And she also told me to go check out a site http://movingtobarcelona.com/accommodation.shtml This site is really good for advice about coming to live in Barcelona.
During my search through all the rental sites mentioned above, I got a bit annoyed because everything was so expensive and way out of my price range. I decided to turn to Facebook, I thought to myself 'there must be plenty of groups on Facebook for apartment rentals, especially Erasmus pages', I did find a few Erasmus pages and yes...they did have rentals, however, most of the pages are companies that then require searching fees and all sorts of admin costs, basically they make money from you being desperate to find an apartment , one particularly sticks in my mind where they were offering a 'amazing offer of 15€ and they will send you a list of 10 available apartments that fit your criteria' What a rip off, you can find apartments yourself! So I went on, determined to find somewhere, I came across an apartment in one of the free advertising Facebook pages for Erasmus, and it looked a bit rough, but it was within my price range and it was about 20mins walk to my university. 320€ And all bills included. I contacted the person who posed it, all seemed fine when we were talking through Facebook chat, but then she seemed very keen on me sending a deposit, the deposit was only 200€, but she needed that in order to reserve my room for September. I had a look at her profile and there was no photos of herself , only random images she's pulled from the internet, of a cup of coffee? But nothing of her, I noticed shortly afterwards that I was the only friend she had, and the profile was created about 5 days before. I ignored her messages for a day, they kept coming, 'oh I need your deposit', I didn't bother getting back to her, there was something very strange about the whole thing.
I would advise everyone to be careful because I later found out that it's more often than not a trick to get student to pay a small amount of money, so small that you think it's ok, and then, there is no apartment and no money back. You wouldn't want to turn up to a foreign country with no apartment, minus 200€ and have to then rush around to find a hostel for the night! Be very careful.
I found my apartment by going back to the site mentioned earlier www.loquo.com, and this is the best one in my opinion. On the 3rd August I was casually going through the ads and came across an apartment offering one room for 240€ with all bills included! I couldn't believe my eyes! And even better, it's only 36mins walk to my university!! It was a Sunday, and I wasn't expecting a message back straight away, but I got one, and we arranged a Skype call for in a few days to see if we get along. We came to an arrangement that because I'm not in Barcelona and can't view the apartment, I could wait until I arrive and then go to the bank and pay my deposit and rent into her account. In total I paid 600€ because I had to pay a deposit if a month and a half. But compared to how much some student pay, I think I've got a really good deal here! From most Erasmus sites the average prices for a room to rent in an apartment is around 350-550€ some with bills included and some not.
My advice is to shop around and do it now if you haven't already. Try to come to an arrangement like I did, where I didn't pay anything until I arrived. That way you are protected. Most landlords will not allow for this, but it's worth a try....and if you don't ask, you don't get! Good luck!!
