Finding Property
There are three primary ways to find a place to rent in Spain:
If you’re starting your housing search from outside Spain, browse through listing sites like Idealista or Fotocasa to get a feel for the average price and condition of property in your target city. You can search by city, neighborhood, or even personalize your search by drawing a circle around a specific area you’re interested in on an interactive map. It’s worth noting that Idealista has the biggest selection of property both for rent and for sale and is the most popular site among Spaniards and expats alike.
LIVED EXPERIENCE
We thought a couple weeks would be enough to view apartments, sign a lease, and move in. Do not do this. If we could do it all over again, we would stay in a short-term rental for 1-2 months to settle in. Finding a place to live in a new country will take longer than you think. Save your sanity: give yourself grace and time.
TIP! Listing sites provide a chat feature to connect with landlords or agents, but we’ve found that they’re rarely monitored. If you can, call them directly or send a WhatsApp message in Spanish if you’re interested in the property.
Real estate agencies in Spain are largely unregulated. Anyone can claim to be a real estate agent without needing a professional license or prior training to operate. Thoroughly research any agency that claims to specialize in helping foreigners find their “dream home” in Spain. While there are legitimate real estate agents out there, we would strongly recommend connecting directly with the landlord to mitigate the risk of dealing with a bad actor with no real expertise.
TIP! If a property has one ad from an owner and others from agencies, stick with the owner’s ad. An agent may have copied the listing without permission and will try to charge you a “finder’s fee” of one month’s rent or more if you sign the lease through them.
Visual Aid
“PARTICULAR” means that the listing was posted by the owner.
“PROFESIONAL” means that the listing was posted by an agent.
Once you’re in Spain, or if you’re lucky enough to have friends and family living there already, tap into your network to find the best real estate deals direct from the owner. We’ve found that word-of-mouth is the most reliable way to find a rental property that is “bueno, bonito y barato” – good quality, attractive, and cheap.1 The key advantage is that you get the inside scoop on what the landlord’s like, their level of English, and their flexibility on renting to foreigners.
LIVED EXPERIENCE
Your first year in Spain is going to be bureaucratically bumpy, between having to open a bank account, register your place of residence, apply for your ID card, etc. The last thing you need is a landlord who doesn’t understand why you have a NIE but not a TIE and won’t accept a scan of your passport in the meantime to finalize the lease. We’ve gone further into what this gibberish means in another Blueprint, Rental Requirements.
TIP! We’re big fans of using expat Facebook groups to find rentals. Our overall favorite is American Expats in Spain. To specialize your search, look up “Expats in” plus your target city, for example: Expats in Madrid.
Next: Rental Requirements →
1. “Bueno, bonito y barato” is the Spanish trifecta. Also known as “BBB.” We love BBB. Back to text