Hi

I shall be moving to Madrid at end of Mar/early Apr 05 with my Madrilena wife and 2 year old child. We shall be needing a good-sized (100-150sq m+), good condition unfurnished 2/3 bedroom appartment with a bit of terrace if poss in a nice, reasonably central district. (Ideally this would be in the areas near the Eurobuilding or Bernebeu though it doesn't have to be :-)) We shall probably take it for a min of 1yr (prob 2yrs). I'll need broadband, good transport links, some good bars(!). We believe we should be able to find a suitable place for up to Euros 1200/pm. We'll be over around New Year time to view a few places.

If anybody knows of any suitable apartments that may be available from the dates stated or if you feel our expectations are unrealistic pls advise!

PS Do you pay a big premium for air con?

hi Mark.

ac is a "lujo" (luxury) here and while the rent itself may not be much higher if you find a place with ac, the electricity bill will.

you really only need ac here in madrid for 2-2.5 months of the year so it should not break ya.

i find www.segundamano.es and www.fotocasa.es to be great sites for getting an idea of prices and apts.

150 m2 is pretty big for madrid (the city anyway) and in that area (castellana and surroundings near the eurobuilding) is pricey. rent goes down if you move up towards the "estrecho - tetu�n" area and you are still pretty much on the castellana but further north.

all in all, 1,200�/month should get you a nice place, especially since you don't need it furnished.

broadband not a problem in that area.

saludos,
jer...

Thanks Jer - useful info. Coming from UK where the closest most people get to having a swimming pool is the murky brown puddle waiting for you as you step outside, I consider most of the apartments I have viewed in Madrid to be luxury, anyway!! I suppose you can always buy yourself a mobile ac unit if you get an appt without it built in. Being a fairly hirsute chap I am alarmed by the propsect of 2/3 months of temps in high 30's/low 40s without this comfort!! You know us Brits - turn lobster red when it gets a shade over 20!

MarkE

Hey Mark--
I felt the same way about AC when I landed here in July, right in the middle of a horrendous heat wave with my cranky culture-shocked toddler. All of the places that we found with AC seemed to have something really undesirable about them (which I think it is why they put the AC in--to entice people who would otherwise not consider the place). Then again, we were looking in more downscale areas.

If you do find a place without AC and you plan on putting it in, find out if the "communidad" will allow it--before you sign the lease. Some places have protected facades. In these cases, the external unit may have to go on the roof or in the "patio interior", which can get pricier installation-wise and may be immpossible if you are on a lower floor.

We thought seriously about getting our own AC unit, but as time went on, we got apathetic about it and actually saw the benefits of not having AC: long, long siestas in the afternoon, more money for food and drink, a satisfying obsession with blocking out the sun, a strange "get back to nature" kind of life, and most of all a great source of material for complaining (I know I heard "ay, que calor" at least a thousand times in July).

I actually think heat might be more important, since it gets really cold here at night for a lot of the year. Not all places have an independently controlled heating system, so be on the lookout for this.

Thx Mariposita - spot on advice!

The comments about siestas are duly noted!! More money for food and drink? Always welcome! And lots of cold nights seem like lots of good reasons to get cosy ...hmm...maybe we should start looking for a 4 bed appt instead! And complaining about the heat will be a novel experience for a rain-soaked Brit, believe me. And you know we LOVE to talk about the weather!

quote:

We thought seriously about getting our own AC unit, but as time went on, we got apathetic about it and actually saw the benefits of not having AC:

me too mariposita, been like that for 5 years now.

every late june i say to myself, this summer i'm getting an ac unit. july goes and then august rolls by and jer never goes to get the ac unit.

think it has a lot to do with the following...

1) we usually leave madrid for 2 weeks or so in summer for ena's beach place/holidays elsewhere.
2) i have ac at my office.
3) the expense just never seems worth it for 2 months a year usage.

so, for some reason we never get around to putting one in (not even a portable unit).

saludos,
jer...