Job Discussion Forums

[twoheaded boy]

Hi, I am currently in Toronto and trying to arrange for a shared flat in Madrid for September. Using Loquo.com I have found what seems like a good place and I have been in frequent contact with the other tenants and they have been extremely helpful, but the problem is that the landlady is asking for an aval, or some kind of banking guarantee for the first three months. Is it possible to arrange for this despite not being in Spain and not having a Spanish bank account? I somehow doubt she would accept certified cheques from a Canadian bank, and I prefer not to hand over that much cash in advance. Have any of you ever been able to arrange for shared housing in advance? How did you go about it? What was your housing methodology :) ?

Perhaps I'll post this in the Europe forum as well, since it is not a problem particular to Iberian realms.

[Moore]

Your aval bancario is not for the first three months, it's a three month deposit in the form of guaranteed access to this sum by the landlord in case of breakages etc. for the duration of one year. That is a very big deposit to put down on a flat sight-unseen. Do you really know the area well enough to risk that? You could be miles out, in a dodgy area, with oddball flatmates, not like Madrid etc etc. Putting down around 1000 euros for a room in a flat you haven't seen is probably not the best idea. Even though there's a big rush for rooms in September, it may well be worth risking it: a normal deposit here for a room is one months rent- people only risk putting up an aval if they're very sure about what they're getting.

[twoheaded boy]

Thanks for your help. When I say that it seems like a good place, I am going by what I have been told by the other flatmates and by the pictures I have seen. As for the area, it�s true that I have not been there and been exploring around the neighbourhood but I do know the address so there is no danger of ending up miles out in the wilderness. In my experience, bad flatmates are always a possibility, even when you meet them in person and put them through a rigorous interview process, they can still turn out to be completely bonkers (btw, have you ever seen the film Shallow Grave?). I am not looking for the ideal flat; I have lived under bad conditions before and I always survived. I just want to find a place where I can live and work in relative peace, and if possible, I�d like to find it before I get there so I don�t have to search around frantically in the middle of September and end up settling for something that is out of my price range. So my question is not so much, is it a good idea to prearrange housing? but rather, is it possible to prearrange housing and what does setting up an aval bancario involve? Is there a way to do it safely? From your response it seems like it is not exactly standard practice to ask for an aval; is the simple fact that she has asked for one an indicator of dodginess? Thanks

[Moore]

There's nothing dodgy about her asking for an aval, but it's a bit wierd to ask for one from someone just renting a room. Normally they're something someone does when they rent out a whole flat for themselves: it's a guarantee for the landlord that you won't just stay and squat it. It's a very Spanish thing, not so many non-Spanish do it: there's just no need - plenty of places don't ask for it. Like I said, it's basically three months rent worth of deposit which is pretty huge. Prearranging accomodation in any city is a bit hit and miss: there are tons of perfectly good, pretty cheap hostals right in the town centre to look from. There is a big rush for rooms in September, but it's not that bad: you can just come along and find something basic, then change to something you really like in January, you may get lucky in September: it's all very hit and miss as I said, but putting so much money down as a deposit on something you haven't seen is just asking for trouble. You can easily find something which just requires one month's rent as deposit, so less risk to yourself if it all goes pear-shaped. Also, you will need a Spanish bank account to do it as far as I know, as I'm not sure a non-Spanish bank would honour the agreement if you got cold feet, and is therefore not much use to the landlady. If I were you I'd steer clear of it, or at least wait until you're here and have seen it before you sign away your soul.

[twoheaded boy]

Your advice is very much appreciated. The idea of an aval does seem a little bit awkward; from what I understand, it means that I keep the money in a spanish account and give her permission to access the funds in the event that I decide to violate the rental agreement. It probably would be better to hold out for a simpler arrangement, i.e. one month's deposit. In fact, that is what the original deal was going to be for this place, but when she heard I was coming from Canada (I am actually a Brit) she started to insist on an aval. I realise prearranged housing is complicated, but I still think it's a good idea to look in to it, if only to have one less thing to worry about on arrival. Yet, from what I gather, most people seem to disagree with this strategy. Cheers