Finding an apartment in Berlin is notoriously difficult. However, those with a WBS (housing entitlement certificate) can access state-subsidized housing via inberlinwohnen.de. New listings appear daily, but there is no waiting list; applicants are selected at random. Crucially, the number of applications per listing is capped, often causing ads to disappear within an hour. This necessitates constant monitoring of the website.
flat-alert solves this problem by automating the search process. This Telegram bot scans for new listings every minute, 24/7, and sends instant notifications. It supports customizable filters for size, price, location, and public transport connectivity.
- Real-time Monitoring: Scans inberlinwohnen.de every minute.
- Instant Notifications: Receive alerts via Telegram immediately when a flat becomes available.
- Advanced Filtering: Filter by size, price, region, and more.
- Commute Analysis: Uses the Google Maps API to calculate public transport connections to important hubs.
- Containerization: Docker for easy deployment and cross-platform compatibility.
- Scraping: Playwright for reliable website interaction.
- Geolocation: Google Maps API for transport connectivity analysis.
- Messaging: Telegram Bot API for user interaction.
To run this project, you will need:
- An account on inberlinwohnen.de
- A Telegram Bot Token
- A Google Maps API Key
- Docker installed on the host machine
This project is currently in early development and primarily designed for personal use. Customizing filters currently requires technical knowledge, but user-friendly configuration options are planned for future updates. Contributions are welcome.
Follow these steps to run the program on your machine:
-
Clone the repository:
git clone https://github.com/eisimo/flat-alert.git
cd flat-alert -
Configure the environment: Create a
.envfile in the root directory. Refer to.env.examplefor the required variables. -
Run the application:
docker compose up -d
- flat-apply: A tool currently in development to automate the application process for flats found by flat-alert.