11/08/2026
Yesterday was my birthday, and I thought I’d give myself the best birthday present ever: THE PERFECT RENTAL HOME. 🏡🎂
So, yesterday morning, we went to see this little house that seemed pretty much PERFECT for us. Enough rooms, a terrace, parking, somewhere to keep our bikes, beautifully furnished (which, let’s be honest, is quite a big deal around here because some people have truly horrifying taste in home decor 😁), and even a community pool.
Basically, the whole package.
We loved it.
The agent told us she’d send us a message with the documents we needed to provide, and then… nothing.
Silence.
All day.
Until the evening, when we finally heard back.
In the meantime, we had already gone through all the stages of grief: excitement → hope → confusion → disappointment → “well, obviously we’re not getting this house”. 😕
We also learned a bit more about how renting works here. Apparently, most landlords have an insurance company check potential tenants before approving them. They want to see your employment contract, payslips, NIE, visa, etc. And apparently, your salary should be around three times the rent.
Which is where things get… interesting for us.
We have a company, and we deliberately pay ourselves a relatively low salary so we don’t give half our money away in taxes, while most of the income stays in the company.
Makes perfect sense to us.
Apparently, it makes absolutely no sense to the insurance company. 😂
It doesn’t really matter how much money the company makes or how much money you actually have. They want to see a BIG SALARY on a payslip.
A high salary is basically the Holy Grail of renting here.
Anyway, I sent the agent all the documents we have — proof of what we’ve earned here, plus our salary in Romania (which I’m guessing they’ll find about as exciting as watching paint dry).
And now we wait.
I’m not particularly optimistic, if I’m being honest.
But I’m still hoping. A lot.
Because I really, really loved that little house.
So… fingers crossed. 🤞
Maybe my birthday present is just taking its sweet time getting here. ❤️🏡
