Welcome to Greece Freshman

You've made up your mind. You're moving to Greece. You found a college you like and you just want to have your freedom in a country you know that fun is just around the corner at all times. Your parents hate to see you go, and you start feeling uneasy the days before you move, but these feelings disperse once you set foot here. Whether it's Athens or Thessaloniki, there are a few things to do before you start classes:

Find an apartment

There's plenty of houses in Athens and Thessaloniki for rent, so don't hurry and book the first one you see. There's many different ways you can look for an apartment: You can check the classified ads of local newspapers (there's also free press with just ads in the center of cities near bus stops and metro stops), you can check any posted ads on your school's bulletin, or you can go to a real estate agent or mesiti. Don't forget to ask people at your school on whether they have housing, or a list of real estate agents that work with them or a list of other students looking for roommates. Roomies are fun to split the bills and feel like you always have someone if you need anything, but I'm sure you've heard of horror stories about how you may eventually start fighting over who's turn it is to do dishes or who ate who's food.

Before you even start looking, however, you need to determine where you want to live. Usually apartments near universities and metro stops are more expensive. Perhaps you should find out which buses stop near your school and find an apartment somewhere along the route of that bus. Once you've determined the neighborhood you want to live in, go to an agent that's in that neighborhood. Remember to look at lots of apartments, even if you love the first one you'll see. Unfortunately many apartments in the center of both Athens and Thessaloniki are very old, so be prepared for that. What you should ask: of course the monthly rent and don't be afraid to negotiate (one bedrooms are around 300-400 euros, but don't rule out 2-bedrooms, because you may find some cheaper) and the koinoxrista or else maintenance bills per month (you pay for the elevator, cleaning of halls/stairs, heating, maybe even gardening depending on the building). Plumbing is important too (how old is it?), and also if you can control your heating independently from the rest of the building that would be great. See, when you don't control it, they turn the heater on for 2 hours in the day and 2 hours at night (perhaps hours you're never home) and you end up paying lots of money. Beware of air conditioners - if you use that all winter for heat, your electrical bill will skyrocket.

Read more at www.allthegreeks.com

Image: http://squarelogic.blogspot.com/2008/05/blog-post_30.html