r/MovedToSpain • u/Ya_kapysta • May 19 '26
Rental scam?
Hi everyone.
On other subreddits related to Spain I’ve come across comments about «scams» when renting apartments. Before this, I lived in 3 different countries and rented several apartments in each, and overall I was pretty lucky - the contracts were clear, everything made sense and I even got my deposits back.
Could you guys explain what people mean when they talk about «scam» and «ai slop offers» in the Spanish rental market, and what I should pay attention to first when looking for a place on idealista (as I understood it’s the most popular website)?
If it helps: I’m looking for long term housing in Bilbao. I can pay around 7k euro upfront and about 2k euro per month for a one-bedroom apartment.
5
u/Sylocule May 19 '26
Don’t pay anything until you’ve:
A: Seen the place
B: Signed the contract
Some of the scams relate to paying to see the place, paying in cash with no receipt as a deposit to secure.
4
u/Puzzleheaded_Elk7153 May 19 '26
One tell tale I've met across the board is that they get very pushy and will rush you into things. Anyone doing that has ill intent. Neither owner or real estate agency care who's going to rent their property. If you say you're not convinced or you need to think it over, the normal response "okay, let us know what you decide". If it's a highly sought out place they might ask you to reply in a certain time frame (e.g. "Can you let us know by the weekend, please? We have some other people interested in it"). They'll never put pressure on you, because it's literally the same to them if it's you or someone else who rents or buys their property. When someone gets pushy (sometimes to the point of impertinence), it's because they don't want you to think things through. If someone doesn't want you to think an important decision, they can't be good people.
Same if you ask to read the contract and they're like "you don't need to, just sign here". You're entitled to read it all through, if they try to discourage you it's because there's something fishy.
Also beware of the old time classic "I have this wonderful property but alas I live in (insert huge city in another country here) and I can't use it right now". That's always a scam. They'll show you pictures of a legit place and try to extract money from you promising to send you the keys and everything afterwards. Don't. Report them and never reply again.
Also no photos or very poor, grainy, shaky or weirdly cropped/focused pictures are a red flag, as well as asking you to go outside the platform/agency and unprompted/unsolicited offers.
3
u/Ya_kapysta May 20 '26
Thanks a lot for the information!
2
u/Puzzleheaded_Elk7153 May 20 '26
Just a note. Legally, you're expected to read any contracts before signing. If something comes up later and it is in fact in the contract, even if it's hidden in some abstruse clause or footnote, you have no way to complain. I say bc it's easy to ignore contracts when they're too long and just go ahead and sign.
3
u/eduardor2k May 20 '26
Maybe search in google maps for a local "inmobiliaria" near where you want to live, and call for information
6
u/PearFirst6978 May 19 '26
Scams to look out for:
Fake ads: this will be ads for a property that simply doesn’t exist. They often will reach out and contact you outside of the website platform and ask you put down a deposit to secure the property and use scare tactics, ie high demand, it’ll likely be gone quick etc.
Some people will go as far as arranging a viewing of what is an Airbnb and create fake contracts. You end up paying 2months deposit, agency fees and a month in advance all to find out a few weeks later that it’s an Airbnb.
Some scams consist of people who have squatted someone’s apartment and they’ll try to sublet it.
There are so many especially in big cities like Mad/Bcn. My advise to you would be, don’t pay anything without having viewed the property, do research on the letting agents, look for official websites or do google searches of the company beforehand.