{"id":64789,"date":"2016-03-29T11:57:11","date_gmt":"2016-03-29T09:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/?p=64789"},"modified":"2020-08-10T18:15:06","modified_gmt":"2020-08-10T16:15:06","slug":"viewing-flats-in-barcelona","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/viewing-flats-in-barcelona\/","title":{"rendered":"Viewing flats in Barcelona"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Viewing a <strong>flat<\/strong> anywhere in the world can be difficult but my experience has been\u00a0that finding\u00a0the perfect\u00a0<strong>flat<\/strong>\u00a0in Barcelona can be particularly stressful and requires a little extra work. To\u00a0ensure\u00a0the process goes as swimmingly as possible it&#8217;s important you know what to look out for and what questions to ask. Therefore, I have compiled a few of what I believe to be\u00a0crucial questions for anyone looking to <strong>rent<\/strong> an apartment in Barcelona.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_17 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-grey\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class=\"ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1\"><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/viewing-flats-in-barcelona\/#Is_there_wifi\" title=\"Is there wifi?\">Is there wifi?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/viewing-flats-in-barcelona\/#Is_there_Air-con\" title=\"Is there Air-con?\">Is there Air-con?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/viewing-flats-in-barcelona\/#Will_I_get_all_the_deposit_back\" title=\"Will I get all the deposit back?\">Will I get all the deposit back?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/viewing-flats-in-barcelona\/#Wheres_the_oven\" title=\"Where&#8217;s the oven?\">Where&#8217;s the oven?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/viewing-flats-in-barcelona\/#Do_I_have_to_pay_property_tax\" title=\"Do I have to pay property tax?\">Do I have to pay property tax?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Is_there_wifi\"><\/span>Is there wifi?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Whilst it sounds obvious, and is clearly\u00a0a question applicable to any city, asking whether <strong>wifi<\/strong> is included is\u00a0particularly important in Barcelona. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/internet-wifi\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Acquiring<\/a> <strong>wifi<\/strong> can be a difficult and an expensive process so\u00a0renting a <strong>flat<\/strong>\u00a0with <strong>wifi<\/strong> will save you a lot of hassle. If <strong>wi-fi<\/strong> is included I would also urge you to\u00a0check the speed, some <strong>wifi<\/strong> in Barcelona, especially from the cheaper providers can be slow meaning\u00a0it&#8217;s important to check\u00a0whilst you are viewing the apartment.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Is_there_Air-con\"><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/air-con-2.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-64831\"><img class=\" wp-image-64831 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/air-con-2-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"air con 2\" width=\"314\" height=\"236\" \/><\/a>Is there Air-con?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">At the moment, in mid-march, the weather in the city is fairly\u00a0mild. Indeed, for large parts of the year <strong>air-con<\/strong> is not needed in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/the-weather-in-barcelona\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Barcelona<\/a>. However, in July and August, the weather can get extremely hot with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees celsius. During this period having <strong>air-con<\/strong> can make life a whole lot more pleasant, particularly if the\u00a0<strong>flat<\/strong> is on the 3rd floor or higher.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Will_I_get_all_the_deposit_back\"><\/span>Will I get all the deposit back?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Whilst this seems a silly question, it isn&#8217;t. Many landlords and agencies in Barcelona will demand a mandatory amount from any <strong>deposit<\/strong> for cleaning the <strong>flat<\/strong>. This will be deducted regardless of the\u00a0state of the <strong>flat<\/strong> and can be as much as\u00a0\u20ac100 or even \u20ac200. Obviously, if you really like an\u00a0<strong>apartment<\/strong>\u00a0then you may choose to go ahead despite the costs but it is worth asking.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Wheres_the_oven\"><\/span>Where&#8217;s the oven?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">One thing people complain about when searching\u00a0for a <strong>flat<\/strong> in Barcelona is the number of places that don&#8217;t have an <strong>oven.<\/strong> It may be\u00a0a given in some countries, but in Barcelona there are many <strong>flats<\/strong> that\u00a0are oven-less.\u00a0Whilst you may\u00a0think\u00a0it would be easy to\u00a0notice the lack of an <strong>oven<\/strong> during your viewing,\u00a0you may be so used to kitchens having one that you\u00a0miss its\u00a0absence, so make sure you check!<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Do_I_have_to_pay_property_tax\"><\/span>Do I have to pay property tax?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">This may or may not be applicable to your situation depending on whether you are renting\u00a0directly from the landlord or are using an agency. If it is the latter then the majority of <strong>flats<\/strong> will include any potential <strong>property taxes<\/strong> in the rent. However, if you decide to deal directly with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/owners-services\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" class=\"broken_link\">owner<\/a> you may be liable to pay <strong>property taxes<\/strong>, so it is essential that you ask this before signing anything! Not everyone will be liable to pay the same <strong>taxes<\/strong> depending on their circumstance, so it&#8217;s worth doing a little research yourself.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/oven-2.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-64833\"><img class=\" wp-image-64833 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/oven-2-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"oven 2\" width=\"275\" height=\"183\" \/><\/a>Anyone who has tried to find a <strong>flat<\/strong> to stay in Barcelona, especially using sites like Idealista, will tell you that the process\u00a0can be dog-eat-dog. With landlords often demanding an answer quickly because of high demand, it can mean that people are often rushed\u00a0into\u00a0signing contracts without reading the small print. This means that it is often better to use an agency such as <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ShBarcelona<\/a><\/strong>, which from my own experience ensures\u00a0the process is easy and hassle free. You are given help finding a place and all the staff speak\u00a0English which helps when you need to ask those essential questions. However you find an<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">However you find an <strong>apartment<\/strong> though, make sure you take your time and don&#8217;t be afraid to ask questions!<\/p>\n<div style=\"display: none;\"\n    class=\"kk-star-ratings kksr-valign-bottom kksr-align-left \"\n    data-id=\"64789\"\n    data-slug=\"\">\n    <div class=\"kksr-stars\">\n    <div class=\"kksr-stars-inactive\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"1\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"2\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"3\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"4\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"5\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    <div class=\"kksr-stars-active\" style=\"width: 150px;\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n    <div class=\"kksr-legend\">\n            <strong class=\"kksr-score\">5<\/strong>\n        <span class=\"kksr-muted\">\/<\/span>\n        <strong>5<\/strong>\n        <span class=\"kksr-muted\">(<\/span>\n        <strong class=\"kksr-count\">2<\/strong>\n        <span class=\"kksr-muted\">\n            votes        <\/span>\n        <span class=\"kksr-muted\">)<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Viewing a flat anywhere in the world can be difficult but my experience has been\u00a0that finding\u00a0the perfect\u00a0flat\u00a0in Barcelona can be particularly stressful and requires a little extra work. To\u00a0ensure\u00a0the process goes as swimmingly as possible it&#8217;s important you know what to look out for and what questions to ask. Therefore, I have compiled a few [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":64829,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8876],"tags":[6615,3706,65],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64789"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/60"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64789"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64789\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100504,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64789\/revisions\/100504"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}