Hi everyone,

I am moving to Madrid soon and will be looking for an apartment to rent in Northern Madrid near Chamartin, Pinar de Chamartin or Las Tablas. I have no idea what these areas are like, I only know that it's near office. I think I would rather stay in the suburbs as I would hopefully get better value for money and less travelling. I have been on websites looking but most come up with holiday accommodation. Can anyone advise if staying in the above or Central Madrid is better? I also have no idea what the going rental rate is Any help on this would be great. Thanks AnnW

Hi there. There's a poster called MadridBoy who currently lives there, so he maybe able to help you most if he shows his face
If memory serves me right Pinar de Charmartin and Las Tablas are new developments and are served by the new tram systems. You should be able to see the snow capped Guadarrama mountains in the winter. Charmartin is a bit more central.
Who are you working for Sun/Oracle perhaps?
I've got some accommodation links somewhere and will try to update later. One is madridrooms and the other accomomadrid (I don't have the exact links to hand currently)

Update: I've used these once, but looking at their web, they seem to specialise just in language learners now - may be worth an enquiry tho
http://www.accommadrid.com/en/index.html
Also used the next one in the past (the owner Rocco was very helpful at that time, hope it's still going) - basically they go around different agencies for you, but the finding fee is just the same
http://www.madridrooms.co.uk/
I didn't use the folowing but they seemed to have a decent name. Again they seem now to specialise in just short-term language students
http://www.salyven.net/

To be honest I'd book into a hostal (a bit like a B&b, not to be confused with hostel) for a week or two, and pick up the various English-language mags/newspapers and survey the classifieds. But it is the hardest time of year to find accommodation in Madrid I'm afraid - all the English teachers and students are back from their holidays, and looking for digs...
As for prices - what are you after a room in a shared flat, or a flat itself?

I'm not a fan of central Madrid as prices tend to be a bit higher, the guiri influence is more noticeable, and`you run more risk of being targetted by pick-pockets etc. Public transport is superb in Madrid (monthly travelcard around 40 Euros) so it shouldn't be too much of a bind being based away from the centre. Just my opinion, others may (and do) disagree with me.

I thought it was illegal to charge a "finders fee" in Spain

I believe (although not totally sure) that they're allowed a maximum booking fee, just like in the uk. It used to be 50 Euros, but it may have changed.

Look on the Spanish rental websites, there are loads of them with thousands of properties e.g. fotocasa, idealista, segundamano

You will need to go out there to decide where you want to live. I nearly went to live and work in Madrid a few years ago and I caught the first flight in the morning and got the last one at night back, had a job interview, walked around the 2 neighbourhoods I was interested in and saw 3 properties all for the 100 euro flight price.

If you find a neighbourhood you like, look on the lamp-posts for stuck on adverts! I've seen places for sale via this method! Also a lot of copy shops used to have a board full of adverts - their equivalent of the Tesco adverts board I suppose. Lastly, don't be afraid to ask the portero (if one exists) if any flats/apartments are out to let. You'll need to speak Spanish for this though.

Did someone call?