| Apartment
Hunting in Venice |
| Learning
The Ins And Outs Of Renting In Venice |
| By Shannon McGrath |
| Agencies
are the most common route for finding an apartment in Venice, but not necessarily
the best. With waves of tourists willing to pay more for short term
rentals, prices sky-rocket. For better deals avoid the tourist-ridden
agencies and follow the students. Also remember that living in Venice
brings unique problems such as high water which you’ll want to be aware
of before you start your search.
Agencies
Real-estate
agencies are pretty straight-forward and, according to my experience, no
fees are charged unless a deal is made. Apartments for sale and rent
are advertised in free papers and agency windows. If something interests
you, ask the agents any questions you might have and schedule an appointment
to see your prospective apartment(s). |
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the agency’s finding fee is acceptable before putting in the time to go
see the place. If a lot of people are interested in the same apartment,
you’ll be put on a list and only contacted if those prior to you didn’t
sign a contract. This is less of a problem if you use one of the smaller
agencies which only advertise in their street-side windows.
Once you’ve
decided on an apartment, both parties sign a contract provided by the agency.
Even though this may seem legally binding to many foreigners, an Italian
contract is not complete without buying a special tax stamp from the government
and registering your lease at the police department. A deposit, often amounting
to two month’s rent, will be kept at the agency until the end of the lease.
It is not unheard of, however, for this to be cashed by the owner and then
repaid to the renter after they’ve left the apartment. The real kicker
comes with the agency’s fee which is calculated in accordance with the
length of your lease. For a six month contract, I paid one month’s rent
to the agency. Whatever you pay is generally matched by the landlord.
Your contract
may require that you pay your monthly rent to the agency rather than the
landlord. |
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first week, or perhaps on the first day, you’re usually asked to make a
detailed list of any defects within the apartment. This will be compared
to the apartment’s end condition and used to determine if you’ll be required
to pay for any property damage. If any problems occur throughout
your stay the agents will continue to act as middle men, appearing at the
end of the lease to assure that the apartment is in good condition and
that both parties are satisfied with the last payment.
Going it
Alone
Bypassing
the agency middleman and dealing directly with the owner is often preferable
because it avoids real-estate fees and is the main place to find studios
(monolocale) or small, one-bedroom apartments. Some ads, particularly
for apartments for sale, can be found in the newspaper, but the majority
of rentals are home-made ads posted around town or tacked to |
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bulletin boards. The most effective method, however, is to create your
own looking-for-an-apartment advertisement. If you are looking for something
very specific or want a larger apartment, put a small ad in one of the
local newspapers. For a smaller place, visit the many branches of the local
university, Ca Foscarí, adding your sign to the sprawling bulletin
board mess. Or just stroll around town taping, pinning or gluing them up
anywhere you see similar ads. ‘Student looking for one bedroom apartment
in Venice. No Mestre. No islands,’ is a common sign.
By specifying ‘student’ they seek a low price and ‘Venice’
is often used loosely to cover the other islands and the mainland.
Many signs will name a profession or that those seeking apartments are
‘young’ or a ‘worker’ to find a place in the right price
bracket. Others will simply name their maximum price, but this is less
common. Property owners hunt down these signs, call possible tenants,
show their apartment and make a deal.
Aqua Alta
In your search
for an apartment in this watery city you’ll want to keep a few things in
mind which are unique to Venice. Aqua alta, or high water, is a real problem,
appearing more and more as years progress, particularly in the fall and
winter. |
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parts of Venice are lower than others, but the safest rule is to entirely
avoid apartments on the ground floor. Walking around the city you’ll
find many ground floor apartments abandoned entirely, but there are also
many that have been elevated, taking advantage of the high ceilings, or
have had a step or two added at the door, not to mention the fact that
a large number of the city’s streets have been raised. Brackets in
which a knee-high metal panel slides into have been added to many street
level doorways, but leaks are not uncommon.
Flooding
your apartment is not the only problem aqua alta brings, it also causes
plumbing disruptions. One friend found that when he flushed his toilet
during aqua alta, water rushed up through the drain into his shower. Much
of the residential plumbing in Venice is still designed to drain out into
the canals, and therefore is directly effected by the city’s water level. |
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part of the reason why you don’t want canal water in your house.
If you do
choose a ground floor apartment, don’t take the landlord or real-estate
agent’s word that water never gets into the apartment, but ask instead
at nearby shops or available looking neighbors about their personal experiences
with aqua alta. If you show interest most will go into great detail telling
you of their high water trials.
Pallazzo
Floors
The ground
floor of a pallazzo will usually have a large, empty opening room called
an androne, and possibly a door out onto a canal. The androne
is handy for storage, especially for lighter boats, but canal doors can
serve as entrances for rats, so be sure to keep your apartment doors closed
at all times.
The second
floor of a pallazzo (in Italian referred to as the first) is called
the nobles’ floor, and often will have higher ceilings and more decorative
windows. In general, this is considered the most desirable floor,
avoiding both problems with aqua alta and excessive stair climbing.
Higher floors
often afford gorgeous views of the tiled roofs and bell towers of the Venetian
skyline, but elevators are almost unheard of, especially in residential
buildings, and marble stairways are often narrow and inconsistently change
directions as you ascend.
Heat
Heating
a floor of a Venetian pallazzo is no mean task, but the Venetians don’t
seem to mind. Instead you’ll find close to the entire city grinning
and bearing it. Upon asking one friend why he didn’t have his small
store heated he seemed surprised and replied that it had never been heated.
If you’re looking to rent over the winter, it gets very cold in Venice
with the high humidity, and you’ll want to check not only the heating units
(turn them on), but also the draft level of the doors and windows.
Whether finding
a home via agency or bulletin board, remember to watch the water line,
keep warm and enjoy every moment of living in la Serenissima. |
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