Hey Pactzin--

We'll be neighbors--I live right over the La Latina stop. We love it here.

With your budget, you could find a really nice place in La Latina (you can get a nice 2BR for that price). Do you speak any Spanish? I ask, because you could probably get more for your money if you made a go of it on your own.

The agencies here skim one month's rent right off the top and some people who are trying to rent their apartments don't deal with them. Either way, I'd recommend looking at idealista.com, segundamano.es and loquo.com before you come, just to get an idea of what is out there and what the market is like. Either way, it will help you to negotiate.

In ads, the part of town that you are interested in is usually called: Palacio, Austrias, La Latina, Puerta de Toledo, San Francisco, Las Vistillas, Opera, Sol--and a bit more to the east--Cortes, Anton Martín, Tirso de Molina, and Embajadores.

Send a PM when you get here and we'll give you a little tour of the 'hood, if you want.

EDIT: I meant http://www.segundamano.es/, not .com.

The key words you should be looking at are:

Property & Relocation

Relocation Services

Estate Agents

Here are some links that I found in the back issues of the Broadsheet:
www.solucionmad.com
www.spinternacionales.com
www.crownrelo.com
www.apex2002.com
www.kuiperbv.nl
P.R. Rentals: gerreal@eralyf.com
www.relocspain.com

Maybe Jer can check with his colleagues and add more.
Rocco.

Wow, we must have been really lucky. We had no problem finding a place that accepted pets (we also lived near La Latina nice area) and then an agency with someone who spoke English to find a place. We did that throught idealista.com Becuase the inface was in English we didn't realize half the ads or more were private and many owners didn't respond to our english inquiry.

The only negative for us to living in the city was the long commute to work 1 hour and 20 mins. Each way. We ended up moving close to the office in Tres Cantos, this way we need only one car.

rob

quote:

Hey Pactzin--

With your budget, you could find a really nice place in La Latina (you can get a nice 2BR for that price). Do you speak any Spanish? I ask, because you could probably get more for your money if you made a go of it on your own.

Are you sure about that? I have a friend trying to find a place in the city and she said it's terrible, she's had to jump upto 1300 amonth and still can't find anything (or anything worth living in) she's starting to reconsider getting a shared place again as the rents are way out of her price range.

Temporary apartments are closer to 2000 a month. I had to search high and low to find one under 1500 (including VAT as it was a company paid). But it was hard to find.

Generally speaking the best place to look is in the Burbs. I pay 950 for a month for a beautiful 3 bedroom 110 spmtr place with a pool. For that kind of money you might get a small dank studio in the city (if you were lucky that is). Also look for newer build. We have friends currently moving back to Canada, who pay the same as us for a place that's half the size dark and with very dated furniture (think green toilet with brown tiles yuck) and no pool. It's a nice building and area its just the owners have never upgraded the interior.

The real question is it worth paying double the rent to live in the city. That's the problem my friend is facing. She'd love to stay in the city she's not sure she can afford it.

Rob

as an after thought, if your willing to do a shared apartment there is alot of nice places available for 500 a month (per room). Not sure why its easy to find a shared place but very difficult to find a decent apartment.

quote:

Are you sure about that? I have a friend trying to find a place in the city and she said it's terrible, she's had to jump upto 1300 amonth and still can't find anything (or anything worth living in)

Yes, I'm sure about that. We've been looking around a lot because we are contemplating moving some time this year. Either your friend is picky or has some difficult-to-fulfill needs, doesn't speak Spanish, or is going through an agency that can't show her cheaper places.

In La Latina you can easily find a nice 2BR for around 1100 (or even less if you look around a bit). 900 euros will not get you a dank studio in La Latina--that's virtually impossible unless you are getting completely exploited. It would get you a very nice 1BR or a even a decent unfurnished 2BR if you had time to look. We rented our 100m2 2br in La Latina for 950 a month.

Now if you go through an agency and can't talk to the owners yourself it might be another story. Like I said, if you don't make an effort to speak Spanish, you'll always have to pay a huge premium for the privilege. It makes sense. Most landlords wouldn't want to have to deal with a foreigner that they couldn't communicate with. Would you?

Anyone who is used to city life would hate living in the burbs. It all depends on what you value. We've saved 10,000s of euros in the past ten years by never having to own a car, get gas, pay for insurance, etc. People who live in the 'burbs usually don't consider all of the extra costs when they compare it to the cost of city living. We're paying the same rent as you for one less bedroom and 10 square meters less.

If you want a place with a pool in the Centro, I recommend Acacias/Embajadores/Puerto de Toledo (on the south side)/Imperial. These are still a real neighborhoods (but have bigger buildings with pools and other amenities) that are really well connected metro/train-wise and are all in within walking distance of La Latina, Sol, Opera, etc.

First of all, what do you mean by DECENT? That is a very subjective term. People who saw my studio in Ríos Rosas would call it decent, but others would think it's tiny.

I have to back what Mariposita says. I have a friend living in La Latina dn he pays 1600 a month and has a kitchen to die for, with a pantry. He lives on Costanilla de San Andres and he loves it.

Speaking Spanish is the key and for people who either refuse to learn it or can't be bothered to learn it will always be exploited in some way or another.

Even in Ríos Rosas, you could find a decent place for 800. These places are out there.

Shawn

being a friend of Rob i am pretty sure she does not speak spanish

sorry Rob, could not resist


i agree with mariposita, 1,200 is a very respectable budget for the la latina area.

quote:

Generally speaking the best place to look is in the Burbs. I

no comment but if your friend wants to stay in the city and went from the city to tres cantos she would probably become seriously depressed in under a week

there are good deals in the center!!! i know it is not the norm but ena and i are paying under 700 euros (250 less than you Rob and 250 a month can buy a lot of tickets to the municipal poools ) in a beautiful 100 sqM 3 bedroom apt. in the plaza mayor.

saludos,
jer...

I'll have to ask her about it, as she was saying she was having a very hard time in finding anything. With prices leaving out we're hoping to buy a place in the next few years and for us we want to live north of Colemar, nothing better than having the mountains in your backyard.

Pactzin do let us know how your appartment hunting goes

quote:

buy a lot of tickets to the municipal poools

swimming What a thought!

good lord what happened to the weather! I had to put jeans and a warm jacket on today, a few days ago I was walking around in shorts and sandles!!

quote:

Originally posted by Tim Hortons Man:

Are you sure about that? I have a friend trying to find a place in the city and she said it's terrible, she's had to jump upto 1300 amonth and still can't find anything (or anything worth living in) she's starting to reconsider getting a shared place again as the rents are way out of her price range.

I pay 950 for a month for a beautiful 3 bedroom 110 spmtr place with a pool. For that kind of money you might get a small dank studio in the city (if you were lucky that is).

Not sure why its easy to find a shared place but very difficult to find a decent apartment.

I don't know where your friend is looking Rob, but she certainly isn't looking in the right places, I've just done a search on Idealista.com in La Latina for Pactzin's requirements, €1200 a month and minimum 1 bed, 1 bath and 11 results were found, all over 60 sq mt so not dank studio's. The best 2 are these:

2 bed in C/Calatrava
2 bed, C/Don Pedro

They look alright to me.

As for your theory about 950€ getting you a small dank studio in the centre, rubbish, I live near the centre (Anton Martin) and pay less then €900 a month for a 2 bed 64 sq m refurbished Atico, with new furniture. There are plenty of deals to be had in the centre.

I mentioned it to the wife and she figures it's less that she can't find a place in her budget but that's she's enjoying living rent free with friends. hard to beat not paying rent. She stayed with us for 2 weeks and she makes wonderful company so I suspect that's she going to be having "problems" finding a place for a while

Wow, what great apartments. Well, I will be moving to La Latina and although I am glad to rent a room, I am not happy about trying to get to Alcobendas from there, but I will make due. I just have to get up earlier and eal with the people and BO. Boy, how do I miss it...

Shawn

Thank you all so much for your comments. Concerning our temporary apartment, a woman with goletworld.com finally found us a nice 1 bedroom apartment on Calle de la Colegiata right next to the Tirso de Molina metro. We will be staying there in Sept with our two cats and looking for a permanent apt.

We heard from Donald Timson-Herranz with Opening Doors. They mostly help college students find shared apartments but he stated he could help us find an apartment for both of us. We do speaking beginning Spanish but not well enough to negotiate an apartment rental. We will be attending Spanish courses at Universidad Complutense de Madrid for three months starting in October.

Once again, thank you for all of your help.

Gary & Keith

that's a very nice area, well located and quieter than say Gran Via. Take a walk around in the late evening it's quite something to see whole families out enjoying the evening at 10 at night.

hey Pactzin.

welcome to the neighborhood!

saludos,
jer...