Moving to Malta Next Month | Location, Finding Accom

Welcome to the Forum, you should be able to find somewhere this time of year quite easily, it's advisable to have a good look around to compare areas.   Good luck with your search.

Nothing wrong with using an agent when you are here but their websites have mostly properties that are already let as they never remove them. Once here the only disadvantage in using an agent is you have to pay 1/2 of one months rent as a commission (+vat).
I would suggest you spend a week looking around areas and looking in agents windows to get an idea of prices and where you can afford and then look at individual properties in areas you like.
Agents are all asking silly prices and certainly on Gozo not all are getting what they are asking for.

Also consider Gozo if you want better value for money, if you do not need to be in Malta because of your work.
Look on Facebook for property direct from owners although many groups are now monopolised by agent pretending they are not!
Facebay Gozo Properties to Let is one decent one and there are similar for Malta, also try 'Maltapark' website and the property ads on this forum.
Good luck.

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Agents here do not normally do any background checks like they do in the UK, just take your passport and sign the lease, when you get your permanent address apply for your residence card.

Honestly, I was thinking about Gozo - it seems much more tranquil and yes, as I work from home, it's perfectly doable. I'm going to check out that Facebook group. I'm curious to see what sort of prices they have compared to the tourist-y parts of the main island.

There is Victoria and then there are more coastal areas. I would prefer to by next to the sea, but if it's not possible, then that's okay.

As a self-employed person, will I have any barriers re: the residence card? What might I need to produce in order to satisfy their requirements?

I appreciate the assistance thus far. It has proven valuable to me.

Gozo is so small everywhere is not far from the sea, living in Victoria is convenient for shopping
although all villages have shops, the bus service is also very good but parking can be a problem in
Victoria so being walking distance is handy.   
With regards to what you need to obtain your residence card this information has been posted on here many times, living in Gozo you apply in Victoria.
Rental prices have risen a lot on Gozo but still cheaper then Malta, it's advisable to come over for a
holiday and have a look round.

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Ps i live in Go,o and the prices of renting are much lower than that from the mainland of Malta

Hi
You can also try
www.noagentfees.com
Gud luck!

Sorry but I'm not looking to buy / rent over the net. I'm not stupid and I don't fall for sales tactics. Find some other victim.

But to the more productive posters, I've decided that Victoria is the place for me. It's central, administrative, big enough but not too quiet, and sufficiently close to the sea should I need it.

I'm unsure who to approach about properties. I did check out that Facebook group, but most properties were talking about more coastal places, particularly the touristy coastal resorts that I'm intending to avoid.

Waybas wrote:

Ps i live in Go,o and the prices of renting are much lower than that from the mainland of Malta

You might want to update your profile as it says you live in Malta not Gozo!

apexluke wrote:

Sorry but I'm not looking to buy / rent over the net. I'm not stupid and I don't fall for sales tactics. Find some other victim.

But to the more productive posters, I've decided that Victoria is the place for me. It's central, administrative, big enough but not too quiet, and sufficiently close to the sea should I need it.

I'm unsure who to approach about properties. I did check out that Facebook group, but most properties were talking about more coastal places, particularly the touristy coastal resorts that I'm intending to avoid.

On Gozo, nowhere is more than about 5 km from the sea and the only tourist 'resorts' to avoid are Xlendi and Marsalforn, other villages you see on the map that are by the sea do not have access to it because of cliffs.
One thing to be very careful of when choosing an area is the number of holiday lets, there are a lot of them in Gozo and often get used by large groups of very noisy Maltese for parties and holidays.
We had a lovely house in Gharb only to find that what we thought was a block of 6 residential apartments next door were holiday lets, often hired en masse by large groups who partied till 2 or 3 in the morning!

Thanks for that!

So yeah, I put up an ad on a Facebook page and was curious to see how many responses I got for some decent properties!

I guess I have the following decision to make:

1) Arrange the property in advance - that way I can move-in straight away. It comes with the obvious disadvantage of not being able to see the area for myself.

2) Wait to view properties in Gozo. The disadvantage is that I may find a property I like but need to wait 2-3 weeks until it's available for move-in.

In either case, I would go with a licensed real estate agency to legitimize the contract with the landlord etc.

Any advice on the above is much appreciated.

apexluke wrote:

Thanks for that!

So yeah, I put up an ad on a Facebook page and was curious to see how many responses I got for some decent properties!

I guess I have the following decision to make:

1) Arrange the property in advance - that way I can move-in straight away. It comes with the obvious disadvantage of not being able to see the area for myself.

2) Wait to view properties in Gozo. The disadvantage is that I may find a property I like but need to wait 2-3 weeks until it's available for move-in.

In either case, I would go with a licensed real estate agency to legitimize the contract with the landlord etc.

Any advice on the above is much appreciated.

Personally I would go with option 2 rather than risk renting an unknown property in an unknown area.

Insist that the landlord agrees to you being put down as the resident at the property by filling in and submitting form H to ensure being on the correct energy tariff.

In Gozo I would recommend Frank Salt real estate as they are very professional. We have used them twice, though our current property we found direct with landlord through 'Facebay Gozo Properties to Let.'

Whatever you do it's advisable not to agree to rent somewhere without seeing it first, you need to see what the surroundings are like.

F0xgl0ve wrote:

Insist that the landlord agrees to you being put down as the resident at the property by filling in and submitting form H to ensure being on the correct energy tariff.

In Gozo I would recommend Frank Salt real estate as they are very professional. We have used them twice, though our current property we found direct with landlord through 'Facebay Gozo Properties to Let.'

Thanks - I'll check out Frank Salt real estate!

In terms of the form H / correct energy tariff? What does this mean?

As regards form H, it means you get your water and electricity which are on one bill cheaper.

Just a second plug for Frank Salt. Yes, you pay a bit in agent fees, but it was (IMO) worth it. Ended up with a great place and an excellent landlord.

Katya at Frank Salt was incredibly proactive, there was no time wasted viewing rubbish properties and the contract arrangements were greatly simplified. Form H was also not an issue.

We flew out in early September to find a property over a two-week period (coupled with a holiday) and agreed a move in date for 01 November. Best wishes for your move and hope you find a place you love.

Dan

if you are keen on less busy Malta try Siggiewi, its a lot like gozo but with easy access to things when you need  - internet good I have a 500 mbit link, not sure what work you do but the link to gozo isnt all that, fine for TV and general internet usage but if your work relies on very good internet its not advisable I'd say - apparently being upgraded soon though.

many facebook ads around, quicklets are ime the best lot to rent with and their website is even mostly up to date

The majority of Gozo the internet works well, in fact better then we ever had in the U.K.

GozoMo wrote:

The majority of Gozo the internet works well, in fact better then we ever had in the U.K.

Yes. Like I said. “fine for TV and general internet usage” the needs of business are different though and people who work from home are businesses

volcane wrote:

GozoMo wrote:

The majority of Gozo the internet works well, in fact better then we ever had in the U.K.

Yes. Like I said. “fine for TV and general internet usage” the needs of business are different though and people who work from home are businesses

I am quite aware of that, when our family visit so they do not use all their holiday leave up they work from ours.

volcane wrote:

GozoMo wrote:

The majority of Gozo the internet works well, in fact better then we ever had in the U.K.

Yes. Like I said. “fine for TV and general internet usage” the needs of business are different though and people who work from home are businesses

Much of Gozo now has fibre optic and even where it is not available a speed of up to 65Mbps is usually available which should be fine for an individual working from home as that does not normally involve large amounts of data being downloaded.