Hello all,

In October I plan to move to Pontevedra, Galicia to do a culture and language exchange through the Department of Education in Spain. I’m starting to think about finding an apartment for my boyfriend and I and I have a few concerns.

I’ve been looking at the website http://www.segundamano.es for apartment listings to get an idea of the price of an apartment in that area. Is this a good source to be looking? I currently live in San Francisco, California and the price of a one bedroom apartment is well over US $1,200 or about 950 Euros. So, I was pleasantly surprised to see a 2 bedroom flat in the city of Pontevedra for about 375 Euros. However, I know from looking at a similar rental website in the US, http://www.craigslist.org, that there are many scams posted on the website. What are the kind of scams or signs of a scam that I should be looking for? Are any people in Galicia or nearby that might know if this is a reasonable price for an apartment? Is it normal for an apartment to come furnished? How much can I expect to pay in deposit fees? Do landlords usually require a year or 6 month lease, or is it normal to pay month by month? Do landlords usually pay for garbage, water, electricity and other utilities?

Any help or suggestions or even just a run down on how renting in Spain works would be greatly appreciated!