# Homeless in Our New Home!!!



## Pam2017 (Apr 20, 2016)

It's getting SO close! My husband and I will land in Malaga on the 1st of May. We have no place to live and our online searches, even with the help of real estate agents, has been frustrating. 

We would like to rent from May 1st through August 31st. Clearly, we are arriving at the height of the tourist season. Our thought was that we would rent for a few months to figure out where we want to buy. We had a real estate agent tell us we would be able to do this at the price we wanted, then as we got closer, that real estate agent is no where to be found. 

How can we rent from the United States without being gouged like tourists? Does anyone have a local, non-vacation spot real estate agent they can introduce us to? We do not want to spend $1K Euro a week for four months. Just NOT happening!

If anyone has suggestions, websites, contacts, or whatever, we would greatly appreciate it. My Spanish is poor, BTW, but improving.


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## kdsb (May 3, 2015)

When we came from the US last July we stayed in a hotel until we found a place to live. It took 5 days.

If you want to rent for less than a year, your most economical option would probably be to sign a yearlong contract and then just cancel it when you are ready to move out, which would probably involve forfeiting a month's deposit, but I think would still be cheaper in the long run than a temporary rental.

You may want to find a translator to help with the process if your Spanish is not good since I imagine most people with longer term rentals are not catering to tourists and may not know English.

If you look on idealista.com you can get a sense of what types of long term properties are available where you are looking and what the price might be.

Also worth mentioning that I could not get a single real estate agent to lock down an appointment prior to being physically in the city, so probably not worth contacting them at all until you are actually there or maybe a day or two before arrival. I am not someone who likes figuring things out last minute, but that seemed to be the only way to do this.


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## Pam2017 (Apr 20, 2016)

Thanks so much for the reply. I'm like you in that I need to have a plan. But, it's good to know that your were able to find a place quickly when you arrived. 

Can you actually cancel a long term lease that way? In the US, I think you would be liable for the rent payment until they found someone to take your place and, in some cases, for the remainder of the lease.


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## kdsb (May 3, 2015)

Yeah, it is worth checking into to see whether you would owe any rent after canceling beyond the penalty of a lost deposit. We though we'd have to sign a yearlong contract when we got here and weren't sure if we'd stay the whole year, but if we left early we would have been leaving the country so it would have been very hard for them to try to get more money from us. It turns out we are staying the whole year, and when it came time to sign the contract the landlord (who understood our situation) only asked for a six month minimum anyway.


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## yesican (Jan 18, 2016)

Hi, I totally agree with @kdsb. For our move, it was different though. We spent a good few months flying to the island and back to UK while we searched for a suitable town to live and a home too for my husband, our 12 year old and i. We ended up just taking photos of banners that were outside complexes and then cold calling the number on it to find out if they had any long term rental accommodation.
Luckily enough, that's how we found our current longterm rental property. 
As for some / most of the estate agencies, they have websites with the same properties that we saw before our move 9 months ago and funnily enough, the very same rental properties are still on their websites. It's a shame that they don't bother taking the properties that have already been rented out. 
Goodluck on your move.. ☺.


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## Horlics (Sep 27, 2011)

Try Airbnb. You can open a conversation with owners and can negotiate with them for long term stays.


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

You say you are landing in Malaga so should I assume you will be looking along the CDS and perhaps inland a bit? I know a pretty good private agent who might be able to help but it will depend a bit on where you want to start renting.


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## Pam2017 (Apr 20, 2016)

Horlics said:


> Try Airbnb. You can open a conversation with owners and can negotiate with them for long term stays.


That's a good idea. I have already contacted a couple of places and received quotes. The places just weren't ideal location wise. Of course, I do know what they say about beggars!


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## Pam2017 (Apr 20, 2016)

thrax said:


> You say you are landing in Malaga so should I assume you will be looking along the CDS and perhaps inland a bit? I know a pretty good private agent who might be able to help but it will depend a bit on where you want to start renting.


If you know someone who is reliable and trustworthy, I'm all ears. We have been so disappointed with the realtors we have dealt with. I know people live in Malaga and along the CDS. It can't be all about tourists!


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## Montana2Spain (May 20, 2016)

We will be in the same boat very soon. Spouse arrives in Barcelona next Monday. He will then hunt for a place to live and once secured I will send on the dogs, arrange the shipping container and then head over myself. It's been so long, I can't believe it's actually here. We still haven't decided on Barcelona vs Valencia! But that's what an adventure is all about. Flying by the seat of your pants. I also like to plan but realize that some of the most memorable moments in my life have come from unplanned chaos. LOL It would be interesting to know what has worked for other people. I find using the websites is fine to get an idea but wonder if there are many more rentals out there that never find their way on to those sites. We plan on renting for a year (or maybe even more) before we even think about buying. I don't want to end up trying to sell in such a real estate market.


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

I have sent you a PM


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## cathb (Sep 5, 2016)

Not sure what you are ultimately aiming for, but there are loads of houses for long and short term rental in this area. Just google estate agents in La Marina, near Alicante


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## Pam2017 (Apr 20, 2016)

cathb said:


> Not sure what you are ultimately aiming for, but there are loads of houses for long and short term rental in this area. Just google estate agents in La Marina, near Alicante


Thanks, CathB. We did find a place. It happens to be an AirBNB, not ideal, but it has 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a kitchen. It works for the short term.


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## skip o (Aug 1, 2011)

We dealt with many unmotivated real estate agents (and property sellers) in Barcelona. Be prepared for many agents to never respond to calls or emails, and be prepared to see a house that has been on the market for 4 years at 100,000 EUR with no offers to suddenly raise the asking price to 120,000 EUR. 

Almost every time we were slightly interested in a property, all of a sudden the agent would act like offers were pouring in and we needed to ACT FAST!!! And OFFER MORE!!! Two years later some of those properties were still on the market.


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