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Finding a room is the largest single expense (and headache) for a student in Perugia. How to find your place in the sun (or at least out of the rain) in Perugia.
Have you ever made your own beer? get some barley, soak it in water (not too much), let it germinate (not too much), toast it (not too much), grind it up (not too much), mix it with hops (not too much – unless you like IPAs), and then let it ferment. After about fourteen days you’ll have beer. Or you could go to a pub here in Perugia and pay about €4 for a tall blond beer.
It’s sort of the same thing with finding a room. You could go through the hastle of the do-it-yourself but it may not be worth it. Student Living will find you an apartment in Perugia and take care of all the hastle. They’ve been in the business for fifteen years, and their business philosophy is that finding you a nice flat assures that you’ll recommend them to your friends in the future. they have a lot of apartments that are right in the center. You can even see online where your house would be and how far it is from the universities: check www.studentliving.eu. You can also go down to via Bulagaio 38 – put your back to Palazzo gallenga’s doors and look left. The little alley that goes down is via bulagaio. Patrizia, silvia, and emanuela are ready to help you find a clean room without loopy housemates. The ladies between them speak most of the major european languages. they can also organize stays in hotels for “more mature” students, and even airport pick-ups and drop-offs. It doesn’t cost anything to see the apartments, and the commission is minimal. Once you figure that you won’t have to stay in the hostel while you search for rooms, it’s really worth it. Find them 075.573.2992 or email info@studentliving.eu.
Another service is offered by the University agency for students ADISU. It is available through their website www.cercalloggio-umbria.gov.it
If you look for your own apartment, you’re on your own. We’d not recommend this to ladies on their own but guys may feel up to the challenge. Good luck and godspeed. The first thing to do is look for notices. They can be found on phone boxes, lamp posts and innocent walls around town. You can also try the boards at the departments of the Italian university. Another possibility is cerco e trovo, a wittily named newspaper (I search and I find) which has apartment listings (in Italian; see our housing terms glossary on the next page).
Once you’ve have these listings you can start your apartment reality show by eliminating the ones that don’t apply. The first round of eliminations will be for the zones that are the farthest out. as Perugia doesn’t really have defined suburbs (there’s more to the story, but it’s a long one), people often refer to the location of an apartment or room in terms of which zona (zone) it is in. Some zones are just street names while others refer to a broader area. remember that after 10 or 11 at night, there are no buses so you will have to walk home (possibly through some unsavory areas). We’ve created a super-helpful housing map (see [coming soon] to download it) to show you the main zones or streets referred to in ads.
Next, gentlemen, cross off all the ones that say studentessa or ragazza. Sometimes ads will even be so xenophobic as to say italiano/a or umbro/a. Now you can start to go through the listings and look for what you want. Use the glossary below and remember that most of the time the utility bills are not included (spese non incluse) in the price quoted. For a first room within fifteen minutes of the fountain by foot an average price would be €180-230 for a bed in a double room, €250-300 for a single room, and €400¬500 for a monolocale. Add to that between €40 and €60 of bills a month. Plus there’s the caparra, or security deposit, usually one month’s rent. Absolutely get a receipt for this and try to work out how and when it will be returned. Remember also to avoid anything that says settimana breve – this means that the owner only wants those who will be there Monday-friday. Many Italians go home to mamma every weekend.
Some other website where to look at:
Finding a room on Facebook
Lately there some Facebook groups popping out where people try to find roommates or rent their apartments. inperugia.com DOES NOT VOUCH for these Facebook groups but we want to share with you to give you a complete overview.
DISCLAIMER
REMEMBER – Be always careful when using social media or websites to rent rooms. Do not provide all your personal info and make sure not to perform electronic money transfer to people you haven’t met yet. Again we are trying to give you a complete overview of what is out there to facilitate your quest for a room in Perugia. We don’t take any responsibility for anything that happens between you and a renter or agency. Use the above links at your own risk.