# winter rental



## Ziggy99

This is my first post so I hope I am not inadvertently breaking any forum rules or etiquette. My wife and I would like to rent a two bedroom house or apartment just outside of Malaga by the water for the winter. Some questions are: 1) Do owners rent by the month or do you have to commit to a certain number of months? 2) Is the first month often considered your deposit? 3) What about extras like Internet, electricity and gas and or electricty, local taxes - are they included and if not what percentage of rent do they usually amount to? 4) Is transportation to Malaga easy and regular from villages like Rincon de la Victoria or Churriana? We both want a safe and secure neighbourhood with Internet access and if possible accessible to Malaga without use of a car?

Thanks all .. please tell me where to redirect these questions if I am in wrong place.


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## xabiaxica

Ziggy99 said:


> This is my first post so I hope I am not inadvertently breaking any forum rules or etiquette. My wife and I would like to rent a two bedroom house or apartment just outside of Malaga by the water for the winter. Some questions are: 1) Do owners rent by the month or do you have to commit to a certain number of months? 2) Is the first month often considered your deposit? 3) What about extras like Internet, electricity and gas and or electricty, local taxes - are they included and if not what percentage of rent do they usually amount to? 4) Is transportation to Malaga easy and regular from villages like Rincon de la Victoria or Churriana? We both want a safe and secure neighbourhood with Internet access and if possible accessible to Malaga without use of a car?
> 
> Thanks all .. please tell me where to redirect these questions if I am in wrong place.


:welcome: I've moved your question to a thread of its own

have a look at the FAQs & lots of useful info......... thread - there are links there to discussions about renting, rental websites etc.

you can often rent month to month - some agents will try to convince you that you have to rent for a fixed time & have to stay or pay - but if it's your home, as opposed to a holiday rental, that isn't the case, although if you are just coming for the winter you would really be taking a holiday let in your case

in a true holiday let the utilities would usually be included & the rent will of course reflect that - but it really depends how long you are staying - everything is negotiable!!

how long are you planning to stay?

for a holiday let they would often want you to pay the entire let upfront - yes, even if it's 3 months

a longer let you will pay a month upfront plus a month deposit - some agents will want 2 months deposit & also a finder's fee!! You will also pay the utilities - often the agent or landlord will just give you a copy of the bill & you pay them


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## Ziggy99

Ok thanks for reply and sorry about double post. 

We plan on staying three months from December to March so that would be a holiday let of three months paid upfront. Makes me a bit nervous to pay the whole three months upfront not knowing if we would like it. I guess maybe we better rent a hotel apartment in Malaga for a couple of weeks and look around for a longer let.

Thanks again!


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## jojo

we're doing that with some friends in Nerja! My friends have organised it all and I dont know who the agents are, but they do it every winter. Theres quiate a crowd of "winterers" there that they meet every year

Jo xxx


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## jojo

we're doing that with some friends in Nerja! My friends have organised it all and I dont know who the agents are, but they do it every winter. Theres quite a crowd of "winterers" there that they meet every year

Jo xxx


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## Leper

I dont think you will have much trouble renting a house/apartment over the winter. I would think two bedroom accommodation would cost you €500 per month in rental (+ electricity charge). Southern Spain has a relatively warm climate during the day from January to March. Remember the nights are cold, very cold and Spanish construction does not lend itself to the cold. If you are discovering the south of Spain it might be prudent to stay a month or so in different areas (just a thought).


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## jojo

Leper said:


> I dont think you will have much trouble renting a house/apartment over the winter. I would think two bedroom accommodation would cost you €500 per month in rental (+ electricity charge). Southern Spain has a relatively warm climate during the day from January to March. Remember the nights are cold, very cold and Spanish construction does not lend itself to the cold. If you are discovering the south of Spain it might be prudent to stay a month or so in different areas (just a thought).


 I think our accommodation is 700€ a month *including* electricity and water. Its not on the sea front, but within walking distance. It has two self contained two bedroomed units, but no pool or much garden


Jo xxx


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## xabiaxica

jojo said:


> I think our accommodation is 700€ a month *including* electricity and water. Its not on the sea front, but within walking distance. It has two self contained two bedroomed units, but no pool or much garden
> 
> 
> Jo xxx


that's not bad - & let's face it - you don't exactly need a pool in the winter, do you?

so many people don't realise that!!


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## jojo

xabiachica said:


> that's not bad - & let's face it - you don't exactly need a pool in the winter, do you?
> 
> so many people don't realise that!!


No, it does seem to me to be a good deal - we're paying less than half because we probably wont be there as much and my friends can use our bit for other guests occasionally. I hope it works and that we dont all fall out, as can happen with these things lol!! 

They do it every year and usually stay in an apartment complex for which they pay 500€ a month *including* utilities for a two bedroom place and the use of the pool, which as you rightly say isnt much use in the winter. 

Nerja has a lively group of "winterers" - especially musicians, who seem to enjoy getting together and do the rounds of the local bars playing "open mike" sessions. They're not all Brits, many other north europeans and locals - its a really lovely atmosphere, climate and Nerja is a lovely town

Jo xxxx


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## ClairAnn

Ziggy99 said:


> This is my first post so I hope I am not inadvertently breaking any forum rules or etiquette. My wife and I would like to rent a two bedroom house or apartment just outside of Malaga by the water for the winter. Some questions are: 1) Do owners rent by the month or do you have to commit to a certain number of months? 2) Is the first month often considered your deposit? 3) What about extras like Internet, electricity and gas and or electricty, local taxes - are they included and if not what percentage of rent do they usually amount to? 4) Is transportation to Malaga easy and regular from villages like Rincon de la Victoria or Churriana? We both want a safe and secure neighbourhood with Internet access and if possible accessible to Malaga without use of a car?
> 
> Thanks all .. please tell me where to redirect these questions if I am in wrong place.


Hi, 
Owners will rent by the mont for the winter period. A holiday rental website such as holidaylettings (dot uk) would be a suggestion though I am sure there are a multitude of them. You could certainly rent by the month or week. 
Water is often included and internet and electricity maybe though less likely. A deposit would be taken for electricity bills etc. if it was not included.
There is a regular, low price, pretty great actually..train that runs from Malaga to Fuengirola. Coastal locations like los boliches, torremeule. From the villages you mention, I dont know.
If the place doesnt have internet you are likely to end up going down either the pay as you go dongle route or a wi fi hotspot route like Y internet. 
Dongles are pricey, consider unlocking one, you can do this online. I have found my Vodafone pay as you go dongle to be pretty good, though you cant get voice (skype) speeds with pay as you go.
For calls what you might do is pay for call forwarding online. Get a pay as you go spanish sim and have your calls forwarded to it. There are online websites that organise this. I use flynumber (dot com) Have a us phone number and it comes to my spanish mobile. Your family in canada could call a canada number and get through to your spanish mobile.
Hope that helps
 Clair


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## natalieml

jojo said:


> I think our accommodation is 700€ a month *including* electricity and water. Its not on the sea front, but within walking distance. It has two self contained two bedroomed units, but no pool or much garden
> 
> 
> Jo xxx


So are you coming out then?? If so when???


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