BE CAREFUL WITH AGENCIES WHEN LOOKING FOR FLAT!

Alexandra F. Written 10 years ago

Hello everyone! I studied in Valencia a year ago and would like to warn you about getting a flat with an agency.

My flatmates and I came across the perfect flat but we had to go through an agency to rent it. They told us that we had to pay: the first month (220 euros),last month(220 euros), and a deposit(220 euros) when signing the contract. My parents and my flatmates parents were also present. We all speak Spanish fluently and all SEVEN of us understood everything perfectly. They repeated it to us several times as well.

June was our last month in Valencia and our landlord came to our flat to ask for June's rent money. We told her that we alreay paid the last month to the agency. We showed her the contract but all it said was that we paid 660 euros to the agency, but never said that we paid the last month.

We went to complain and the agency told us that the 220 euros from the "last month" was to pay commission to the agency. We argued with him that he never told us about commission and that we all had it understood that it was to pay for June.

In the end we had to pay an extra 220 euros to pay for June. If the agency would have told us that they charged commission at the beginning, we wouldn't have cared. We were lucky we could communicate well in Spanish, but they love to take advantage of Erasmus students who don't speak Spanish very well.

I can't remember the name of the agency, but they were located in the plaza behind the 100 montaditos on Blasco Ibanez and Ramon LLul. The guy's name is Ramon and he has a blonde secretary from Lithuania. Don't rent with them!

Lesson: If you are going to rent a flat with an agency, ASK ABOUT THE COMMISSION.

Andrey Smirnov Written 10 years ago

Maybe some general advice - just don't rent a flat through an agency!!!

All the people I know who did it pay a lot more in comparison to others who live in very similar flats.

It's very easy to find a flat here, just walk along Blasco for 5 minutes and write down some numbers from the adverts on streetposts. Or the facebook groups, they are very helpful too :)

alayna hughes Written 10 years ago

Realtors cost money but when you're coming internationally its more convenient. Here we have to pay security and first, maybe last month and broker fee, so nothing new to me!

Kuba R Written 10 years ago

Thanks for warning ;o)