maybe I should try it with jobs, just for a test, and write an article about it. :)

Such tests have been performed: "Job applicants with white names needed to send about 10 resumes to get one callback; those with African-American names needed to send around 15 resumes to get one callback" http://www.nber.org/digest/sep03/w9873.html

I believe I have read a study (can't dig it up) where a simple switch to a female name in the context of a technical job made the response rate drop.

Re: Datamining a Flat in Munich

#13

Post by Maxious »

praptak wrote: post #12
ilovefood wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for the input ! Maybe I should try it with jobs, just for a test, and write an article about it. :)

Such tests have been performed: "Job applicants with white names needed to send about 10 resumes to get one callback; those with African-American names needed to send around 15 resumes to get one callback" http://www.nber.org/digest/sep03/w9873.html I believe I have read a study (can't dig it up) where a simple switch to a female name in the context of a technical job made the response rate drop.

BuzzFeed has the story of a guy named José who could not get callbacks until he changed the name on his resume to Joe http://www.buzzfeed.com/adriancarrasquillo/meet-jose-zamora-...

Re: Datamining a Flat in Munich

#14

Post by lultimouomo »

I was very surprised to find Caracas at #9 in the linked article of most expensive cities in the world; Venezuela having a pro capita GDP of around $13K I would have expected the cost of life to be quite low.

Does anyone have first hand experience of that, or an explanation of why it is so?

Re: Datamining a Flat in Munich

#15

Post by mironathetin »

Cool post.

We want to buy something in Munich and indeed, even if you are prepared to spend a million or more, it is extremely hard to get an invitation to visit a place (Even if you are in the right age and your wife is an italian girl, like mine).

It would be really cool to outwit the real estate dealers in the way you did it. I keep thinking. Ideas are welcome.

Re: Datamining a Flat in Munich

#16

Post by [deleted] »

petercooper wrote: post #5

The conclusion from this little study, is that a girl with an italian name, gets an 90% answer rate, a guy with an arab name and is younger than 25 gets, 1% answer rate. The master of all, is the young munich guy who is around 25 Sadly, this doesn't surprise me. Across Europe, numerous anti-discrimination laws have been (rightfully) enacted, but it just pushes any inclination to discriminate that might exist into pri…

[deleted]

Re: Datamining a Flat in Munich

#17

Post by sauere »

petercooper wrote: post #5

The conclusion from this little study, is that a girl with an italian name, gets an 90% answer rate, a guy with an arab name and is younger than 25 gets, 1% answer rate. The master of all, is the young munich guy who is around 25 Sadly, this doesn't surprise me. Across Europe, numerous anti-discrimination laws have been (rightfully) enacted, but it just pushes any inclination to discriminate that might exist into pri…

Anti-discrimination laws do not solve any problems, they make them worse. If someone is not willing to hire a person because of their ethnicity/color/sex/age/whatever, a law will not make him do it. Finding an excuse is too easy and it is basically impossible to prove such things in court. I recommend watching https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzXXvUjg8Fo

Re: Datamining a Flat in Munich

#18

Post by brazzy »

valevk wrote: post #9

Getting an answer is only the first step. Afterwards you are invited with around 20-30 other persons to visit the flat. It's like cattle looking for a new shed.

When I was looking for a flat together with my girlfriend 3 years ago, we got several viewings of our own together with the agent.

This seems to depend completely on whether the commission is paid by the owner or the tenant - the only time we had a "crowded" viewing (but still only about 5 other people) was for a flat where the commission was paid by the owner.

Another factor might have been that we were looking in the outskirts of Munich - if you think you absolutely need to live in Schwabing or Glockenbachviertel, it's your own damn fault.

Re: Datamining a Flat in Munich

#19

Post by brazzy »

mironathetin wrote: post #15

Cool post. We want to buy something in Munich and indeed, even if you are prepared to spend a million or more, it is extremely hard to get an invitation to visit a place (Even if you are in the right age and your wife is an italian girl, like mine). It would be really cool to outwit the real estate dealers in the way you did it. I keep thinking. Ideas are welcome.

They didn't outwit the dealers, they "outwitted" other people looking for flats by crowding them out via spamming the dealers.

Re: Datamining a Flat in Munich

#20

Post by domrdy »

> Appartment rental agencies cost roughly 3 times the monthly rent, which accounts for around 2000€. No need to say this was a no go for me as I prefer keeping that money and making something good out of it.

As far as I know this fee will soon have to be paid by the landlord rather than the potential tenant (by german law).

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