Apartment Hunting in Barcelona

Where to live?! Barcelona is an incredibly vibrant city with several unique neighborhoods to choose from. A quick break down of the main areas-

• El Born- very eclectic and funky arts district, close to center and beach
• Barceloneta- beachy, laid back, views of the marina
• Gothic Quarter- action packed, tourist and historical center
• El Raval- combines traditional Barcelona architecture with punk fashion culture, hotspot for Philippine and Muslim communities, closer to Gran Via de Les Corts is safer
• Poble Sec (also called Sants Montjuic)- includes Montjuic hill and houses the Olympic stadium as well as the National Catalan Museum of Art, friendly working class neighborhood
• Poblenou (also called Sant Marti)- home to artists and designers, hosts several good markets including Encants Market and Palo Alto Market.
• Eixample- central, fun, yet sophisticated, the major street of Passeig de Gracia is akin to Sax 5th Avenue, includes two sections- left and right
• Les Corts- near Diagonal and Camp Nou, the FC Barcelona stadium, popular with locals and business executives
• Gracia- homey, local and popular with students, hosts Festival of Gracia every August, can be a bit rowdy with lots of bars packed around the local plazas
• Sarria-Sant Gervasi- more expensive local, quiet and quaint

Every neighborhood is packed with bars, restaurants, and shopping. Prices, finishings, security, and noise can be wildly different by neighborhood. NOTE: they don’t really use the term apartmento here, they more commonly use piso to refer to apartment/flat. To get you started on your hunt there are several website to do your looking-

• SH Barcelona– more on the high-end of quality and price, mostly furnished options
• Idealista– large variety of options, has more budget-friendly furnished and unfurnished options. We ended up booking with a agency off this site
• Other good options- Apartment Barcelona; FotoCasa; Habitaclia 
• BEWARE of SCAMS– there are lots of scams on these websites. If it looks too good to be true (i.e. beautiful pictures, insanely low price), it is! We contacted a few places that tried to get us to sign up for the apartment through an Airbnb link. It looks like the Airbnb site, but it is a fraudulent site for stealing your money! To read up on current scams to watch for check here.

We wanted to select a central location that was close to the action, but also not a terrible commute to IESE, which is in deep into Sarria. Eixample it is! We have been very happy with our piso so far. We are paying a bit more than we originally wanted too, but we realized to get all the things we wanted in the neighborhood we wanted, it was going to cost us.

I recommend you have a firm list of must-have’s when apartment hunting and really think about what your living style is. Such as- 

• Kitchen functionality- European kitchens are very different from those in US. As in, an oven is not always included. I am big on cooking and we tend to eat in most of the week. So an oven was a MUST! But many places only had a stove top and a toaster oven. Fridges can also be more along the size of what you have in a dorm room. We have found eating at home is cheaper and healthier (cheese and cured meats are good only to a point) so we needed a fully equipped kitchen. 
• Access- depending on the neighborhood there may or may not be an elevator. If the thought of lugging your groceries up five flights of narrow winding stairs is unappealing, pay attention to how you have to access the apartment! Especially, if the apartment is unfurnished or you get a bike or scooter that you have to bring into the apartment at night.
• Utilities- these are sometimes included, but not typically. Which means you must go through the process of getting the water, electricity, maybe gas, and internet put into your name. Luckily, our utilities were all included, so we didn’t have to mess with this. Be sure to ask what the situation is with each apartment you look at. Your rental agency may help with this, but they should at the very least get you on the contact information. Internet on the other hand is a major headache, even for Spaniards. I mean, have you ever had a pleasant time working with Comcast? It often takes weeks to get an appointment and inevitably something will go wrong and you’ll have to wait a couple more. Deep breaths. Internet options- Movistar (probably largest); Orange (what we have); Vodafone; Tuenti.
• Amenities- AC/heating, many places throughout the city have been renovated and provide modern amenities with historical charm. Great combo! However, there are also lots of places without AC and plug in electric heaters. Construction (aka insulation) is not same as in the states, so even though it doesn’t get very cold in Barcelona (we are moving from MN so not even comparable), places can be a bit draftier. Washer/dryers. Most apartments will have a washer (often in the kitchen), but very few have dryers. So get ready for your sheets and towels to not end up as soft as you’re used to. Everything is air dried and if you are on an upper floor your pin job needs to be tight, otherwise your underwear may fly off and never be seen again! 
• Security- as in all big cities, some neighborhoods are more secure than others. Theft is the biggest issue in Barcelona. I’m sure you’ve heard pick pocketing is a big issue, but theft of bikes, motos, packages left in the entryway, etc. is also rampant. El Born, Gothic Quarter, and Raval are ones that I’ve heard you need to be more cautious in, but we were told that at our apartment in Eixample that we need to be very careful with this as well!
• Exterior vs. Interior- the rounded block structure of Barcelona is iconic and beautiful. It makes it so that We ended up with an interior-facing flat and it has its own terrace. With the beautiful, year round weather we wanted to be able to take advantage of it! Plus, it’s turned into a very good workout space! 

And finally, the nitty gritty of the contract and the money! Contracts can range widely, as can what you are asked for in terms of money. Typically, standard rental contracts are set for an undefined amount of time between 6 months and 3 years. So in signing, you must stay for at least 6 months to meet the conditions, but can stay as long as you want up to 3 years without having to renew or pay any additional agency fees. Depending on your contract you simply need to give 30 to 60 days of notice on when you plan to leave within that time frame. Some agencies, like SH Barcelona, have many rentals structured as “short-term” or “seasonal” rentals, so they are set only for an 11-month contract. So if you want to extend beyond that and stay for say 2 years, they’ll ask you to repay the agency fees to remain for another 11-month term. Tricky, tricky. NOTE: be sure that you get an original signed copy of the lease, as in you should sign multiple copies. I’d even say try to do it in blue pen! This is important for your empadronamiento to get your NIE. Costs to plan for-

• Agency Fee- typically equivalent to one or one and half month’s rent. This is a one time fee.
• Deposit- anywhere between 1-3 month’s rent. I have heard people being asked for 4-6 months, I personally wouldn’t agree to that. There is little reason to be required to give that much and I have also heard horror stories of people being accused of damage and not getting any of the deposit back!
• Rent- the typical range we saw was anywhere from €700-1400 for smaller, unfurnished studios in the more tourist areas to one bedroom, furnished flats in the more established, local areas. Anything below €700 is something I’d be suspicious of and of course you can go above and beyond these prices as well.
• Utilities- ask the typical amount for water, electricity and/or gas bills. Water is a bi-monthly bill and electricity and gas are monthly. We were told fairly consistently that in total utilities per month are around €100-120.

We ended up paying just over €5,200 for the move in. After you move in, do a full documentation of the apartment, especially any damage. That’s scuffs on the wall, paint damage, cracked tiles, appliances that don’t work, or discoloration of the furniture. If the place is furnished, ask for an inventory of what they have in the apartment then check that those items are indeed there and what the condition is. Our lease notes that we have 15 days to notify our manager of any issues. Make sure you have it all written and that your manager confirms they received your documentation. Keep original copies of everything should any issues arise. After that enjoy! You now live in Catalonia!