Cheap Ways to Furnish a Rental Apartment
When you buy an apartment in Spain with a view to renting it out, you tend to forget that not only do you have to ensure that you can afford the repayments but you should make an allowance to furnish it. You can expect to spend about ten thousand euros to make the apartment ready to rent. Many people use furniture packages as a one stop, less hassle way of doing it. However, if you are prepared to invest time and imagination, you can save yourself a few thousand euros but make it look just as good. I have here some tried and tested methods which have been used by both my friends and myself. Check out the following places and take note of the ideas to make your apartment ready to rent in a competitive market without breaking the bank:
First Stop:
Supermarkets
Okay so the supermarkets may not quite be in the league of our own Asdas and Tescos but there are treasures to be found. Alcampo do a fantastic range of rustic furniture at really competitive prices. A good quality dining room table with four chairs costs about 500 euros and bedside chests of drawers cost about 85 euros. They also have an excellent range of garden furniture and pretty much everything else you need for the house from quilts and bedlinen to ironing boards.
Other supermarkets worth looking at are Eroski and Carrefour. Try to avoid driving back and forwards by getting everything in one trip as you may end up wasting lots of money on petrol. Also look for your most local store. Although, these supermarkets do not usually have a furniture range as such they do have beds and everything else you need to kit out the house.
Don’t forget Lidl. Lidl stores are great here and they always have some kind of promotion on. You can find all sorts of handy things such as cabinets for the bathroom, little cupboards, and bathroom fixtures.
Next Stop:
Leroy Merlin
The DIY Mecca of Spain. You can find so much in this store and it is particularly good for the following:
Lighting
Voiles and ready made curtains as it can be expensive and take time to have them made.
Curtain poles, tie backs etc
Bathroom fittings
Outdoor furniture
Pictures
Mirrors
Rugs
And of course, your local shops for bits and bobs:
Get to know your local area and practise your Spanish by buying as much as possible from the shops in your immediate area. Why pay expat prices? Ask your Spanish neighbours where to go as they know where to find the best bargains. In the pueblos especially, you can find all kinds of little interesting shops in the backstreets selling all kinds of things. The euro and Chinese shops are a must. They sell absolutely everything at unbelievable prices. It is possible to get nearly everything you need from these shops. My local euro shop in Sabinillas even has rustic looking chests of drawers that are ideal for a bedroom.
Cheap Shopping Tricks:
- Make a list of everything that you are going to need.
- Try to buy as much as possible in one go and under one roof to save time and petrol.
- Keep your receipts to stay on track of your spending and in case something is faulty and needs to be returned.
- Stick to inoffensive neutral colours if you want to rent it out. The less is more mentality will not only help potential tenants to imagine living there but will also save you money.
- Do not personalise it if you are not going to be living there.
- Plan one colour scheme that runs through the apartment, this could be cream with hints of red in the form of accessories e.g. cushions, vases etc
- Just buy what is necessary and do not be tempted to fill it with all your old junk. The trick is to be selective.
- Be careful with furniture packages as they can be a false economy.
- Try to make the most of what you already have, perhaps by bring the duplicates of things from your own home in the UK.