Apartment rental in Madrid
Highlights of the past few weeks and a deeper dive into what to expect when renting in Madrid
Well, I’ve officially passed the 1 month mark.
Since my last post some highlights include:
Going to Barcelona for a night to see the Queen Beyonce. We didn’t get to do any sightseeing so I can’t comment on Barcelona, but it’s on the to do list!
Signing a lease for our new place and getting rental insurance
Planning a 2 week trip to Norway
Going home to Chicago for a week
And in between all of that I’ve also managed to get in touch with some groups here to start making some friends. Making friends as an adult is not an easy thing to do! Especially for me….my friendship circle is very small, mostly because I’m lucky to have my fam and hubs as my besties. The flip side of that is I don’t really know how to make friends, especially as a middle aged adult! You really have to put yourself out there. LOL, that seems to be the theme lately.
The rental process here is definitely different than in Chicago. The laws favor the landlord. I mentioned a few things in my 2nd post but I’ll go into a bit more detail now that the lease is signed. So, as mentioned the landlord can ask for as many months of a deposit as they want. Also they wanted to see the work contract to prove we will have the funds. If you don’t have a work contract some landlords will ask to see your bank account with enough money to cover the term of the lease.
The landlord is not required to really do anything to the apartment before you rent it. Not even cleaning it. As renters were responsible to fix anything inside the apartment that goes wrong while you’re living there. So if the sink gets clogged, the expense is on us, etc. We decided to hire a company to do a deep cleaning - scrub the grout, clean the floor, inside the fridge, etc. The total cost was about 300 euros. I’m sure there will be other “hidden” costs that we haven’t anticipated. That’s why it’s sooooo important to have money saved for these types of things. If you’re planning a budget for something make sure to bump whatever number you land on by at least 10%, because there will always be something that wasn’t anticipated.
Also in Madrid it’s mandatory to get rental insurance. Luckily the rental insurance accounts for the fact that renters are responsible for maintenance type costs (at least through Santander bank). We didn’t shop around, which I know is typically considered a no-no when looking for services, but it had everything we wanted and then some. For 300 euros a year the limits are 1m euro and INCLUDES car insurance. It also covers you if something of yours gets stolen when you’re outside the home. Win/win from my perspective.
Money isn’t always the indicator of value. Sometimes it’s time, sometimes it’s peace of mind.
That’s it for now. Thanks for reading!
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