I will be moving to Madrid by mid September for 6 months and need to find an apartment to rent - preferably furnished.
Anyone have suggestions or known flats, preferably within the Salamanca district?
All help welcomed as proving difficult to sort out from London. Thanks, Louise

Hi Louise Eve, I have been asked about flat finding many times and since it is indeed very hard to find a nice place from abroad my advice is always to either:

1) Hire a relocation company to find you a flat and move you (the downside here is that they are usually pretty expensive and they also charge a fee).

2) Find a nice hostel in Madrid for a week or so while you look for a nice place to live. This is usually th ebest option since you will be happier choosing the apt. for yourself instead of judging by photos.

When I moved to Madrid about 6 yrs ago I did that, I was in a hostel for about 10 days and I spent most of that time searching for an apartment. It was a good way to go about it and still seems to work.

If you search from home, you may be pressured into taking a place you do not like and it may be expensive and that could put a negative twist on your stay here in this amazing city

Good luck and hope I helped,

jer...

Hi Louise Eve! This is good advice from Jer so take it seriously. You may also consider www.SegundaMano.es or even searching this forum for other possibilities. At least you'll have some useful information for your arrival so you can see them firsthand and minimize your search time once there. Good luck!

Saludos, MadridMan

I agree with jer, too.

I might be able to help you, however you would have to assume a lease, 120.000 ptas/month. Nice place, furnished, quiet. In Arganzuela.

Thanks Jer
I am going to be in Madrid next week for 8 days or so and hope this will be sufficient time to sort something out. Then return to UK to collect car, possessions etc before the final move.
How quickly once I find somewhere can I normally take possession?
Louise

If it is clear, you may take possesion of it inmediatly after you pay. Many ads refer to flats that will be free soon (after that date), so you'd have to wait.

Most flats are rented on a monthly payment basis, and you have to tell them you leave a month in advance, so, many are left the very first days of the month. This means the days 20 to 30 is a good moment to find one and not have to wait to enter it.

Louise Eve, Ignacio's post is on the money above but keep in mind the following for I have had many a friend (Brit or American, EC member or not) spend a month looking here.

1) Many owners will ask you for a "nómina" ("pay slip") to show you are gainfully imployed and can afford the place, I am not sure if this is your case or not but keep it in mind.

2) If you do use the Segundamano newspaper (available at any Newspaper stand Monday through Friday), GET YOUR BUT UP EARLY AND START CALLING PLACES FOR THEY GO FAST!!!! If the Newspaper stand opens at 7am and you sleep in and do not look or call until noon or so, you are going to be gravely disappointed. Try to get Monday's Segundamano and start fast!!!! Set up apointments to see places ASAP and get the jump on the sleepyheads!

Also, the flats in Segundamano are listed by price range, "up to 60.000 ptas.", "60-90.000 ptas.", etc... and there is a section at the end called "sin precio definido" ("no stated prrice" that most people skip because they think it is too expensive but what most do not realize is that if an owner forgets to put a price down, they throw it in that section for lack of anywhere else to put it. I know this well because I found my dreeam apartment in the Plaza Mayor in that section almost 2 years ago after having avoided the section on many an occasion.

Aside from Segundaman.es mentioned above by MadridMan, here are som other good apt. hunting resources in Madrid:

*In Madrid - www.in-madrid.com/classifieds - this is the classifieds section of the online version of the very popular In Madrid newspaper that is distributed free in Madrid. Classifieds are updated monthly and there is a pretty lively section on flatshares/rentals (website in English and coincidentally designed and maintained by your's truly ).

*Room Madrid - www.roommadrid.arrakis.es - these folks will help you find an apt. or apt. share in Madrid at a reasonable price (multilingual staff, website in English).

*SeComparte - www.secomparte.com - i was told about this website by one of my visitors and when I checked it on March 20th 2001, it was relatively new and had few apartment/room offers but the idea is good and I am sure their database will grow as more people discover them. Amongst other things you can look for a pad in just about any city in spain, place a room needed ad, find others who want to share travel expenses and get together for other free time activities (website in English and Spanish).

*Segundamano - www.segundamano.es - newspaper offering almost everything you could possibly imagine. great shared apt. section but get it early and start calling, apts. go fast in madrid (website and paper both in spanish).

*Anuntis - www.anuntis.com - newspaper offering loads-o-goods and services. Apartment hunting section (website and paper both in spanish).

*Clasificalia - www.clasificalia.com/mercadillo/index.asp?idioma=1&cat=6 - i recently came across this site for practically everything in classified ads. This link takes you to the Apartments section (website in spanish).

Good luck,

jer...

[ 08-28-2001: Message edited by: jer ]

Jer

Thanks for all the links and suggestions - can't see how I can fail to find somewhere with all these options!! Anyway, determined not to be too fussy as initial place is only for 6 months.

Have all paperwork (including official reference from employers, income etc), have money for deposit so now just need to pack the bags.

Anyone with any more thoughts, feel free to keep sending them through.

Louise