House hunting in Groningen
The first thing to do in finding a place to live in Groningen probably is to set back your expectations, and to stay flexible. Finding accomodation in Groningen is quite hard... BUT it is not impossible. Just, it takes a bit more effort than in other places and you will have to compromise.
The accomodation market in Groningen can be divided into a social and a private sector. While private companies (makelaar) find you a place more or less quickly, for the social housing there are huge waiting lists. In order to have a chance to find a nice place for a low fee it is recommended to register for social housing as quickly as possible after you arrived in Groningen. (Go to www.woningnet.nl and then click ‘Groningen’).
It is always a good hunting strategy to check out the local newspapers for housing offers. You can also place an advertisement on your own e.g. in the Wednesday edition of the "Gezinsbode" or the Saturday edition of the "Dagblad van het Noorden". The addresses of both are: St. Jansstraat 2b. And you can always place an advertisement at a message board in the supermarket or university buildings, which does not cost you any money at all.
In general there are three sorts of accomodation available for PhD students in Groningen:
Living in a student house
The Housing Office provides furnished accommodation for foreign guests, who come to study or work at the University of Groningen (RuG) or the Hanzehoogeschool (HG). In general it is quite easy to get such a room and the prices are not too bad. Sounds to good to be true? Right. The drawback is: Your stay is limited to max. 1 year. After that you will have to find another place. However, if you do not mind moving, a student house is a good opportunity to get in contact with other PhD/students and to experience the Groniger night-life with your house mates. If you think about staying in a student house you should take in mind that it will be impossible to get a room in a student house after you already rented a room/appartment from the private sector.
On the website of the Housing Office you can find more detailed information about this and other kinds of housing in Groningen.
Sharing a flat
Many students share a flat in order to reduce cost and offer therefore vacant rooms in their appartment. Those rooms are mostly furnished, but it is also possible to find empty rooms. Further, many students go abroad for some months and offer to stay in their rooms for a certain period. These rooms are mostly quite cheap, but of course you will have to bugger off after a while. If you prefer to stay in a flat with other people, there are two addresses which you should check out:
Renting an appartment
If you prefer to stay in a private atmosphere there are endless possibilities (presumed you have enough money). Real estate agents (maakelaars) are as frequent as sand on the beach, but of course their service is not for free. The only posibility to rent a place without extra payment is via http://www.patrimonium- groningen.nl/. However, in order to be eligible for this service, you first need to proceed upwards on the waiting list.
Listed below you can find the most prominent private real estate agents in Groningen:
Housing 
