New to Malta.. how to find a decent apartment

Hi,

When I was moving to Malta, roughly 6 month ago, I had also tried to contact agents while still being in my home country but it was all in vine. The real estate market here is hot and at the high season it is difficult to find a rent for a reasonable price. Also, due to the poor regulation and abundance of different kind of scammers it is not advisable to sign any agreements or pay money until you actually view the place.  It took me around 2 weeks to find a rent after I moved here.

Thanks a lot Koko_Malta,

Will check out the site and see what I can do. I was aiming at having some options and advice from agents, and to set up meetings so that everything is ready for me when I physically get there in order to have a smooth transition. Do you think calling any of the agents will put me in a better position to get any responses?

Many Thanks,
Fatima

As mentioned on here many, many times you need to visit agents in person as many of the properties advertised are not actually available, you need to come over and have a good look around and then visit agents, have you visited Malta?
You are wasting your time emailing them as they never answer.

HI Gozo, no never visited Malta before. Thanks for the advice.
Fatima

It won't harm if you do so, I recon. I called, sent emails to agents and whatnot but I can't say that it really helped me.
In my case, I was looking for a small rent for one person under 1k EUR. And this kind of rent is very popular here, so once such offering gets into agencies databases you have to rush to do the viewing because it won't stay on market for a long time if it is any good.
I have not tried to find a rent directly without agencies here because it looked a lot more risky to me. My employer gave me a list of agencies deemed to be trustworthy and one of that agents finally found me a good option and we sealed the deal.

In Malta, when you find a rent though an agency the estate agent acts as a witness to the agreement when you and land lord are signing it. In Malta, it is very important to have a proper rental contract for at least 6 months when you do residence paperwork or open a local bank account.

HI Koko, do you still recall the names of the real estate agencies you connected with?

There's a website with direct contact details of property owners called Noagentfees.com.  It's not incredibly popular but I found my last apartment on there and it gets maybe an update or 2 a day with a new property.

Or this one if you want to rent directly from owner.
https://www.maltapark.com/listings/category/247

Malta Park is ok, however, you will find a lot of "agents" on there still. People will post apartments on there and just send their friend over as the "agent" so you still pay the fees. Sometimes you will find a good property directly from the owner though so it's worth checking, just be prepared to filter through a lot of sh*t first.

I cant thank you enough guys for your help That was super useful.

As someone who despises the preying nature of agents, I found my apartment in Pieta by walking around the streets in just under two days. There was a notice for sale on an apartment, I called, the owner (who mainly lived in the neighbour island of Gozo) answered, and convinced her not to sell but to rent

It helps to zone in on the area you prefer living in and then speaking to the local butcher, grocery guy etc. Until then you can live temporarily in an airbnb.

That was LUCK Hope i can do that and be that lucky!

Uhm no, not luck. I covered real estate as a journalist so was familiar with the concept. If you have difficulty getting through to the agents try exploring the area closer to your work by yourself and ask around.

I moved here over a year ago 5months pregnant with my husband, and never visited Malta so I understand being nervous moving here. I agree with every other poster here agents will not answer any communication until you are in Malta. We rented an Air bnb for just over a month and called Frank and Salt (real estate agency) everyday, there is also Remax (I don’t recommend them though they are hard to get hold of even when you have landed here).
My advice would be to have a deposit, first months rent and all agents charge a fee usually half a months rent to help you find a place. For your own sanity use an agent they are worth the money the landlord has to sign contracts in the office along with you so it is as safe as possible for both tenant and landlord. Keep in mind Valletta is very expensive so if you need to be near there Floriana is good but still pricey, you also have Sliema (again expensive but bigger places) and Gzira (reasonably priced but can be noisy) across the water and you can get the ferry taxi (about €2 per trip).
To rent here you must have a passport and money and leave it in the hands of the agents. Just keep pressure on them, even if you feel like you are annoying them keep going.
Once you have a place here, you can apply for your Maltese ID which I recommend you do as soon as you can. It will make life much easier for you.
Moving is always scary but keep in good spirits Malta is a beautiful country I’m sure you will love it here.

Thanks a lot Dree

Dree1234 wrote:

I moved here over a year ago 5months pregnant with my husband, and never visited Malta so I understand being nervous moving here. I agree with every other poster here agents will not answer any communication until you are in Malta. We rented an Air bnb for just over a month and called Frank and Salt (real estate agency) everyday, there is also Remax (I don’t recommend them though they are hard to get hold of even when you have landed here).
My advice would be to have a deposit, first months rent and all agents charge a fee usually half a months rent to help you find a place. For your own sanity use an agent they are worth the money the landlord has to sign contracts in the office along with you so it is as safe as possible for both tenant and landlord. Keep in mind Valletta is very expensive so if you need to be near there Floriana is good but still pricey, you also have Sliema (again expensive but bigger places) and Gzira (reasonably priced but can be noisy) across the water and you can get the ferry taxi (about €2 per trip).
To rent here you must have a passport and money and leave it in the hands of the agents. Just keep pressure on them, even if you feel like you are annoying them keep going.
Once you have a place here, you can apply for your Maltese ID which I recommend you do as soon as you can. It will make life much easier for you.
Moving is always scary but keep in good spirits Malta is a beautiful country I’m sure you will love it here.

You apply for a e residence card not a Maltese ID which is for Maltese only.

GozoMo wrote:

You apply for a e residence card not a Maltese ID which is for Maltese only.

A little pedantic lol. Everybody just calls them Maltese ID cards, foreigner or not.

Adamazin wrote:

GozoMo wrote:

You apply for a e residence card not a Maltese ID which is for Maltese only.

A little pedantic lol. Everybody just calls them Maltese ID cards, foreigner or not.

They are two different cards, the Maltese one can be used as a passport the residence one cannot.

Adamazin wrote:

GozoMo wrote:

You apply for a e residence card not a Maltese ID which is for Maltese only.

A little pedantic lol. Everybody just calls them Maltese ID cards, foreigner or not.

Just pointing out that they are two different cards, the Maltese one can be used as a passport the residence one cannot.

Adamazin wrote:

GozoMo wrote:

You apply for a e residence card not a Maltese ID which is for Maltese only.

A little pedantic lol. Everybody just calls them Maltese ID cards, foreigner or not.

Everyone doe not call them Maltese ID cards! They may refer to them as ID cards but not many expats use the term Maltese.
It is not a case of being pedantic, it is a case of being correct as they are totally different.