Finding cheap accomodation is a sport in which many of us regularly engage, and we

all have our "small technical" tips we use to find the rare pearl.

Since this is my case now, and since I am become in spite of me a "specialist"

since I am in my ninth house, I wanted to share with you the methods I use to find
an apartment for rent, at the best price !

Use modern tools to find an inexpensive hotels

If you have a picture of a person with a big folder under his arm in real estate
agency that real estate agency in a strict no no. And this is probably not the best
way to find an apartment today! Use coupons from oyo rooms to find everything you
are looking for.

Internet

I'm not saying that it is no longer possible to find an apartment or hotel by the
"traditional" way, but if you want to put the odds on your side, it is best to
create alerts and saved searches on all search sites.

Since you are no longer limited to a date or time of publication of a newspaper, do

not hesitate to check every hour.

The iPhone / iPad / Android

This is the corollary of the first point, if you go through the internet and you
have a smartphone / tablet: do not hesitate to use the "push" it to alert you to
the arrival of a new coupon. They also allow you to always carry your ad watch list
/ Remember, you're at home, outdoors, at work.

Google maps / streetview

Again, the magic of the internet: Instead of waiting for the day of the visit to
see what kind of a neighborhood or building that interests you, you can directly
from your computer or smartphone. A quick glance will give you certainly not a
definitive idea but already well on the head of the building you are visiting, so
you can detect any disappointments (rarely highlighted in the ads) and make the
around the neighborhood to see if it matches your criteria / tastes.

Scanner / Printer

Rather than making copies of your files, I advise you to digitize everything in a
dedicated folder on your computer. You can then generate a click X folders for X
hotels you are planning on staying

Some agencies come (finally) to digital and you will not even need to print the
file but just the email, which is simpler, faster and avoids you to move!

Revealing the hidden / indirect costs and think in total annual

The mistake we all make when we try to find a place to stay is to focus on the cost
"raw" the rent, or some other criteria come into play and can make a big difference
in the end:

The Charges

Be careful as to attract shoppers, some owners / agencies inform a price excluding

charges and these can be very high especially if the building has a caretaker, a
lift, a garden and above all central heating . For example, I recently visited an
place with 2000 daily charges fees or nearly 20% of the total! So take good account
of the hidden costs in your calculations.

Apartments instead of hotels

If you plan on an extended stay at a place then i recommend to rent an apartment

than stay at a hotel.The main advantage of staying at an apartment is the failure
to pay high fees for longer stay, so if possible try to go through this path. If

Moving expenses:

Find an apartment rental at a cost: you have not only direct costs such as renting
a van / truck for transport to see go through a company movers, but also indirect
costs as a reinstatement of apartment as you leave, termination of your various
subscriptions may result in charges, forwarding your mail to your new address etc.

Remember to consider all these costs into your final equation.