Useful Spanish Phrases To Help Secure The Perfect Home

If you're moving to Spain for a while, the most important part of the process is of course, finding a fine place to live. Whether you're going to be renting your home or buying the property, let's have a selection of useful Spanish phrases to help you obtain a dream place you can call home and immerse yourself in the fabulous Hispanic lifestyle!

Ok, the first thing to do is to find un agente de la propiedad inmobiliaria and request information about the sort of property you're trying to find. Here's a really valuable Spanish phrase to get the job done:

Hola, me gustaría que diese información sobre los pisos/las casas en venta/alquiler - I would like to get some information regarding apartments/houses for renting/buying

More often than not, you're going to be asked:

¿Qué busca usted? or: ¿Busca usted algo en particular?

Simply respond with a brief description of what you're aiming for, por ejemplo:

Estaba buscando un piso/ático/una casa con al menos dos/tres habitaciones una de ellas de matrimonio, y con terraza o balcón - I was looking for a flat/studio/house with at least two/three bedrooms, one a double-room and with a terrace or a balcony

Other key words you can include here are: A estenar - brand new, amueblado - furnished, con un ascensor - with a lift (if the apartment is on or above the fourth floor, I will habitually make sure I ask if there's an elevator) and bien situado - well located. It's possible you'll additionally notice this as bien comunicado in several estate agents.

If they have a place that interests you and you'd like more details, merely ask:

¿Puede darme un folleto informativo? - May I have a brochure?

One thing that can cause confusion for Spanish language students concerns the usage of two terms for the word "deposit": Una entrada and Una fianza.

I think an example will illustrate this effectively:

¿Cuánto es la fianza del alquiler y cuál es la duración del contrato? - How much is the deposit for the rent and what is the length of the contract?

Para firmar las escrituras de la casa, es necesario dar una entrada del 20% y tener un aval bancario - To sign the deeds of the property, you are required to pay a 20% deposit and to have a banking endorsement.

Couple of other useful Spanish phrases there: un aval bancario, a banking endorsement and las escrituras, the deeds. And here's one or two more helpful expressions you are bound to hear:

Soleados y amplios - Sunny and spacious. You're bound to encounter this phrase even if the flat is too small for a cat to live in!

Tiene humedades - This means the place has damp - you've been warned!

Calefacción general - If you're looking for a flat, you need to be informed of this. It is saying the entire building only has one boiler that cannot be controlled by the tenants who will share the cost of the heating bill. A good idea is to ensure the flat has calefacción individual, so the heating remains under your control and you only pay for what you use.

To finish, another Spanish expression that might create confusion. This term relates to setting up arrangements to pay the rent or the mortgage and as you read through the agreement, you might come across this:

Se puede pagar por transferencia bancaria o solamente mediante talón

Now I'm pretty certain you'll have got all of the Spanish in that phrase apart from talón, the Spanish word for "heel". How confusing! What does this mean, to pay by heel? All it is saying is that you can pay the rent or mortgage by check, one more really cool expression to add to your growing vocabulary of useful Spanish phrases.

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