u/Present-Sky-9997

Hi all, I’m moving to Brussels in October for a 5 months traineeship and found a room through HousingAnywhere. Landlord seems legit (verified, several past tenants), but a few things are giving me pause before I confirm the booking.

A bit of context: on HousingAnywhere, confirming a booking immediately charges first month’s rent + a Tenant Protection fee, both held by the platform until 48h after move-in. The deposit (in my case, 2 months’ rent ) is a separate payment requested by the landlord afterward.

Questions:

**1.Has anyone gotten a landlord to share the actual lease contract or a draft** ***before*** **confirming/paying?** Is that a normal ask, or does it usually only come after booking?
**2.Deposit via HousingAnywhere Payment Request vs. direct transfer** — anyone had experience with either? I feel it would be unsafe to send any payment outside of the platform

Any experiences, red flags, or “wish I’d known this” tips are very appreciated.

Hi everyone, I’m a future Schuman trainee and I’ve been having a hard time finding a room in Brussels for 5 months. I’ve already tried looking in a lot of Facebook groups, but I haven’t found anything so far, and since I won’t be able to visit in person, I’m very scared of possible scams (a friend of mine got scammed despite doing a video call). I’ve also tried platforms like HousingAnywhere and SpotaHome, and I’ve been trying to get info from co-living companies like Ikoab, Cohabs, Colive, CoHoming, Synergie Life, and Live Colonies. I feel like I’ve tried everything. I wanted to ask how you’re all going about it, and if you have any suggestions on reliable places to look?