If you are looking for a place to rent in Spain but aren’t here yet, it can be difficult to get a sense of the places you are viewing online, not to mention getting an owner to pay attention to your email. Most people here want to meet you in person and won’t even consider someone who is not here yet. Plus, places rent very quickly!
Your best bet is to find a room through Homestay, Airbnb, or some other homesharing site and get your bearings.
Then when you are here, you can take your time looking on Idealista.com, Habitaclia.com or Casamona.com and visit places in person. I would stay away from placement agencies as they take a huge commission (2-3 months rent) or even a monthly commission, and they don’t necessarily have exclusive apartments that you don’t see on the sites listed above. The exception would be business apartments that are solely rented to corporate customers.
I would NOT recommend agreeing to a long term rental sight unseen. You never knkow what the noise leves are going to be, your neighbors, or even the true location of a flat. In addition, a popular scam is to advertise a “too good to be true” deal on these sites for stealing deposits. It happens often, so it is best to find a short term rental you can stay at while you check out those places you may have earmarked to visit in person.
If you are looking for a place to rent in Spain, try with a Spanish real estate agency, and not with a group of improvised
Hi again Paul.
A Spanish real estate agency will require a minimum of 2 months rent as payment to them alone. Sometimes 3. It just isn’t worth it unless you know exactly what you are looking for and where you want to live. Even then it is questionable.
I would NEVER recommend signing up with a real estate agency to find you a place before ever stepping foot here.