Recently I wrote about finding and renting an apartment in Spain completely online.
On May 9, 2008 Gillian commented:
Did you really rent an apt on line? We are hoping to start an RTW trip next year and 6-8 weeks in Spain is on the itinerary. I would be interested in hearing more about how you managed this piece.
G.
ps. you must be very excited to be starting so soon.
Great question! Yes, we did rent our apartment online, and did so for a couple of reasons:
We must have reliable internet access from Day 1. Since my husband will continue his job as a graphic designer, and maintain US East coast hours, he needs to consistent internet, not just during the day, but from 2 PM until Midnight (or later) local time. While internet cafes may work for sporadic emails, there aren’t many (if any!) 24 hour cafes, plus who wants to be sitting in a noisy cafe day after day? (Note: It is possible to get internet installed but there can be delays in getting the service company out to your flat, so if internet isn’t an immediate need, then this might be an option).
We have two large dogs traveling with us. Our two labrador retrievers are not likely to be welcomed into many hotels and even so, most don’t allow you to leave your dog behind while you explore the city. Also considering how much having two big dogs narrows down the potential rentals, we didn’t want to get into a position where we couldn’t find something and end up stranded with dogs. (If you are traveling with children, you might want to consider this as well)
We will be traveling during the high season. While finding a place in the winter may be a snap, the summer in Spain is tourist high season, and in February, it was already too late to rent anything in many of the beach towns (San Sebastian for example). Unless you have an unlimited budget, you will need to take into consideration the increase costs of 1. the season 2. how far in advance you book. As it was, we noticed between a 150-300% increase in rental cost because of the season.
So how did we do it?
If you haven’t already, read my original post. A couple things I’ll add…
We did a lot of internet snooping to make sure places were legit:
- Check the domain of their email address if it doesn’t match the website. For example If they send from rentals@XYZwebsite.com make sure to go to XYZwebsite.com and check it out.
- After you have looked at their website, do a quick whois search on the domain name and see who registered it. Clues that it might be a scam: registered to someone outside the country, registered with fake looking information or registered to an address that doesn’t match what they have listed on their site.
- Do a couple of google searches. Search the landlord’s name. Search for the bank account number they send you. Search for the rental company name plus the word “scam”. Search for the street address of the rental. Search the phone number. Copy and paste portions of the ad and search for those (this is great to see where else they list this). If in doubt, walk away. There should be zero red flags.
- Go to any spanish expat forums and search for your rental company. Ask around. See if anyone has heard of them or used them.
- You can ask for references, but unless you talk to the person, and they are American, it’s pretty easy to fake this. Written reviews or customer quotes are practically useless.
How can you tell if it’s a good neighborhood without being there?
You can’t 100%. But you can eliminate some of the guesswork…
- Figure out what local people call the neighborhood you’ll be in. You can wiki most spanish cities and learn more about the neighborhood structure. This will help you find reviews, if you search for Lavapies verses just Madrid.
- Google Earth the neighborhood, see what it looks like.
- Google Map the neighborhood and find out the local businesses and attractions.
This is a big one: Search Flickr for your neighborhood, street, any points of interest. We found a plaza that was right next door to our place, flickr’d it and found pics that showed not just the plaza, but you could see our street and building in the background. This is much better than the realtor’s pics, because you have an unbiased source.
At the end of the day
It’s not much different than trying to use craiglist to find an apartment in the US. You just have to use common sense, and be prepared that it’s not going to be quiet how you expect. For us, it’s simply not an option to wait until we get there, which obviously would be better.
Ultimately, we ended up renting from a realtor that was recommended to us on a spain expat forum. The realtor charged a 1/2 month finders fee, but it ended up being a cheaper option overall. Plus we have dedicated wifi, no deposit and they love dogs. We also found two other apartments that would have been a great fit, in the same price range.
Thanks for the question Gillian, and PS Yes we are excited!
