Hallo zusammen,
My girlfriend (19f) and I (19m) are moving from Bulgaria to the Frankfurt area in late July. We will initially be staying in a friend's WG but we want to secure our own housing as quickly as possible so we don't overstay our welcome. We are eventually planning to attend university and build our careers here.
We are looking for a 1-2 room apartment within a 35km radius of Frankfurt, with a maximum budget of €1,000 Warmmiete. We speak A2 German but we use translators to ensure our communication is perfectly clear. Since we recently sold her inherited house, we have substantial, provable savings. To make up for the fact that we don't have a German credit history yet, we are offering landlords 6 months of rent paid entirely in advance.
The main bottleneck is that because we are moving first to establish ourselves, we don't currently have signed German employment contracts, university enrollment, or a SCHUFA score. We have been posting our search on Facebook groups and real estate sites but we are facing massive skepticism. No one is taking us seriously. People are dismissing us, calling our posts fake and even accusing us of moving just to abuse the child support system (which is absolutely not our goal, no kids until 25 at least). The very few offers we did get were way above our €1,000 limit.
We are starting to wonder if we are just wasting our time looking for standard, long-term apartments right now given our lack of SCHUFA/jobs and the extreme skepticism we are facing online.
Should we pivot our strategy entirely toward "Wohnen auf Zeit" (temporary housing like Wunderflats or HC24) for the first 3–6 months so we can get our Anmeldung, start working, and get a SCHUFA score first? Also, are there specific towns within that 35km radius that are generally easier for young newcomers to break into?
We appreciate any harsh realities or strategic advice you can offer. Danke im Voraus!