Finding an apartment to rent

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In this guide you will find helpful articles about the rather over-complicated process of renting an apartment in Uruguay. This article however is intended to help people in their very first step on the accommodation ladder - the initial search for a place to rent.

In a world where almost everything seems to be available online, Uruguay can feel like a bit of a desert. Although it is improving (slowly), most things are still done in an old-school manner...in-person transactions and notices in windows rather than online. This can make it difficult to know what is available, where, for how long, for how much, and under what conditions. Especially when you are searching for help in English.

In order to find the right place you need to first know what you're looking for...you can't find the answer if you don't ask the question. So...

• How long do you want to rent for?
  
  • a week? a month? 3 months? 6 months? a year? The time you expect to rent for makes a big difference in Uruguay so you need to know.

• What kind of accommodation do you need/want?
  
  • Do you want a house or an apartment?
    
  • How many bedrooms do you need?
  • Do you need a place with furniture?
    
    
• In what area do you want to stay?
  
  • In Montevideo? What barrio (neighborhood) would you prefer?
    
  • Outside Montevideo? Along the coast? In the interior?
    

1. How long do you want to rent for?

Renting in Uruguay is quite different to renting in the USA or Europe.

If you are looking for a very short-term vacation rental (anything from a week to a month) then you should not be contacting a realtor because a) they probably won't have anything for you, and b) they charge a very big commission which will drastically increase the cost of your accommodation.

Most realtors (called "inmobiliarias" in Uruguay) will not have anything available for periods less than 3 months, a very small number of realtors used to dealing with foreigners may have 1 or 2 apartments available for 3 or 6 month periods (but VERY few). Realtors here deal mainly in unfurnished apartments available for one-year lease.

2. What kind of accommodation do you need?

Although it is good to remain open to recommendations and to be flexible to what it available, it is also important to at least know what basics you need or want in a property.

• Do you have specific needs? Does it have to be wheelchair accessible?
  
  
• Do you have a preference as to which floor? Many of the apartment blocks are high-rise buildings. Do you want a great view? Are you afraid of heights?
  
  
• How many bedrooms do you need?
  
  
• Do you require air-conditioning or heating? (because a lot of buildings in Uruguay are not fitted with these facilities and the winter months can be quite cold and the summer months quite hot...and you cannot open the windows during high summer because of mosquitoes).
  
  
• Will you need a furnished apartment? Furniture is expensive, and not of great quality, but If you plan to stay a long time it will be cheaper to buy some basic furniture and rent an unfurnished place. **Note that "unfurnished" here really means unfurnished. You will move in to a shell of an apartment without any appliances, often without light fittings or electrical sockets fitted! So keep in mind if you are moving here permanently or semi-permanently and plan to rent or buy - I would strongly recommend bringing some good quality furniture and even nice light fittings...things are poorly made and very overpriced here.
  

3. In what area do you want to stay?

I know it can be difficult to find information about Uruguay online, but to the best of your ability you need to become acquainted with the area and get an idea of what barrio would be best suited to you.

There is an overview of a few of Montevideo's central barrios in this guide. You may also use our forums to discuss with locals and expats alike and ask their opinions and experiences.

At the very least you should know the location of the different barrios so that when searching through property websites and listings you know where the places are. Familiarize yourself with a map of Montevideo (use google maps if you're stuck), and you may find my blog post helpful.

Short-term rentals (1 week - 3 months)

If you are seeking an alternative to a hotel for a few weeks or a place to stay for a month or 2 just to get a feel for the place then these are your main options. You should note that it would be rather unusual to pay a security deposit on a very short-term rental, this more often applies to longer term leases (6 months and over), however short-term rentals are still a fairly new idea and many landlords here are very wary.

However these services listed below are quite used to foreigners, if you choose to use a more conventional agent they will probably display the usual "Uruguayan-isms" demanding everything be done the traditional way.

Living In Montevideo: Doug Heller runs a service to find a place that will suit your needs. Whether its a few days or a few months he seeks out suitable apartments in the central neighborhoods of Montevideo.

www.mvdapartments.com: This is a very comprehensive listing of all the short-term accommodation options in Montevideo. Here you will find everything from hostels, hotels and guest houses to short-term apartments and vacation rentals in Montevideo

Reynolds Properties: This realtor lists some apartments for short-term rental, mostly one month but some available for as little as a week.

Sunrise Apartments: (website in Spanish) The Sunrise Apartments are located in Pocitos. They offer apartments by the day, week or month.

Pocitos Apartments: This website offers a selection of apartments in the same building available for daily, weekly, or monthly periods.

Buscando Casa Vacaciones: (website in Spanish) Under the "vacaciones" section you will find apartments available for short-term periods, although mostly during high season only (December-March). It is a good way to get an idea what is out there at what prices so you can shop comparatively.

Within Montevideo there are an increasing number of businesses and individuals catering to travelers seeking short-term accommodation alternatives to hotels. Outside Montevideo however these assistance services are much less common so the search can be tougher. Some places along the coast that attract tourists (such as Piriapolis, Atlantida, Punta del Este, Jose Ignacio, La Pedrera and Punta del Diablo) have apartments or cabins to rent.

Buscando Casa Vacaciones (in Spanish) under "vacaciones" select the place ("lugar") where you wish to stay and for what time period and it will show you a range of options. This website, although certainly not perfect, is one of the best comparative real-estate/accommodation websites in Uruguay.

Portal Del Diablo: If you wish to take a trip up north to Punta del Diablo and wish to rent a cabin or house this is the best place to seek out prices and availability.

Punta Del Este Rentals: A website listing short-term rentals in Punta del Este

Long-term rentals (6months +)

Renting for this period of time changes your options completely. If you plan to stay for quite some time it will be very expensive to rent an apartment aimed at short-term tourists (although it is a significantly simpler process to rent those apartments).

When renting for 6 months or longer you are unfortunately facing the challenges of everyday life in Uruguay and there are many conditions attached. For more detailed information you can read our article on what to know when renting in Montevideo.

6 month period rentals are on the borderline. You may still rent a tourist-friendly apartment that may or may not request a security deposit from you but their rental prices will be expensive. If you are living on a more modest budget you will have to look elsewhere. Only a few inmobiliarias will offer 6 month rentals so you will have to be willing to shop around.

Here's the way it usually works:

- Furnished apartments ("apartatmentos inmuebles") are not the norm in Uruguay. Furniture is expensive and landlords are wary because the laws very much protect the tenants so the majority choose to rent out their apartments completely unfurnished. Longer-term rentals with furniture are not impossible to find but there is not a great selection.

- You will be expected to pay a fairly large security deposit. For a year long lease the legal limit they may request is 5 months, but you will find many owners may request that you have a similar property as collateral or that you pay anywhere up to 10 month security deposit in to a joint account in Banco Hipotecaria. This is probably the biggest challenge when renting here. [Note from Lee in Pocitos. I would drop any inmobiliaria that says the deposit is more than 5 months like a hot potato. If they know you don't have property to use for security they should not show you anything requiring that.]

- It is rare to rent directly from the owner here, everyone seems to go through an inmobiliaria. As such you will end up paying a commission (even if they're not very nice to you!). The general rule is 10% for a 3 month rental, 1/2 month rent for a 6 month period, and 1 month rent for a year-long lease. You can usually have the lease writing for the first period (6 months or year) and an option for another equal period. You have nothing to lose with the option in your lease!

When looking to rent an apartment in Montevideo for 6 months or a year this is the best way to go about it. Firstly know the answers to the questions above - know what you're looking for! Then use these websites to get an idea what is available:

Buscandocasa.com this website seems to have the most comprehensive listing of properties and is a very good place to get a general idea of prices in the different areas ("barrios") of Montevideo. On this site you will find the most detail - photos, what heating system if any etc. Personally I found it to be the most helpful.

Gallito.com This is the online version of the classifieds ads from El Pais newspaper. The print version is available on Sunday with El Pais but the updates don't go online until Monday.

Pilar Quartino Inmobiliaria: Their website lists a few apartments for rent in Montevideo (usually more upscale areas and prices to match). In my experience I can't say they have the friendliest disposition but that is not uncommon in Uruguay as tenants are treated with a great deal of skepticism. They have rented to many foreigners, are well known among the expat community and they do offer some nice properties.

Mundo Anuncio: (in Spanish) Under "Viviendas-Locales" you will find some apartments for rent but also shared living spaces. If you are looking to share an apartment with a Uruguayan this is a good place to look.

Good luck, and let us know how you get on...your experience helps others, and each time the process gets a little easier.

Here's an interesting account taken from Ola Uruguay, detailing the story of how one expat started out on their apartment search.....

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For the nonspellers: Urugauy and Monte Video is Montevideo (monte-vid-day-o), real estate agents are "Inmobiliaria", and of course Uruguay is not spelled Uraguay. 4920

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