Datamining a Flat in Munich • Hacker News Board

Re: Datamining a Flat in Munich

#21

Post by richthegeek » Wed, Sep 24, 2014, 10:28 AM UTC

Maxious wrote: post #13

praptak wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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-...

Whilst there is no reason to disbelieve the core tenet of this article (white guys have better chances than hispanic guys in that region), the extreme hyperbole employed doesn't help the message. Months without any replies (like, 0.1% response rate) turned into a 90% response rate due to just a name change is difficult to believe and doesn't jibe with other more stringent research.

Re: Datamining a Flat in Munich

#22

Post by dildog » Wed, Sep 24, 2014, 10:29 AM UTC

Hanz with a Z? Surely a Bavarian hiphop artist!

Re: Datamining a Flat in Munich

#23

Post by mithras » Wed, Sep 24, 2014, 10:32 AM UTC

lultimouomo wrote: post #14

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?

The study was probably done at the governments official exchange rate which is far off from the black market rate. Which would make it seem more expensive.

Re: Datamining a Flat in Munich

#24

Post by freyfogle » Wed, Sep 24, 2014, 10:35 AM UTC

domrdy wrote: post #20

> 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).

But surely they will just pass the fee to the tenant in the form of higher rent?

Re: Datamining a Flat in Munich

#25

Post by mironathetin » Wed, Sep 24, 2014, 10:40 AM UTC

domrdy wrote: post #20

> 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).

Sometimes, the real estate agents already take it from both sides.

Indeed, there is a law in preparation, that you pay, if you contacted the agent to find a flat, but the owner pays, if he asked the agent to find a tenant.

I tell you what will happen: you'll never get a contract to rent a place, unless you sign that the agent worked for you, not for the owner.

Re: Datamining a Flat in Munich

#26

Post by lordbusiness » Wed, Sep 24, 2014, 10:42 AM UTC

Malcolm Gladwell, in his book The Tipping Point, identifies people like this author as "mavens". :-)

The world is better off for having them.

Re: Datamining a Flat in Munich

#27

Post by pjc50 » Wed, Sep 24, 2014, 10:47 AM UTC

lultimouomo wrote: post #14

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?

Inequality?

It's an oil country. I'd not be surprised to find it's full of million-dollar apartments driving the average up. Maybe the low wage workers live beyond the city boundary, or in favelas that are excluded from the average.

http://www.architonic.com/ntsht/over-site-how-caracas-s-new-...

Re: Datamining a Flat in Munich

#28

Post by qwerta » Wed, Sep 24, 2014, 10:47 AM UTC

> This was pretty easy as there is absolutely no captcha system used by that time, on those websites

Captcha is not really a problem if you are willing to spend a few cents.

Re: Datamining a Flat in Munich

#29

Post by koyote » Wed, Sep 24, 2014, 10:47 AM UTC

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.…

That's a really cool site, I wish I knew about it when I was looking for a flat in London.

How do you compare to the more popular sites such as Zoopla?

Re: Datamining a Flat in Munich

#30

Post by NicoJuicy » Wed, Sep 24, 2014, 10:49 AM UTC

And what about politicians demanding 40% is female, while only 10% of the candidates are female... That is actually one silly law (i'm not trying to discriminate, but it's kinda unfair for finding the best candidates).