In February of 2024, I moved to Paris to attend pastry school at Ferrandi Paris. As part of this process, I had to find medium term housing, which is pretty daunting for an American! Here’s how I did it and what I think is helpful to know.
Please note that I conducted my housing search in late 2023, and things are always changing. For the most up to date information, refer to official French government websites.
I had some clear criteria heading into the housing search so that I could narrow down my search. Location was probably the easiest one to filter on
- Location: My school was in the 15th arrondissem*nt, so I wanted to live in walking distance or on a convenient metro line. I also wanted to live somewhere safe and quiet, but still fun so I could really experience the city of Paris!
- Furnished: I wanted a furnished apartment since I was staying for less than a year
- Number of rooms: I came to Paris with my partner, who was working remotely on US hours. Thus, we needed a 1 bedroom, meaning a separate room for sleeping so that he could work and make noise while I slept.
- Kitchen: I needed an oven so that I could practice making pastries at home if needed. Ovens in apartments are not as common in France as in the US, in my experience.
- Utilities: I was open to arranging and paying for my own utilities if needed. From what I’ve heard, this is slightly more affordable than having utilities included in the rent.
- Duration: The place needed to be available for 7 months, including during the Olympics. The Olympics definitely made things extra challenging!
- Price: I’d been told to budget at least 800€ per person per month for housing if I was looking for a furnished place within city boundaries. My max budget was ~1300€ per person per month.
Location – deciding where to live in Paris
This was super tricky for me, as I had very little impression of the different Parisian neighborhoods before I moved. After living here a while, I think that you can find anything you like in pretty much any neighborhood because Paris is a very varied and diverse city. I ended up optimizing for how easy it is for me to get to school and the public transportation lines near me.
Here were the neighborhoods that I considered:
Montmartre
A younger, artsy more affordable district though certain areas are deemed less safe by locals. I considered it due to the relatively lower cost of housing. Now that I’m here, I’m glad I did not live in Montmarte as the commute to the 15th would have been much longer.
4th arrondissem*nt
Close to the city center and many attractions such as Notre Dame. Quite busy with more tourists. I ended up deciding against a more touristy district, not because I don’t like tourists, but because areas with more tourists tend to attract pickpockets and scammers.
6th arrondissem*nt
A fun and lively neighborhood close to the Luxembourg Gardens, on the left bank. Saint-Germain-De-Pres is one of my favorite neighborhoods to walk around!
15th arrondissem*nt
A quieter, more residential neighborhood on the left bank.
France “Mobility Lease”
If you’re an international student like me staying for less than a year, you’ll probably be on a mobility lease. This is a 1 – 10 month long flexible lease, so that you do not need to commit to a 1 year lease. If needed, you can end the lease early with 30 days notice.
According to the France Public Service website, here are some of the tenants that would be eligible for a mobility lease:
- Students
- Interns
- Workers living temporarily in France
Please read this website for more details on the mobility lease.
Guarantor
It’s common for landlords to ask for a guarantor, i.e., someone who will pay for the rent if you go delinquent. You can either have another person act as your guarantor, or a business.
For a personal guarantor, the person needs to show proof of income 2 – 4x times the monthly rent. They may need to be a French resident. However, I had my father is a US resident act as my guarantor and that was acceptable. It could be because I went through a 3rd party website that also helped with a lot of paperwork and logistics.
For an institutional guarantor, you pay for a company to act as your guarantor. The one that I heard most about was Visale.
Helpful documents to have on hand
In my experience, the rental process involved quite a bit of paperwork. Here is what I was required to show the landlord:
- Copy of my passport
- My latest tax notice (i.e., my W-2 from work)
- Proof that I was eligible for a mobility lease. For me, this was a letter from my school officially stating that I was a student
- 3 months of bank account statements
- Proof of earnings for my guarantor, who was my father:
- Last 3 pay slips
- Work contract
The two main websites I used to find housing options were Airbnb and MorningCroissant.
I also looked into Lodgis, but they would not help me look for housing until 2 months before my move in date. By that point, I had already signed a lease.
MorningCroissant
MorningCroissant is where I ended up finding my apartment, and I think it’s a great service. It acts as a 3rd party between you and the renter, collecting the payment from you and then passing it on the renter. This was helpful because it gave me confidence that I wasn’t being scammed, and MorningCroissant also helped with all of the paperwork verification and rental contracts.
Morning croissant does charge an initial upfront service fee once you book the apartment. It ranges between 149€ and 998€ depending on the cost of the place that you book. For me, this was worth it for the peace of mind.
Airbnb
On Airbnb, you want to look for apartments that have “bail mobilite / mobility lease available” in their description. This means that the owner is able to rent to you for a longer period of time.
I found Airbnb to be helpful to get a sense of what the market for furnished apartments looked like. However, I think it could be more difficult to actually book a place as you would need to sign a contract with the owner outside of the platform.
As in any major city, there are always scammers looking to take advantage of renters! This can be especially difficult since you live in a foreign country and can’t see the apartment in person before renting.
To avoid scams, I only used legitimate 3rd party websites. This does mean you have to pay higher service fees, but for me this was insurance against getting scammed.
I also spent a lot of time reading any reviews I could find, as well as looking up my rental agency to see if it was a legitimate business.
Once you find a place, you will need to get renter’s insurance. Luckily it’s pretty cheap at about 5€ per month.
I got my policy through Lemonade’s France website. Lemonade is a US company that I was using before I moved to France.
The French government does provide housing aid even for foreign students if your income is below a certain level. I believe you need a lease that is a minimum of 8 months, but you can find more information here.
The mobility lease should allow you to cancel with 30 days notice, as well as extend your lease one time up to the 10 month limit. I wish I had gone for a longer lease and then canceled, as I am now trying to extend my lease but the apartment is no longer available!
