禁漫天堂

Idealista are the largest property portal in Spain. They are a reputable company but at the mercy of owners and agents who advertise on their site.

If you contact a property via Idealista it will be sent to the owner or the agent who is advertising tgr property.

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Thanks 馃槉聽 I'll be moving to Spain from America and whatever I rent will be sight unseen. Do you know if people generally have a positive experience with idealista?聽 I don't want to disregard Idealista since it is such a big website. They seem to have a much larger number of affordable rentals versus what airbnb,聽 vrbo and other rental sites have.

Thank you 馃槉

I have lived here for six years and found Idealista an extremely useful website. i have found both of my properties on there and would highly聽 recommend it.

@Lisestrahle

I would say that Idealista is a large and reputable site, and most of the listings can probably be relied on.

But even with good sites, there is still scope for fraud. So you have to be careful, especially for remote transactions, and those where you pay cash up front (as you would be doing).

Idealista listings are by agents and owners. In the case of agents, I think you're safer as you can quickly find the agent's own website, see all their properties, and hence verify their Idealista listing. In the case of owners, they should have a local cell phone and sound sensible/honest when chatting with them. These days, I don't think it's a huge stretch to ask an owner (or an agent) to give you a virtual walkthrough via Whatsapp or similar. An owner should be able to give you a sensible contract (in Spanish/English, ideally) and proof they own the property and entitled to rent it out.

I have purchased remotely several times, but remote rentals I find far more difficult! Not from a scam perspective, but just that landlords seem a lot more precious about who they are renting to, and often want to meet their prospective tenants in person. And even when you can do that, they still want to meet x prospective tenants and interview them and/or do credit checks. Whereas, most sellers don't care who their buyer is, so first come with the money, first served. I've usually found it's easier to go there, rent something short-term via Booking/Airbnb, and then go look at places. Lots of folks would recommend you doing it this way, even leaving aside the fraud aspect.

Hi, do you know already where in Spain are you planing to move?聽 Have you been there before?聽 First of all, I will suggest, if possible, to spend some time renting while getting the feeling of the city and once there make the decission of buying.

Idealista its Ok, the ideal scenario is finding someone who represent you, like a personal agent that helps you with local laws, taxes, procedures, check the property actual situation etc.聽 and also do the searching for you locally prepare your agenda for you so, when you arrived you can visit the propperties previously selected according to your needs so you do not waste time and money. The only inconvenience you might have is that the property you like could not be available anymore at the moment of your arrival. The good ones does not last long on the market.

Will not be sure about sensible contract in a foreign language, Not sure if in聽 USA or any other country in Europe you can expect to have the contract in Spanish if requested,聽 you will need to translate it yourself in google 聽 聽unless you want to pay for a certified translator.

If you are planning to move to M谩laga, I can help you.

Kind regards.

Chris

Thank you so much for your responses. I truly appreciate it. It has helped me to make a decision. I will rent short term through a site such as airbnb or booking .com and from there conduct a search where I can physically see the properties. I have been to Spain twice. The last time was through March and April to see the different areas. I have decided on the Alicante area. Love Spain聽

@Lisestrahle We are planning a move to Alicante in September (from US), visa willing. we are planning to book an AirBnb for 35-40 days so we can look for an apartment in person once we are there. we arent bringing a ton of stuff with us so that makes things easier. That said, I find Idealista listings pretty consistent between pictures and description.

聽 聽 Can someone please tell me if idealista is a trusted reputable site? Are the listings accurate to the description, etc? I'm wondering if people have any problems with them. Thank you.
聽 聽

聽 聽 -@Lisestrahle

Look at the customer review sites.

They tell a story

@Lisestrahle

Take a look at our house were renting in C谩diz province聽

@kippyelsemore I love the Cadiz area but I'm moving to the Alicante area. Thank you though聽

@Lisestrahle

Good choice! :-) We think Alicante is a great city, and we enjoy our days out there. The coast (Costa Blanca) is delightful, with many nice beaches. We live in Elche which is Alicante's close neighbour (we fly from Alicante-Elche Airport, 20 minutes away). This is a more traditional Spanish city (UNESCO-listed for its palm groves) with a historic downtown. It's much less touristic (as the beaches are 15 km away) but it has all city amenities, and we've very much enjoyed it here.

@gwynj Do you know if there is there a plan to extend the tram south to Elche at some point? And maybe the airport? We visited Elche on one of our trips to Alicante and really liked it. The palm groves are amazing.

@LisestrahleWe had the same idea.聽 in fact we are in Spain at the moment.聽 i have used Idealista to locate properties.聽 聽However, getting the realtors to show me the property has been a real point of contention.聽 First, You must have your NIE.聽 I did not get this because you must do your paperwork in the region you want to live.聽 we didn鈥檛 know where we wanted to live.聽 Our plan was to go down the coast until we found the right 鈥漟eels鈥�.聽 We decided on Valencia.聽 If i can get an agent to respond, they immediately聽 聽eliminate us because we do not yet gave our NIE.聽 The other thing most are insisting on is rent guarantee insurance.聽 This feels like a scam but is designed to protect the landlord in case you don鈥檛 pay the rent.聽 And you have to pay for that in addition to the rent which has skyrocketed to an average of 鈧�1200 per month for an average 2 bedroom apartment.聽 Thats even outside the city limits.聽 Im more than a little frustrated with the lack of help and general resistance to rent to foreigners.

Without your NIE you will find it almost impossible聽 to live in Spain. Get this before even considering聽 making Spain your new home.