Free student guide
Rent your first apartment in Timișoara without getting scammed
A straight-talking guide for students: how the market really works, how to spot a scam in seconds, and exactly what to check before you pay anything.
A straight-talking guide for students: how the market really works, how to spot a scam in seconds, and exactly what to check before you pay anything.
On OLX and Publi24 many “owner” posts are really agents, and the same flat hides behind several numbers. With UniStay, every listing is a real, named owner we've verified ourselves.
Normally you'd message 20-30 places just to view 5. We do that filtering for you, so you only see apartments that are real and worth your time.
August to October is brutal and the good places vanish in days. We line up verified options early, so you're never pushed into a bad deal.
Estate agents in Romania aren't licensed the way you'd expect. So we hold ourselves to the standard: verified owner, real contract, fair fee, every single time.
This is what bad agencies and fake landlords do. If you see any of these, walk away.
A central, furnished flat far below the rest is bait. If it's 40% cheaper, it's a hook.
No honest landlord asks for money before you've seen the place and signed. Walk away.
Can't meet, can't do a video call, will “mail the keys” after a transfer. Classic fake.
Untraceable on purpose. Real rent goes by bank transfer to a verified account.
“Three others are interested, send the deposit to reserve.” Urgency is the scam.
If they won't walk you through the actual rooms live, you can't trust the photos.
Reverse-image-search the pictures: stock or duplicated photos mean no real apartment. Ours are always shot by our own team inside the real flat.
The deposit clause quietly disappears, or a second contract appears on move-in night. Read every line.
With UniStay, none of this can happen. We verify the real owner and contract, you see the actual apartment on a live video call, and you pay nothing until you sign.
In person, or a real-time video call where they move through every room and show the street outside.
Ask for an ID and proof of ownership (extras de carte funciară). Names should match.
Rent, dates, deposit and who-pays-what in writing before you transfer a single euro.
To the owner's verified account, and keep every receipt. No cash-in-hand “to save time”.
Paying anything before you've seen a real apartment and signed. There's nothing to pay for yet.
Some agencies sell access to phone-number lists or monthly memberships. You pay, the flats are gone or fake.
A fair agency fee is at most one month's rent, charged once, only after you sign, never just to view.
Rule of thumb: never pay an agency just to view apartments or to “unlock” a list. UniStay charges nothing to view, no lists, no subscriptions. Our fee is one month, once, only after you sign.
Go through every point with the landlord. If something's vague, fix it before you pay.
Rent is only part of it. Add these up before you commit.
Monthly, agreed in the contract.
Usually one month, refundable when you leave the place as you found it.
Heating, electricity, water & sewage, internet, on top of rent.
Monthly building fee in apartment blocks.
One-time, at most one month, only after signing.
You shouldn't have to become a scam expert just to find a room. That's our job.
Real address, real owner, real contract, checked by us before it goes online.
See any flat on a real-time call before you fly, room by room.
Rent, deposit and fees laid out upfront. No surprises on move-in day.
No deposit to view, no wire transfer to “hold”, ever.