Mission impossible: how to rent an apartment in Istanbul without going crazy

Renting an apartment in Turkey’s largest city, Istanbul, is now very difficult. Property owners put forward a huge list of demands, and some of them seem completely absurd. To find suitable housing, I walked what felt like more than 100 kilometers in a week, experienced culture shock, was horrified by mountains of garbage and prices, met new people and made friends.

After the earthquakes that occurred in February of this year, the cost of renting apartments in a new building jumped significantly. Most of the houses in Istanbul are old, many of them are over 30 years old. Some look more like a maniac’s house from a horror movie than something livable. Although the apartments themselves can be very neat and comfortable in size.

I looked at the European part of Istanbul. To rent something more or less decent, you need to shell out at least $800-1000, and preferably $1500. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a one-room apartment or a two-bedroom apartment. People who moved to the city five years ago pay half as much for the same rent. It’s all about the law, which prohibits landlords from raising the cost of living by more than 25 percent per year, but even then only after a certain time.

Despite the considerable cost, some apartments are frankly terrifying. Of course, I heard that Istanbul is a city of contrasts, but I did not realize the depth of this statement. The usual picture: on one side of the street stands the symbol of the city’s business world – Trump Tower – a high-rise complex built in Turkey by the American ex-president. And on the other side there are rickety houses with rags hanging out instead of windows.

The Sisli area, right next to the tower, is considered good. It was the third day of my search, completely desperate, I decided to look at the apartment for $1100. I wanted to see the area and evaluate what they offer for the money. The house turned out to be, indeed, new, but next to it lay a huge mountain of garbage, which had already begun to rot. Residents of an elite building, as it turned out, throw out garbage right next to the door of their own entrance.

Considering that this was my first trip to Istanbul, I didn’t know the city at all. To fill this gap, I walked around the area where the apartment I liked was located. So I found out that even if the apartment itself is nice and is located literally eight minutes from the main attractions, the location itself can turn out to be extremely unpleasant.

I was brought to one of the central parts of the city. The apartment, from the photographs, is excellent – two large rooms, a kitchen combined with a living room. But it took a very long time to get down to her, and even then I realized that getting out would be problematic. The area turned out to be simply creepy, with packs of stray dogs running through the streets, there are only car washes around, houses blackened by dirt and age, and the absence of normal roads.

By the way, this greatly distinguishes Istanbul from Moscow, where the closer to the center, the more presentable areas and real estate.

My hiking not only introduced me to the city, but also saved me from considering similar proposals in the future, which saved a lot of time.

A couple of times I was denied a meeting with the owner of the apartments for reasons that were incomprehensible to me. I did not take into account Turkish traditions. The country is, of course, secular, but choosing an apartment, as it turns out, is not a woman’s business at all. So, when I came to view one property, I met other applicants there – two men. “An unconventional couple,” I thought. “A girl with a dubious reputation,” they thought.

It turns out that choosing housing together with a friend or male member of the family is a standard situation. But it will be quite difficult for an unmarried girl to find housing, which the realtors later told me directly – the owners simply refuse to talk to you. However, this also works in the opposite direction. For example, single men are often not accommodated in family hotels. Although a person might like the location, food, cost and program.

There are some advantages here too. In Russia it is difficult to rent an apartment with pets. When I clarified this point, they strictly asked me: “How many cats do you have?” When they found out that he was alone, they waved their hands funny, saying that there was no need to even talk about such a trifle, after which they delivered a phone and showed photographs of all their pets.

Foreigners are required to have a lot of documents: a residence permit, if available, a certificate from the place of work, and also some local resident must vouch for you. If you don’t know anyone, problems can arise.

I was lucky, I met a wonderful realtor from Uzbekistan. The girl helped me negotiate with the owner of the property and even agreed to become my guarantor. If not for such an acquaintance, it would have been more difficult to find a good option.

Property owners demand to pay the first and last month immediately to the realtor who published the advertisement for rent – also the price for a month’s rent.

So, in order to rent an apartment in Istanbul you need to immediately shell out a lot of money, have physical fitness, a marriage stamp in your passport and a little luck.