Louez, faites gérer et vendez votre logement avec Book-A-Flat

1 - Prepare your rental application

Your rental application to be submitted to the future owner must include documents providing proof of your identity and financial solvency, such as a copy of your ID, information about your income like payslips if you are on a permanent contract or your last balance sheet and income tax notice if you are a business owner, or your student card or certificate if you are moving to Paris to study. If you have someone acting as guarantor, you will also have to provide all documents proving their capacity to do so.

It is also recommended to write a cover letter to introduce yourself to a rental agency or the owner to provide more details about your personal situation. For instance, if you are a freelancer, you may earn quite a comfortable income but not have payslips. If you are coming to study in Paris, it is worth explaining what studies you will be doing, for how long and at which university or school. You may also even add a picture or a link to your LinkedIn profile to provide additional information regarding your professional background. If you have a guarantor service such as Visale or Garantme, you can add the supporting document because it will show that you are determined and are taking this apartment hunt seriously.

For more information on how to prepare a comprehensive application file, you can visit our FAQ - Services to tenants.

2 - Select rental listings online

In order to find a furnished apartment in Paris, you should first select rental listings on the Internet using your smartphone or your computer. You can simply start by typing keywords like “furnished rental Paris” on Google search. A list of results will appear.

You can create alerts to receive property ads that you are interested in depending on the surface area, price, number of rooms, floor, arrondissement, etc.

If you come across a property ad with pictures that appeal to you, look carefully at the pictures one by one and check that the property has been renovated and is in good condition, that the kitchen and the bathroom have recently been refurbished. You can then contact the rental agency by email or by phone stating that you are interested in renting this apartment by mentioning when you are available for a viewing.

If you don’t immediately find what you are looking for, you can visit the websites of the main rental agencies in Paris such as Book-A-Flat, Lodgis, or Paris attitude. On our website, you will find apartments currently available for rent among our portfolio of 3,000 furnished apartments in Paris. We systematically check the availability of our apartments with our Parisian owners before posting them online and mention when it is available exactly. We take professional pictures which allow you to have an overview of the rooms in the apartment and invite you to take a virtual tour to imagine yourself inside as if you were there! If a particular property ad appeals to you, you can reach us by email by filling out a form on our website or by calling our agency. We will respond to your rental request and will set a date for a viewing as soon as possible.

3 - Beware of scams with fake rental ads

More and more scams are being reported on owner/tenant rental platforms, such as leboncoin. This type of scam consists in stealing pictures of a real apartment online and posting them at a much lower price than the rental market. Students looking for accommodation are often inexperienced in this area and are particularly targeted by this type of fraud which usually takes place from abroad in Côte d’Ivoire for example, where gangs are specialised in this type of fraud and act with impunity. Typically, once contact has been established by email, the unknown scam artist will ask that you pay a deposit by bank transfer or using Western Union to secure the apartment remotely using the excuse that they are allegedly swamped with so many applications to handle but are somehow ready to put yours on top of the pile. Usually, you can detect these scam artists because they use an email address unrelated to their name, a fraudulent identity in their email address, or because of the many spelling mistakes in the content of their email, clear signs that should be a red flag for potential fraud. Sometimes, they often ask for more documents to add to your application such as an ID: do not send them over because they will use it to make online purchases and you risk being prosecuted for crimes that you haven’t committed. This type of scam with property ads is becoming more and more frequent; we recommend that you immediately warn the rental platform concerned so that it deletes the ad as soon as possible.

4 - Choose the right time

This is crucial and often disregarded by students, young professionals or expatriates hunting for an apartment to rent in Paris.

First, you need to know one basic rule: most people move in the summer rather than in the winter.

Consequently, if you are not in a rush, it is better to wait until autumn to start searching for your apartment because there are not as many apartment hunters. You will also find more offers and rental agencies’ staff will have more time to deal with your request.

Unfortunately, if you are a student or an expatriate and you have no other choice than looking for an apartment in the summer, try to avoid the busiest times such as the end of August/beginning of September, when everyone is back from their holidays and goes back to school. If possible, start in July before everyone goes on holidays, when you still have options on the rental market and when real estate agents are not under so much pressure. Do not hesitate to say yes to an apartment that is appealing to you even if you do not immediately live in it. It’s better to spend an extra month’s rent than not find what you want when everyone is back after the summer.

5 - Keep your spirits up even if you don't immediately find the perfect place!

Renting an apartment can sometimes take a long time, be hard work and stressful! The market in Paris is strained and demand is greater than supply. If you find the apartment of your dreams to rent in Paris, put the odds in your favour to make sure your application is accepted first by the owner’s rental agency. If your application is rejected, try to understand why and do not be disappointed as there can always be last-minute cancellations in your favour or it wasn’t meant to be and you will find something better somewhere else. Ever since the public health crisis, there are more offers of apartments to rent than demand because foreign students and AirBnb tourists deserted the capital city and many studio and one-bedroom apartments are available for rent for a local French customer base from Paris or the countryside, which is good news for all tenants looking to rent an apartment in Paris.

6 - Contact a real estate agency

In Paris, when renting your permanent home, rents are controlled and fees are capped at €12 per square meter for tenants. Using the services of a rental agency is therefore affordable when looking for a studio or one-bedroom apartment. Ordinarily, the rental agency checks that the apartment is in good condition and that the price is in line with rent controls. Moreover, the rental agency will write a formal contract to protect you as a tenant. If you rent a property with no third-party involved but are using an owner/tenant rental platform, be extra careful when writing the rental contract and carry out a thorough inventory.