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Is sublet.com good way to find a housing less than 3 months?

Last activity 28 August 2015 by miejoong

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miejoong

Hi,
I'm considering a three month visit to Romania, and hoping to find a short-term housing in a small city or a rural area in Romania.
I looked through the sublets listed on sublet.com to get an idea about housing expense in Romania, and wonder if it's a good way to go about it. I'm interested in living in a small city or a rural area for up to three months.
By the way, do rural areas offer easy, fast internet access as well?
Also, I wonder if the rent listed without a currency unit usually means a rent/month in the Romanian currency.
Some of the listings listed way too low numbers while others did the opposite, and I couldn't figure out what they meant by the numbers.
If any of you could help me out with the tips on ways to find housing in hopefully a small town with nice chunk of nature, it would be great! :)

Maykal

Hey there,

I'll do my best to give you a few pointers.

Firstly, three month contracts can be a little tricky to come by. Most people don't want the hassle and prefer a tenant who'll stay at least a year. You are more likely to find someone who has a flat to rent who'll do an off-contract deal for three months. Perhaps someone who is going to be out of the country for a while and doesn't really want someone there permanently. Less common, but if you stick an ad on various classified websites, you might get a response.

Rental prices are nearly always listed in Euro. If you see something in the hundreds, it's probably Euro/month for sure. Even a studio flat in a reasonable area is going to be almost 1000 RON/month so if you see a sizeable flat, furnished, good area, amenities for about 500, then it's certain to be Euro.

How rural are you thinking of going? In the Transylvanian village where I have a place, there's a young PhD student staying there renting a room from a local family and he pays 150 Euro per month with bills, washing and food included. That'd give you an interesting experience, but obviously a bit less privacy. Plus in the villages fewer people speak English so you'd be in at the deep end regarding language learning. However, for local food produce, nature and culture, it's great.

Here in Bucharest, the net speed is pretty decent, as you've already worked out. In the villages, it's more likely to be supplied by Telekom Romania (the phone company) and I guess it'll be ADSL at best. I don't have net up there so can't tell you much more, but there are some regulars who live full time in the countryside who can probably tell you more.

Any thoughts about which area you'd like to live in? And which three months? The season makes a big difference. I'd probably recommend May-June-July - pretty much guaranteed good weather, catch the end of spring (lovely in the countryside), no problems with heating requirements, but you get out of there before the really hot weather hits (although even July can get pretty mad).

Good luck

miejoong

Thank you so much, Maykal, for such a useful information!
I'm extremely flexible about which area to stay, but safety, english speaking, and internet access, and short trips to see wildlife are the key factors, so, I'm considering the Brasov area, perhaps not too deep in the country, but a small town near a larger city.
Yeah, the three month housing would probably limit my options tremendously, but because of my non-EU citizen status, I can stay only up to 90 days, unless I can find a way to get a long-term visa or something. I was thinking if I like Romania so much, then I might leave for a neighboring country for a little bit and come back just to keep my status in Romania. I hope Romania isn't so strict regarding border entries. I heard that in countries like the U.S. even refuse to let people who cross their borders frequently enter their countries. 
I think I'm visiting in cold months, starting as early as October. So, I guess I'll start putting ads sometime soon. :)

Maykal

Hey,

In the countryside in winter, temps can drop as low as -20 or more, so bring some warm clothing if you're coming over winter.

The Brasov area would be a good idea, even in the city of Brasov itself as it's a nice town and you'll find plenty of English speakers around. The advantage of Brasov as a base would be quick and easy access to the mountains to the south and skiiing in winter, if you wanted to try that, and in a couple of hours you can take the train north to Sighisoara where you have lots of history and countryside. You can also quite easily get to Bucharest if you wanted to have a look around there.

A flat in Brasov might be a better option if you're considering spending the winter here as it'll probably be less hassle regarding heating the place up. As it's a tourist city, you might try looking up holiday rentals, which are likely to be free in the Oct-Dec period. They're normally rented by the day/week, but as it's off peak, the owner might cut you a deal to have the place occupied during the quiet period.

miejoong

Thanks again, Maykal!
You're making my decision making process pretty easy :)
I'll definitely check out vacation rentals.

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