Flatshare tips

Tips for finding and offering a room in a flatshare, for living together, cleaning and moving. We keep adding to them. Is something missing? Write to us at info@wgzimmer.ch.

Search safely: spotting fraud

We check every ad before it goes online. Even so, fraudsters keep trying their luck. With these rules you are on the safe side:

View first, then pay. Never transfer money before you have seen the room, met the people and signed the contract. Not even a “reservation fee”.
No money transfer services. Genuine landlords never ask for payment via Western Union, MoneyGram, PayPal, cryptocurrency or gift cards.
Keys are handed over in person. Anyone who is abroad and wants to send you the keys in return for a payment is a fraudster.
The deposit only after signing. It goes into a rent deposit account in your name at a bank, never directly to the landlord.
Too good to be true? A large room in the centre of Zurich with a lake view for 450 francs does not exist. Compare the price with similar ads.
No contracts only over the internet. Don’t sign a contract with someone you have never met and cannot call.
Your ID only with the contract. Don’t send a copy of your passport or ID card to people you don’t know. Fraudsters use them for further scams.

Fake ads and scam e-mails

Fraud: spotting fake ads: price, photos, copied texts, with examples.
Fraud: spotting scam e-mails: typical sentences and real examples.

If you are unsure

Check the e-mail address with Check a scam e-mail.
Compare with the ads we have blocked: blocked ads.
Report suspicious ads and e-mails to abuse@wgzimmer.ch.
Already transferred money? Contact your bank immediately and report it to the police.

Finding a room in a flatshare

Write a personal message. Don’t send every flatshare the same text. Refer to the ad and briefly introduce yourself: who you are, what you do, how you live and from when you need the room.
Be quick. Good rooms go fast. Get in touch early and check your e-mails regularly. With the heart you keep the ads you like.
Be reachable. If you give your phone number, the flatshare can quickly invite you to meet.
Be yourself at the viewing. Be on time, honest and curious. The flatshare is above all looking for someone who fits in.
Ask questions. How is the cleaning organised? Do you cook together or separately? How often do you have visitors? What does the rent include? Who has the lease with the landlord?
Don’t get discouraged. A popular room often gets dozens of replies. A rejection rarely has anything to do with you.

Offering a room

Describe it honestly. Size of the room, rent including utilities, who lives in the flatshare and how you live together: more as a group or more independently.
Good photos. Take them in daylight and after tidying up: the room, the kitchen and the bathroom.
Plan the viewing. Invite several people on the same evening, so all flatmates can be there.
Reply to everyone. People who got in touch appreciate a short rejection too.
Ask the landlord. Subletting a room requires the landlord’s consent. Put what you agree on in a written sublease.
Delete the ad once the room is taken. With the code under Edit an ad or logged in under My account. Then no more enquiries come in.

Living together

House meeting. Get together regularly, say once a month, and talk about what is going well and what isn’t.
Write down what you agree. Cleaning, shopping, visitors, quiet hours, smoking, pets: whatever you agree is best put up where everyone can see it.
Talk early and openly. Raise what bothers you while it is still small. Say what you would like (“It would matter to me that …”) instead of blaming. A note on the fridge is no substitute for a conversation.
Announce visitors. Let the others know when someone stays overnight. If someone is there almost every day, talk about it together: they shower, cook and use the heating too.
Respect quiet hours. The night-time quiet hours are in the house rules, usually from 10 pm. Be considerate of flatmates with early shifts or exams.
Privacy. The room belongs to the person who lives in it. Knock, and ask before you borrow something.
Time together. A shared dinner or an outing makes a lot of things easier. But nobody has to join in everything.
Welcome newcomers. Show them everything when they move in: keys, laundry room, rubbish, cleaning rota. And introduce yourselves to the neighbours.

Cleaning and housekeeping

Cleaning rota. Share out the chores (kitchen, bathroom, floors, rubbish, shopping) and swap every week. A plan on the wall or a shared list helps.
Tidy the kitchen right away. Whoever cooks washes up and wipes the hob and worktop. Dishes left standing cause trouble in many flatshares.
Fridge. Everyone has their own shelf, shared things are labelled. Once a week, whatever is out of date goes.
Bathroom. After showering, squeegee the walls and air the room, take the hair out of the drain. Clean the toilet and basin once a week.
Descale. In many places the water is hard. Descale the kettle, shower head and tap regularly with vinegar or citric acid.
Air the rooms against mould. Open the windows wide for five to ten minutes two or three times a day instead of leaving them tilted all the time, especially after showering and cooking.
Separate your rubbish. General waste goes into the municipality’s fee-paid bag. Shops take back PET bottles and batteries, glass and aluminium go to the collection point, paper and cardboard tied in bundles at the roadside on collection days. The dates are in the municipality’s waste calendar. Don’t drop off glass at night or on Sundays.
Laundry room. Stick to the building’s laundry schedule, take your washing out on time and empty the dryer’s lint filter.
Big clean. A few times a year, clean together what usually gets left: windows, oven, fridge, behind the furniture. With music and dinner afterwards it goes faster.
Kitty. Buy cleaning products, toilet paper and washing-up liquid from a shared kitty. A few products are enough: all-purpose cleaner, vinegar, washing-up liquid and scouring cream.

Contracts and money

Sublease. Often one person rents the flat and sublets the rooms. Ask for a written contract with rent, utilities, deposit and notice period.
Everyone on the lease? If everyone is on the contract with the landlord, you are jointly liable for the whole rent. Agree on what happens when someone moves out.
Deposit. For housing, at most three months’ rent is allowed. It belongs in a rent deposit account in your name.
Share the bills. Electricity, internet and the radio and TV fee (Serafe) are usually in one person’s name. The Serafe bill comes only once per household. Write down who pays what and split it fairly.
Shared purchases. Keep track of who paid for what. When someone moves out, they are paid out or take things with them.
Insured? Your belongings and damage you cause are not insured through the flatshare. Check whether you need your own household contents and personal liability insurance.

Moving

Give notice in time. Give notice in writing, ideally by registered mail. The notice period and dates are in your contract. Without an agreement, the law says three months to a locally customary date for a flat, and two weeks for a furnished room.
Moving out early. If you want to leave before the date, propose a solvent person who takes over your contract on the same terms. You then usually don’t have to pay until the end. You can post an ad here for free.
Helpers and boxes. Ask friends early and plan a thank-you. Acquaintances often still have moving boxes in the cellar.
Reserve parking. If you move with a car or van, apply in good time to the municipality or the police for a no-parking zone in front of the building.
Handing over and moving in. Clean your room thoroughly, fix small things and report bigger damage to your liability insurance. In your new place, record defects with photos in the first few days and report them in writing, otherwise you might have to pay for them when you leave.
At the municipality. Deregister at your old place and register at the new one, usually within 14 days. Many municipalities let you do this online with eUmzugCH.
New address. Have your letters forwarded by Swiss Post. Also give your new address to your health insurer, bank, employer, school or university and your insurers.