First apartment hunt in Tunisia… and I’m honestly shocked
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Am I alone or is the real estate market in Tunisia completely fucked right now?
Yesterday, me and my fiancée did our first apartment visits looking for a rental.
We’re targeting decent neighborhoods like Ain Zaghouan Nord, and we also discovered Nouvelle Soukra near Hay El Wahat. Most listings there are brand new apartments where you’d literally be the first person to live in them.
We already knew prices were high, so we prepared mentally and set a budget of 1500 TND/month, which honestly is already a pretty serious budget in Tunisia.
We visited 3 apartments yesterday:
- 1 older apartment in Jardin de Carthage
- 2 new ones in Nouvelle Soukra
And honestly… nothing adds up.
First shock: the entry cost.
The agencies basically tell you that to sign:
- 2 months cautionnement
- 1 month agency fees
- 1 month first rent
So for a 1500 TND apartment, you need to casually drop 6000 TND just to enter.
How is this normal for young couples starting their lives?
Second thing: room sizes are absurdly small.
This was common in all 3 apartments, even though they had different “standing” and designs.
Bedrooms are basically 3m x 3m.
How are you supposed to fit:
- a bed for two
- 2 nightstands
- maybe a coiffeuse
…without living like you’re inside a storage box?
One realtor proudly said:
“this is the parental suite”
We expected something bigger.
Nope.
Same tiny 3x3 room + a salle d’eau squeezed into it.
And finally… can someone explain this obsession with “cuisine américaine”?
It honestly feels like developers are using it as an excuse to save space and cram more apartments into the same building.
It’s basically a tiny kitchen directly connected to the living room with just a counter separating them.
Imagine grilling fish or cooking anything serious:
- smells everywhere
- oil everywhere
- your expensive light-colored couch absorbing everything
I genuinely don’t understand the hype.
At this point I’m wondering:
- Is this just the reality now?
- Did people who recently got married go through the same thing?
- Are agencies making the situation worse?
- Is there a smarter way to navigate the market?
Would really appreciate advice from people who went through this:
- how you found your place
- neighborhoods you recommend
- whether dealing directly with owners is better
- any tips to avoid getting financially destroyed before even moving in