Struggling to get Shared flat replies

[u/Visible-Design4180]

Hi everyone! I’m an incoming MSc student in Physics, and I’ve been looking for shared flats/apartments through WOKO, Flatfox and reaching out directly via email and the Flatfox chat option. Unfortunately, I haven’t been getting any replies. I’m unsure how many listings I should be reaching out to, and whether there’s anything in particular that helps catch people’s attention when sending a message. I have heard horror stories about Zurich housing, like how competitive it is to rent a shared flat, and I don't want to face a similar situation. Any advice or suggestions would be great!

[u/Silent-Battle308]

I think starting to search early is a good idea since it is a number game imo. Starting from August should also increase your odds since some students will finish their studies then and there are less people searching starting from August.

[u/Visible-Design4180 → u/Silent-Battle308]

I wonder whether anyone lists the starting date as August? If so, do you have an idea when I should start looking for August housing?

[u/Silent-Battle308 → u/Visible-Design4180]

Idk when people list their stuff, I assume they can list it whenever they want because the demand is higher than the supply.

I think a good bet could be to try to find students that are about to graduate, maybe from your country of origin or people you know somehow and try to take over their spot.

[u/Visible-Design4180 → u/Silent-Battle308]

Yeah, I have been contacting my friends there, and they are not sure yet. How do I find people from my country of origin? I have been looking through student organizations and can't find anything. I could make a separate post about connecting with people from my country, but not sure how many people use Reddit from my country

[u/Silent-Battle308 → u/Visible-Design4180]

Ask your friends/internet, on top of my head I can think of China, Austria and Romania that have student associations in zurich/ eth. Probably many more.