Best Areas of Barcelona to Live in

Best Areas of Barcelona to live in

Barcelona is a vibrant and diverse city that offers something for everyone. If you’re thinking about moving to the city and looking for the best areas to live in, you’ll have plenty of options to choose from. Here are some of the most popular and desirable neighborhoods in Barcelona that are worth considering:

El Born
El Born is a charming and historic neighborhood located in the heart of the city. This area is known for its narrow streets, picturesque plazas, and colorful buildings. It’s also home to some of the best restaurants, bars, and shops in the city, making it a great place to live if you’re looking for a lively and diverse community.

Eixample
Eixample is a spacious and upscale neighborhood located just north of the city center.

This area is known for its beautiful tree-lined streets, impressive architecture, and high-end shops and restaurants. It’s also home to some of the city’s most iconic landmarks, including the Sagrada Familia and the Casa Batllo.

Gracia
Gracia is a bohemian neighborhood located just north of Eixample. This area is known for its independent shops, bars, and restaurants, as well as its strong community feel. It’s also home to some of the city’s most colorful streets and plazas, making it a great place to live if you’re looking for a more relaxed and laid-back lifestyle.

Barceloneta

Barceloneta is a lively neighborhood located on the beach, just east of the city center. This area is known for its seafood restaurants, bars, and nightlife, as well as its proximity to the beach. It’s a great place to live if you’re looking for a more coastal lifestyle and enjoy the beach.

Ultimately, the best area to live in Barcelona will depend on your personal preferences and needs. Whether you’re looking for a lively and diverse community, a more relaxed and laid-back lifestyle, or a more suburban lifestyle, there’s a neighborhood in Barcelona that will suit your needs. It’s important to visit the different neighborhoods and explore for yourself before making a decision.

Come discover the offers of Ruby Realties present in these neighborhoods. Feel free to reach out and ask us for anything more
information you may need at + 34 937 975 602

in Blog Posted by rebecca

Top 3 tips for Renting a Room in Barcelona

Barcelona is a cosmopolitan city where you can create many relationships. One of the ways to form a new friendship is through co-living. As it is quite expensive to rent a flat alone, renting a room is the perfect way to have fun, save money and enjoy social life with people from all over the world.

TIP 1– Look at description of the flat
Avoid surprises by carefully reading all of the advert. Taking into consideration important questions; Are charges included? Is there a washing machine? Nearby transport? Are pets allowed? Do you have an elevator?
nb. If you rent a property, it is essential that you take photos of the condition of the property when you move in and when you leave and send it via email on the date of capture. This can help you resolve issues that may arise when your lease expires.

TIP 2– Relationships are key
Rooming can be the best experience of your life as well as the worst. To avoid any problem, meet all the residents, know what they do in life and what they like. Relevant questions are; Are they the same age as you? Do they have the same interests? Are you all people who like to party or do you prefer quiet living? Are they tidy? A good personality match will make for a better rooming experience

TIP 3- Watch out for scams
Do not rent your room until you are actually in the city and can visit the place. If the thought of finding your room when you arrive can be comforting, it may not always be what you were hoping for. Some online adverts do not reflect the actual appearance of the apartment. Visit the flat before making an offer. Be realistic and don’t let yourself be seduced by bargains.

Wishing you best of luck and if you decide you prefer to rent an entire flat please don´t hesitate to contact Ruby Realties for our selection of mid term flats. + 34 937 975 602

in Blog Posted by rebecca

Agency fees

Today we’re talking about the agency fees in different countries.

What are these costs for, how do they work, and who should pay them?

Going through an agency and paying theses fees allows you several things, firstly: security.

By signing a lease with an agency, you can be sure that everything is in order and that you will not have any problem with your landlord or the agency. This also helps protect your deposit, when you go through an agency, your deposit is entered in a register and you keep proof of it.Another important point is the number of properties for rent which is specified to go through an agency. Finding a rental without an agency offers you even less security, choice and possibility.

Depending on the country, the agency fees for the rental are different, and are not always paid by the landlord.

Spain: the cost is usually paid by the tenant. If the lease is less than a year, the usual service charge is equal to one month’s rent, plus 21% value-added tax. The service fee for renting for more than one year is 10% + 21% value-added tax of the annual rent.

Of course, it depends of the agency, but usually this is how the renting market works in Barcelona.

USA between 8 – 12% of the monthly rental value of the property, like in Spain.

France, the agency fees paid by the tenant are fixed according to the size in square meters of the apartment, as well as its geographical position. However, there is a law which allows not to exceed a certain ceiling.

Germany: there is no agency fees for the tenant, but for the landlord, who commissions the agent to find a new tenant.

if you want to rent out your property but are hesitant to go through an agency, be aware that this represents an additional cost at the start, but it saves you time and peace of mindDo not hesitate to contact us by phone or email, we answer all your questions

in Uncategorized Posted by rebecca

How to find your property manager

Your rental property is your livelihood, so you’ll want to take the proper steps to make sure you’re hiring the best manager to oversee it. Hiring the wrong person can lead to increases vacancies and lost rent.

You wouldn’t rent your property without screening the tenant first, and you should be just as thorough in choosing your property manager.

Barcelona’s reputation is well established. Young workers, students, and even families come to the city all year round seduced by the Barcelona lifestyle .

This demographic usually prefer/can only afford to rent a property rather than to buy it and it’s why the rental market in Barcelona is expanding.

Managing your property from abroad can be very difficult, if you decide to let a company manage your property, here are several tips for you to choose the good one.

1: Ask your colleagues or friends for Referral.

Asking people about their experience is a great way to help you to choose the good company. However, try to ask to several people to be sure you’re not facing someone who was lucky or unlucky.

2: Do your own research online.

Do some research online. You can check property managers you’re already considering, as well as find new names.

Once you have a few names, check each management company’s website, including mission statements. Look for reviews on sites like Yelp or Facebook. Focus on the reviews from owners, if a tenant is disgruntled about not having their deposit returned, remember that is a positive for an owner as the manager is protecting the asset.

3:Contact the companies you’re interested in.

Of course, contact the company seems logical, but make sure you’re asking the good questions such as:

What is your management fees and what do they include?

Will I have one point of contact?

How many properties do you manage?

Do you have a 24-hour number for emergency?

Will they offer services while the flat is empty? What services will they include?

Will they be in charge of taxes, cleaning, community fees, insurance?

Do they have a protection service to avoid squatter?

Other important questions to consider are:

What is the procedure to protect the property from damages?

How much money do you require in reserves for emergencies?

What items or dollar amount repairs will you cover before contacting me?

Will you handle court proceedings if a tenant has to be evicted?

The best property company will be one that will combine a very good responsiveness to problems, with experience, and which offers reasonable prices as well as a personal relationship with owner and tenant

Ruby Bcn is one of the only management companies in Barcelona that offer a full and comprehensive service for 8.33% per month. They include:

Collecting the rent
Creating and registering rental contract
Security anti squatters
Emergencies management 24/7
Cleaning services
Laundry services
Maintenance of properties

Ruby also offer to look after empty homes with an a la carte list of services at your disposal.

For more details see the web https://rubybcn.com/ or call +34 937 975 602 or email to [email protected]

in Uncategorized Posted by rebecca

Properties costs

Whether you’re a landlord or a renter, knowing which costs you’re responsible for is essential before signing a rental contract or when unexpected expenses arise, and theses costs can be multiple:

General bills:

Water, gaz, electricity and internet are expenses that the landlord can be responsible for, but depending of your contract, it is possible that the tenant has to take care of it.

Insurance and maintenance/repairs

Each party, landlords and tenants have to be insured to benefit from protection in the event of disasters like fire or burglary.

When something in the property is broken or don’t work anymore, Unless the damage was caused by the tenant, the landlord will assume the repair or replacement. The landlord must prove that the tenant did indeed cause the damage if he wants not to pay. one of the best ways a tenant can protect themselves is to make a photo-based inventory of all the small imperfections their let has as soon as they move in and to share it with the landlord.

Community fees

If the property is in a complex with communal spaces such as gardens and swimming pools then “gastos de comunidad” can easily amount to €100 a month. Usually, the landlord pay for it, but can easily put the rental price higher to justify it.

Security fees

You maybe want to install an alarm in your property, and it represents also a cost each month to get your home safe.

Taxes

IBI is a municipally levied tax and varies widely from one municipality to another and from one type of property to another.

IBI is in most of the case, payed by the landlord.

if your property remains empty for all or part of the year the Spanish Tax Office taxes the potential income your property could produce if it was rented. Let his property empty could be a real problem becauses of theses taxes.

All of theses running costs can be disturbing, it’s why it’s can be interesting to be helped by a property management company. They help you in the administrative part about taxes and costs, and must of all, they are charged to find you a fiable tenant quickly, covering Advertising, and Creating and registering rental contract. It´s a good way to rent your property without losing your time with relative issues.

A property sale manager usually costs around 8 percent of the rent each month.

in Uncategorized Posted by rebecca

How to avoid scam

If you are not ready to enter the market, then your rental experience may become a real disaster. For everyone who wants to successfully rent a place without dealing with fraud and its dark schemes, it is necessary to have some basic knowledge about scammers and their tricks. We have prepared a list of ultimate tips, which will teach you how to find rental scammers while looking for your ideal residence, and prepare to train you to be a real rental expert.

Dealing in cash

The most popular way to perform black money operations is to work only with cash. For scammers, the reason the handling of actual dollars is so important is that the money cannot be traced at all. Therefore, once you pay them for a comfortable new place, they can spend your money all around the world

However, you can rent by cash but it must be explicitly written on a contract to make sure both parts agree with this and sign.

Do a visit before

It’s quite important to visit the property you’re interested in before signing any papers. See if the flat/house really matches with the pictures is primordial. It seems logical to do it but it’s really important for people who try to rent a house in another city during the relocation process. Basically, even if this happens, you should make sure that your friends, family members or trustees visit the landlord’s unit and conduct an inspection.

Always sign a written lease.

A written lease signed by both parties allows you to be safe about frauds and scam. Don’t forget to get a copy of it, like the landlord.

Sub leasing is not always a good idea

Subleasing can be very dangerous because in most cases, you don’t know if the current tenant is allowed by the landlord to do a sublease. the landlord can evict both of you if the sub-lease is forbidden by the original contract. Subleasing could be very attractive in terms of price and flexibility but it’s still a dangerous way to rent.

We also advise you to check the market prices before making a decision. Some flats don’t deserve the price they ask for it and you could maybe not realize it. So, make some research on the internet about the real prices in the city/neighborhood you’re looking for.

You’re now ready to rent a unit without any risks !

https://rentberry.com/blog/avoid-rental-scams

in Uncategorized Posted by rebecca