Apartment hunting - by Victoria Fontana,
recovered off the hacked forum.
Well, I just went through all that this spring. I found that mostly
there is a great inconsistency between prices and quality. I was
searching to live alone, and only found places for around 600
euros per month, some were decent and others weren’t - they were
horrible. I once found a studio, 17 square meter apartment on
Gran Via for 550 euros! I could cook dinner and shower and watch
my favourite tv show without taking a step!!!
I laughed at the guy, out of disbelief!! I asked him if all
7 dwarfs live here or just "Snoozy". The "caseros" have a lot
of "morro". Nor did it matter where I looked. It used to be
that you didn’t even bother looking for a place in Barrio Salamanca,
because you knew that the prices would be much higher, but now
they are high everywhere. High, relatively we are still in a
capital city and 600 per month isn’t really that bad. I ended
up finding a better deal in the end, through friends, but it’s
only a little studio. You definitely save living with housemates,
if you can handle it, and I found that the best thing to do
is to share with two other people - the larger apartments didn’t
go up so much in price - you get much more for your money and
split 3 ways doesn’t turn out so bad. You can find a very decent
place for 900 euros - with room enough for 3 people and your
cat, and it works out to 300 each. For people just arriving,
I would look for a room to rent - you usually don’t have to
bother with rental agreements and it is much easier to start.
Then after making contacts here, look for something better.
Looking for an apartment: Tell me about it!
I've only been looking for a couple of weeks, but to find something
within my requirements: estudio/piso for around 450 and near
a main train station is almost impossible. I had a very similar
experience to Victoria yesterday, went to see a small flat in
Embajadores, only 360 euros and to be fair the street where
it was located did look quite promising. I didn’t even get as
far as seeing the flat, the nearer I got to the right number,
the more drug addicts, alcoholics and the like started to appear
from the building where I was heading. Needless to say, realising
that it was some kind of drugs den, I turned on my heels and
disappeared sharpish. If this means that I'm going to have to
go back to paying 600 euros for a tiny flat in "el barrio Salamanca"
again, I'll be b@ggered! if you'll excuse my French ... Seems
like I'm going to have to stick to sharing for a while longer.
(recovered off the forum, by dunno)
Company
Requires English Teachers
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An apartment searching experience
(A27 - Steven Starry)
A couple of years ago I had to find an apartment in Alcorcón,
a little town on the outskirts of Madrid, for a family member.
The whole process went like this: first my mother-in-law went
around and asked all of her many friends if they knew where
we could find one. (no luck) Then both of us went door-to-door
and from neighbourhood-to-neighbournood asking in each and every
apartment building, real estate agency and bars and shops on
top of it. Finally, we were asking in yet another bar and someone
at the bar having a cup of coffee just happened to be working
on his daughter's apartment upstairs. He looked us up and down
and invited us up to have a look around and you can imagine
the rest. The best part about this story is that we paid 395
euros per month in those days and now 420 for a small three
bedroom apartment about 50 metres from a Metrosur station. The
worst part of this story is that it took us a month-and-a-half
of 3-and-a-half-hours-a-day 5-days-a-week looking at apartments.
What was really incredible is that it seemed like there weren't
any apartments out there at all worth taking or that the prices
of the few apartments that we could find were just simply outrageous.
The average price was over 1,000 euros and the apartments weren't
very nice. In fact, I flat out asked a few of them that if we
took the place, could they please store the furniture elsewhere.
Something else that was surprising was the fact that whenever
we would go to apartments that had been advertised in the paper,
we would find that they had either already rented out the apartment
we wanted to look at or you had to wait in line for your turn
to see the place. Apart from this, there were the many conversations
we had with the doormen of the various apartment buildings we
asked in about how rare it was to see an apartment go up for
rent or about how fast they would go when they did.
It was worth it for me to spend so long looking for an apartment
because, if all goes well, this family member will be there
for a long time and their quality of life and savings account
will and has improved drastically over what they would have
otherwise paid for and gotten.
However, I think we were incredibly determined and, in the end,
lucky. I just don't think I could have done it without my Spanish
mother-in-law's "charming" help. And, frankly, I think
most "guiris" (a Spaniard's word for any Anglo-saxon type foreigner)
just won't have any choice but to pay the much higher rates
prevelant on the market today.
How does it work?: I intend to do the CELTA course at the
BLC next spring and, hopefully, be in Madrid working by September.
I'm a bit concerned though that all I read sounds like doom and gloom.
I'm expecting it to be a bit of a struggle at first and intend to
come prepared to supplement my meagre income for 4/5 months or so,
but how do you guys make ends meet on a permanent basis? I mean, if
the accommodation is so expensive and you add to that the NI deductions,
etc, it doesn't sound like there's much left to pay bills, never mind
eat!I'm particularly anxious about being a new recruit as well because
I notice a lot of places are asking for between 1 and as much as 6
years' experience.My Spanish is very good so that might help me get
some other part-time work, but I really do want to make a career out
of teaching English full-time if it's feasible. I know there is perhaps
better income to be found teaching English in other countries but
I adore Spanish language and culture and am particularly impressed
with the way Madrid retains its "Spanishness" in contrast to the cosmopolitan
Barcelona, for instance. My dream, then, is two-fold and I desperately
want it to work out. Does anyone have any tips for an absolute beginner
in the planning stages? (by dunno) Housing ... Yeah, inflation in Spain is terrible, but like everyone else, people move on and deal with it there. Surprisingly high and outrageous, yes, but do locals live and move on, yes again! I know many Spanish here in the states who moved back to Spain, complain, and moved back here to the states for another stint. But most Spanish I know move back to their country and stay there, despite high prices in Spain. It's a growing advanced country, and Spanish people have learned to adjust accordingly. I see myself living somewhere around El Escorial, quite a distance from the city, but nice and peaceful. Los Arroyos is a new neighborhood that is growing and one in which we're kind of in love with. Most importantly, the house prices aren't as outrageous there and a close walk to Renfe in no time. New neighborhoods are cropping up all over so it's not impossible to find a reasonable price, but for the most part, everything IS expensive. A neighborhood academy sounds neat, but it does sound a lot more complicated to put it on its feet. That is, an academy where you lease a separate office or space to conduct classes. Moreover, the time and work to put that together seems enormous. The mother of my wife's friend is a British woman in Alpedrete who conducts classes in her own home. (She taught my wife English!) She has an ample extra room to conduct her class. This would sound like something I could do because it's more convenient. And I'm sure there are people who do this here and there. The larger issue is money, of course. We have enough to buy a flat, and beyond that we can only dream:) 300,000 for a 60m2 2 bedroom?! You're rich! And there's no way I could live in your neighborhood. I'm coming to Madrid at the wrong time, but it's now or never.
Coming to work from the outskirts, I would purchase
a monthly or yearly pass that would give me access to bus, train,
and metro. Each month, I don't think the price of the pass runs up
to a hundred. I think it is more or less 60-70 euros, depending, of
course, upon where your zone is. Yearly passes are cheaper, but you
run the risk of losing it and you are not likely to be working a whole
lot during the summer months. I have been doing quite a bit of research
lately into the housing market. My wife and I actually are leaning
more and more towards finding a place of our own rather than rent.
However, one of the better sites that I seemed to like going through,
as far as looking for rentals, was through madridloquo.com. It also
has a section for sharing an apartment with a roommate, and if I'm
not wrong, an ample one. It makes a lot of sense to share an apartment
if you're single, and I'm sure you won't find any problems in getting
that. Just make sure the location in the centre is to your liking.
Vinh
Thanks for the info about the travel passes, Vinh.
I do definitely favour living in centre at the moment and thanks for
the website - I'll have a look at what's on there. I know what you
mean about the areas - there are some dodgy ones which I'll be looking
to avoid!
Answer: I think you can make it ok, but you
can't save very much. I think you can make it ok, but you can't
save very much. The Spring is a terribly bad time to start out
here though. You're better off coming in the summer, arranging
your housing, doing your CELTA, and then staying on in the Fall
and going to work. I don't think finding a job (or jobs) will
be very difficult for you or most reasonably thoughtful people
for that matter. It's just a complicated area to navigate, that's
all; and you have to work like crazy to get into the best places
(whether an apartment or at agencies or academies) at the right
times. Just try to get a good idea of what the agencies and
academies are paying and stay away from anybody who goes very
far below that (preferrably go straight to work at the top from
the very beginning). Same thing goes for apartments. There are
plenty of shameless people out there who are paying too little
or asking too much and it's up to you to learn how to distinguish
them. (You can easily pay about twice as much for a carton of
milk, for example, in one shop as compared to another.) Don't
be afraid to apply for a job at an academy or agency which asks
for lots of experience. Though they would all love to get very
experienced teachers all the time, they're often forced to take
whoever they can find (and sometimes they can't find all the
teachers they need). Whenever these companies advertise for
teachers, they can't be very open about the fact that they'll
take just about anybody if otherwise faced with losing a client
because their clients can read those same advertisements. (It
wouldn't look very good, now would it, if they said something
other than they only take super-dynamic, super-experienced teachers?)
I've made it in the long-term through hard work and getting
very lucky on more than one occasion. I've also had to make
a hard decision or two. But, I also married a local lady whose
family was very helpful. The main thing is that I managed to
buy an apartment seven or eight years ago when prices were reasonable
(in hindsight - a third of what it is today). And every month
I'm paying less for a three bedroom apartment than most people
will pay for a single room. In any case, It might be a lot of
work and a bit uncomfortable sharing a room with someone, etc.
but you can do it because other people are. And, what 100's
of people can do every year, anyone can do. So, good luck to
you if and when you come over. P.S. As for Madrid not being
Cosmopolitan, that's news to me.
Steve, Thank you very much for your encouraging advice.
I'll be taking it all on board as I'm determined to make it work and
not to be ripped off. I'm certainly more encouraged on the job front.I'm
planning to do the course in April or May, then return home to England
to sort out the letting of my house, etc, before going back to Madrid
late August to sort out a job. This timescale gives me the time I
need to save up before giving up my UK job. Do you think I'd be losing
too much impetus, though, in leaving a 3 month gap between doing the
course and looking for work? I want to make sure I get the qualification
before I set everything else in motion because it sounds like a really
tough course. The alternative would be to leave my job at the end
of July, do the course in August and, hopefully, start working in
September. By the way, I'm sure Madrid is cosmopolitan, but, in comparison
to Barcelona, to me it just feels more Spanish. Can I also say thank
you so much for this site - it's a real treasure.
Answer: Your plan sounds solid enough to me
... Your plan sounds solid enough to me. I don't think you'd
be losing any impetus and I do think you'd be giving yourself
time to get a bit of breathing room and perspective (and giving
the CELTA people time to get you your certificate, which you'd
have in-hand for your interviewers). Those CELTA guys really
spin your head around, but I think it's a good thing to settle
back down to reality before you get to work.
There are a lot
of things you don't learn on the course and I don't really think
that you learn enough grammar with the CELTA, for example, so
you might take some time after your course to study up on any
areas that you felt were worthwhile. (Some schools will test
your grammar, by the way.) It's also a good idea to visit a
few of the best schools here during your course and hopefully
you'll have something set up for when you come back. Anyway,
got to get to class! Be talking to you ...
Expenses: I have actually been looking for flat
rentals to get an idea of how much it would cost to live right in
the center of Madrid. Yes, the center, and my wife's grandmother asked
us if we had won the lottery. My wife and I actually were able to
find some flats, nothing fancy, for about 600 euros. And that's for
only 1 bedroom and a space of 45 metros cuadrado. But these are also
the cheapest it can go, and for sure they will go as one should realistically
expect a flat at the cheapest in the center to be more around 700-800.
The big issue is where, of course. We mentioned to my mother-in-law
that the cheapest we found were 600, and they said that it was really
expensive. But hey, that's the price you pay for the city! .... Vinh
Expensive: A neighbour of mine sold their 60-square-meter 2-bedroom
apartment for 300,000 euros in under a week less
than two weeks ago. I'm shell-shocked at the "apparent" inflation
in everything (but, the government says that it's nothing!) in the
past 7 years or so. Still, I recommend you move out to the "suburbs"
somewhere because you will find it's a lot cheaper (the farther, the
better). It's a shame because it'll jack up your travel time, but
that's life. On the other hand, you might end up finding a little
English teaching niche on the outskirts like me, but that's another
story. Oh, and if you do have the money, why don't you open a little
neighborhood academy? (Easier said than done, but there are new neighborhoods
opening up all the time.) Steve
Answer: Your plan sounds solid enough to me
... Your plan sounds solid enough to me. I don't think you'd
be losing any impetus and I do think you'd be giving yourself
time to get a bit of breathing room and perspective (and giving
the CELTA people time to get you your certificate, which you'd
have in-hand for your interviewers). Those CELTA guys really
spin your head around, but I think it's a good thing to settle
back down to reality before you get to work.
There are a lot
of things you don't learn on the course and I don't really think
that you learn enough grammar with the CELTA, for example, so
you might take some time after your course to study up on any
areas that you felt were worthwhile. (Some schools will test
your grammar, by the way.) It's also a good idea to visit a
few of the best schools here during your course and hopefully
you'll have something set up for when you come back. Anyway,
got to get to class! Be talking to you ...
Expenses: I have actually been looking for flat
rentals to get an idea of how much it would cost to live right in
the center of Madrid. Yes, the center, and my wife's grandmother asked
us if we had won the lottery. My wife and I actually were able to
find some flats, nothing fancy, for about 600 euros. And that's for
only 1 bedroom and a space of 45 metros cuadrado. But these are also
the cheapest it can go, and for sure they will go as one should realistically
expect a flat at the cheapest in the center to be more around 700-800.
The big issue is where, of course. We mentioned to my mother-in-law
that the cheapest we found were 600, and they said that it was really
expensive. But hey, that's the price you pay for the city! .... Vinh
Expensive: A neighbour of mine sold their 60-square-meter 2-bedroom
apartment for 300,000 euros in under a week less
than two weeks ago. I'm shell-shocked at the "apparent" inflation
in everything (but, the government says that it's nothing!) in the
past 7 years or so. Still, I recommend you move out to the "suburbs"
somewhere because you will find it's a lot cheaper (the farther, the
better). It's a shame because it'll jack up your travel time, but
that's life. On the other hand, you might end up finding a little
English teaching niche on the outskirts like me, but that's another
story. Oh, and if you do have the money, why don't you open a little
neighborhood academy? (Easier said than done, but there are new neighborhoods
opening up all the time.) Steve
Housing ... Yeah, inflation in Spain is terrible, but like everyone else, people move on and deal with it there. Surprisingly high and outrageous, yes, but do locals live and move on, yes again! I know many Spanish here in the states who moved back to Spain, complain, and moved back here to the states for another stint. But most Spanish I know move back to their country and stay there, despite high prices in Spain. It's a growing advanced country, and Spanish people have learned to adjust accordingly. I see myself living somewhere around El Escorial, quite a distance from the city, but nice and peaceful. Los Arroyos is a new neighborhood that is growing and one in which we're kind of in love with. Most importantly, the house prices aren't as outrageous there and a close walk to Renfe in no time. New neighborhoods are cropping up all over so it's not impossible to find a reasonable price, but for the most part, everything IS expensive. A neighborhood academy sounds neat, but it does sound a lot more complicated to put it on its feet. That is, an academy where you lease a separate office or space to conduct classes. Moreover, the time and work to put that together seems enormous. The mother of my wife's friend is a British woman in Alpedrete who conducts classes in her own home. (She taught my wife English!) She has an ample extra room to conduct her class. This would sound like something I could do because it's more convenient. And I'm sure there are people who do this here and there. The larger issue is money, of course. We have enough to buy a flat, and beyond that we can only dream:) 300,000 for a 60m2 2 bedroom?! You're rich! And there's no way I could live in your neighborhood. I'm coming to Madrid at the wrong time, but it's now or never.
Coming to work from the outskirts, I would purchase
a monthly or yearly pass that would give me access to bus, train,
and metro. Each month, I don't think the price of the pass runs up
to a hundred. I think it is more or less 60-70 euros, depending, of
course, upon where your zone is. Yearly passes are cheaper, but you
run the risk of losing it and you are not likely to be working a whole
lot during the summer months. I have been doing quite a bit of research
lately into the housing market. My wife and I actually are leaning
more and more towards finding a place of our own rather than rent.
However, one of the better sites that I seemed to like going through,
as far as looking for rentals, was through madridloquo.com. It also
has a section for sharing an apartment with a roommate, and if I'm
not wrong, an ample one. It makes a lot of sense to share an apartment
if you're single, and I'm sure you won't find any problems in getting
that. Just make sure the location in the centre is to your liking.
Vinh
Thanks for the info about the travel passes, Vinh.
I do definitely favour living in centre at the moment and thanks for
the website - I'll have a look at what's on there. I know what you
mean about the areas - there are some dodgy ones which I'll be looking
to avoid!
See also: Sharing a Flat
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