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You know you're struggling to find an apartment in Lille for the start of the school year when..

undefined undefined 8 septembre 2024 undefined 15h34

The Editor

1- When you stood in line with 25 other people in front of a building

2- When you spent your entire summer looking for an apartment instead of living the sweet life with your friends in Greece

3- When you can't stop saying "but it's well arranged" all the time

4- When you’re no longer shocked to find a toilet in the hallway

5- When you’ve crashed on all your friends' couches

6- When you've spread the word about all the new listings on Le Bon Coin (posted overnight) by 8 AM!

7- When your friends living in the countryside tell you "wow, for the price of your 50 m2, you could have a house with a 150 m2 garden just 25 minutes from Lille"

8- When you finally end up expanding your search radius to Tourcoing

9- When you're just...

One guarantor and they're neither a trader, a banker, nor a business owner.

10- When you pay a year’s rent in advance.

11- When you think, "12 m2 is plenty to live in."

12- When two electric hot plates, one of which is broken, are enough for the pasta you’ll be eating every day with such a rent.

13- When you ask your friend who knows a little Photoshop to make you fake pay slips.

14- When you realize you also need your tax notice and that all that is worth nothing now.

15- When your roommate tells you a week in advance that they can’t pay next month’s rent and you need to move out.

16- When you get into a relationship much quicker than in another city just to secure a livable two-room apartment.

17- When you’re “sharing” a studio and sleeping in the “living room corner.”

18- When your search for a comfortable place becomes a quest for survival.

When you understood the trick of the Carrez law

19- When you thought about living with the guy who only wants "young girls" in a Bon Coin ad

20- When you considered taking care of an elderly person in exchange for a room at their place

21- When the ad says "homeowner's babysitting after school" and during the visit, they tell you you should come 2-3 times a week to be paid in kind

22- When you're seriously considering pimping to pay your rent

23- When you found an apartment but realized after 2 nights it's infested with bedbugs

24- When you've chopped down 600 trees to make your files (which will probably end up in the trash)

25- When you considered a roommate situation with complete strangers – including a gamer who doesn’t...

sees his life in front of the screen and a 47-year-old alcoholic sharing her wild life story 

26- When you crashed at a friend's place for 6 months “waiting” 

27- When you can shower, cook, and sleep all at the same time

28- When you went from a 60 m2 in 2008 to a 20 m2 in 2024 for the same rent, in the same neighborhood 

29- When you considered calling Stéphane Plaza to join  Recherche Appartement ou Maison

30- When you call just 2 seconds after getting the alert and end up directly on a full voicemail 

31- When a 25 m2 rundown apartment (with "everything to redo") at 200,000 € no longer shocks you

32- When you know you’ll never have enough to really buy an apartment (even a 9m2) 

33- When you've subscribed to all the Facebook groups for apartment hunting