# Small Family moving to Spain (Sevilla???)



## swhinck (Jul 7, 2011)

Hello all,

I am an american currently living in France with my wife who is french and our two babies.

We are forced to rent vacation homes here in France as I do not earn my living here and so renters and agencies dont want to work with me without having a CDI (work contract).

Summer months the rent goes through the roof and so we are considering taking this opportunity to head over to Spain and try life out over there.

We are considering Sevilla but I see that most expats are all in Madrid or coastal cities.

I am hoping to track down a few expats who live in or know well Sevilla so that I can get some info/advice.

Is anyone here available for a little help to a stranger moving his family over?


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## kalohi (May 6, 2012)

I am an American living in Seville. I've been here since 1986 (my husband is Spanish) so I guess I have a pretty good feel for what life is like in Seville. What would you like to know?


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## swhinck (Jul 7, 2011)

kalohi said:


> I am an American living in Seville. I've been here since 1986 (my husband is Spanish) so I guess I have a pretty good feel for what life is like in Seville. What would you like to know?


Hey there kalohi, thank you for replying!

Well a few things really, my friend loves it there, he is half spanish though and is fluent of course. But how do you find it to be there overall?
Is life pleasant?

One thing to mention of importance is that here in France it is next to impossible to rent anything without that you have a "CDI" which is a work contract with a company for an indeterminate amount of time. Basically rock solid job security.
Without that, here in France, you cant rent anything but those that people are desperate to rent or vacation rentals where the walls are much lower...

Are we looking at a similar situation there in Spain?

After that, how would you recommend that we locate housing?
Could you recommend places to focus in on, and those to avoid?

Rough estimate of how much rent would be for a 3 bedroom?

Any help is appreciated if there is something I forgot to mention.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Bear in mind that Sevilla in July-August is one of the hottest places in Europe ... the sevillanos head for the coast whenever they can. 

Though I guess that might be to your advantage when looking for somewhere to rent.


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## swhinck (Jul 7, 2011)

ok, starting to change my mind heh.

I would still like to be near to my friend but we are more than open to other locations.

Can you recommend some places where I might look which offer reasonable rates?


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

swhinck said:


> ok, starting to change my mind heh.
> 
> I would still like to be near to my friend but we are more than open to other locations.
> 
> Can you recommend some places where I might look which offer reasonable rates?


Check out the Costa de la Luz - towns like Cadiz, San Fernando or El Puerto de Santa Maria. There is a fast train link to Seville but you get the benefit of a fabulous coastline.

For an idea of rental prices see Fotocasa.es - Viviendas en alquiler en Costa de la Luz (Cádiz)


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## kalohi (May 6, 2012)

I can testify to the fact that it is HOOOOT in Seville in the summer. The guide books might tell you that the average summer high temperature is in the mid thirties, but in fact most days it gets up to 40-42º. And it's not unusual for it to reach 45º. Basically you can't spend any time outside during the day without risking heat stroke. The city does empty out, except for the crazy tourists that you see wandering around melting into the pavement. 

I am very happy here, despite the summer heat. The city is beautiful, the people are friendly, and life goes at a nice laid back pace. People always seem to find time to sit with their feet up for a while and sip a cool beer. 

As for renting an apartment, I'm afraid I don't have any recent personal experience with that. I haven't rented since 1990. But I do know from people that I work with that while you are not required to have a job contract, the owner or rental agency will most likely ask you to prove that you can pay the rent. That might be through a bank guarantee or a personal guarantee from someone with a job contract. Or they might let you rent if you pay a couple of extra months up front. 

Rental costs of course vary widely, but I'd say you could get a decent apartment for something between 650-800€. I'd avoid the areas of Torreblanca, Parque Alcosa, Distrito Sur, and San Pablo. In my opinion some of the nicer areas are the old center (casco antiguo), Nervion and Triana.


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## swhinck (Jul 7, 2011)

Thank you so much for the recommendations.

Well unfortunately as far as guarantees I would not have any as I am from the states but I certainly wouldnt mind paying a few months up front.

Anyway we are only looking at staying 2 maybe 3 months this time around, we really just want to taste the life and see if it is for us or not. We would have to return to France in time to place our oldest in school if we decide that Spain simply isnt for us.


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## venecio97 (Apr 22, 2014)

great tips!


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## Cazzy (Nov 23, 2008)

I live in Ecija (the frying pan of Andalucia) It is midway between Sevilla and Cordoba (40 minutes each way). It is a very nice large town. You can rent a 3 bed here for around 400 euros a month. We rent our flat from a local estate agents and the only documentation we had to supply was our passports.


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

The original posts on this thread were made in June 2012. Another case of never finding out what happened to the OP...


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