There are several important things many freshly arrived expats do not know when looking for a flat. So here it is, the list of the 10 things I wish I would have known when I arrived here ! 1. Rent includes taxes but not bills in most cases Utilities are usually not included [...]
Internet is now part of the essential relocation pack for any expat, since it enables us to connect with our friends and family in our hone country and around the world. In fact, when I help fellow expats to move to Spain, I always take all necessary steps to have internet ready before they [...]
Most think the “Rent or Buy” question has an obvious answer: “If you can afford it, buy, since renting is throwing money away”. Wrong. I will tell you simply in this post why buying can mean throwing money away and renting can be the most profitable decision from a financial point of view. The 4 [...]
Madrid is a great place to live, mainly because it is a capital city with all you need, and with a great quality of life you do not have in London or Paris: no stress, no insecurity, you can eat out for as much as 10 €, people are open and talkative. You want [...]
If you are planning to buy an appartment in Madrid, I recommend you follow these 10 tips: 1) Beware of the market variations in Spain, and buy now only if you plan to hold the property for more than a minimum of five years. It’s helpful to use the New York Times calculator to evaluate [...]
Let’s suppose here you found a great flat in Madrid. Congratulations – you need to move in and deal with the utilities. I already presented how much you can expect utilities to cost you in Madrid. Now I’ll explain simply the few mandatory steps you will need to go through to be all set to [...]
“Spain is different”. Rentals are a good example: Everything is negotiable or nearly, depending on the market. In a rental, all the conditions depend on the agreement you reach with the landlord. When you negotiate these conditions, it is essential you have in mind the law and the norm: yes, in Spain they are often [...]
Today I want to present you the Cortes & Letras neighbourhoud of Madrid. if you want a first overview of Madrid neighbourhoods, I recommend you read this and look at the interactive map to understand where Madrid neighbourhoods are located and search “cortes” for instance. This is how I would describe in a few words [...]
The public transportation system of Madrid is really one of the best in the world, as many international awards and expats living here will tell you. Metro & Co : These hard to find maps with all railway transportation systems However, something was missing … indeed, Madrid has 4 different types of railway tranportations: metro, [...]
Today I want to present you the neighbourhoud of Nuevos Ministerios & Chamartin – the business and financial district of Madrid. First of all, if you want a first overview of Madrid neighbourhoods, I recommend you read this and look at the interactive map to understand where Madrid neighbourhoods are located and search “Nuevos Ministerios” [...]