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You are here: Home Housing Renting Searching for a place to live in Spain

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11/02/2010Searching for a place to live in Spain

Searching for a place to live in Spain Blogger Chris Showers shares some tips on how you can look for rentals even before moving to Spain.

Right after I had my visa and plane ticket for Spain sorted out, my next logical step in preparing to leave for Burgos in September was to start looking for housing.

Since I was young and my scholarship wasn’t really paying me a fortune, I’ve decided to look for rooms to rent in shared apartments, pisos compartidos, with other students my age. This would help keep my cost of living down and, hopefully, allow me to get to know other people in Burgos (through my flatmates).

Even though I was not going to be in Burgos until September, I wanted to start on the apartment search. I wanted to know what’s “out there” but did not want to commit to renting a place until I arrived in September.

The best way that I know for finding a place to live in Spain is the old-fashioned way: scouring the papers and classified ads for available apartments. Having said that, I also had the advantage of having some friends who lived near Burgos and were willing to go look at a place on my behalf.

In any event, here is some of my advice on searching for a place to live in Spain.

Things to consider when searching:

•    When you start looking for a place to live in Spain, you’ll find that almost all places have a security deposit, fianza. However, unlike in the USA, not all apartments will require a lease, contrato. When talking with the landlord, you should ask how much the security deposit is and if there is a lease. You should also find out if utilities, gastos, are included in the rent. In Spain, in addition to the normal utilities like gas, water, and electric, people also pay what they call comunidad. Thus, you should check to see not only if utilities are included but also if comunidad is included.

•    You may also be interested in finding out if the apartment is furnished (¿está amueblado?).

•    We are living in the twentieth century, so you may be interested in knowing if the apartment you’re planning on moving into is wired for the internet (or if it can be wired easily). Remember, some of the buildings being rented are old and wiring them for the internet could be costly. If your building isn’t already wired and you want internet, make sure you know the cost of installing it before you sign a lease. Ask things such as ¿Hay internet? ¿Podría contratar internet?

•    You may be able to negotiate price with the landlord depending on how long you’re going to stay in an apartment. For instance, some landlords will rent to you for less if you agree to stay for at least a year. Other times this tactic doesn’t work, but it may be worth a try.

•    If you’re planning on sharing an apartment with others you may want to ask the landlord if each bedroom has its own lock (¿tiene cerradura propia?). You may also want to ask things like whether or not the flatmates take turns keeping up with the cleaning of the apartment and whether or not you have the right to use all the common areas of the apartment. You could use phrases such as the following: ¿Cómo hacéis la limpieza… es por turnos? ¿Tendría derecho a la cocina/al baño?


Places to search:

If you are already in Spain, you can go to any newspaper stand  or quiosco and ask the person working there what papers have local classified ads or anuncios clasificados in them. If you’re not in Spain, the internet is a great resource for finding apartment listings (and sometimes you can find more stuff listed online than you can in print). Below are a few classified ads sites that I know of… they’re in no particular order.

•    http://www.segundamano.es
•    http://www.mundoanuncio.com
•    http://www.loquo.com
•    http://www.habitamos.com
•    http://www.idealista.com
•    http://www.pisocompartido.com
•    http://www.easypiso.com
•    http://casas.trovit.es
•    http://www.suvivienda.es

Final note:
If you’re looking for a place to live in Spain, you should have at least a basic understanding of Spanish (or have a friend who can help you). This will ensure that you get the best possible price and will help you to fully understand exactly what you’re agreeing to before signing a lease.

Chris Showers / Expatica

Chris Showers is an American expat who left his life behind in the USA to move to Spain and start a career as an English teacher. His blog, Abroad in Spain: Travel Blog , gives a uniquely American perspective on Spanish life -- with a touch of humour.


1 reaction to this article

Montse posted: 2011-10-20 18:20:13

You know the usual fee for an estate agent is a month's rent. For rental properties I recomend enalquiler.

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1 reaction to this article

Montse posted: 2011-10-20 18:20:13

You know the usual fee for an estate agent is a month's rent. For rental properties I recomend enalquiler.

Add a comment
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