French person wanting to live in Alicante.

@remiproncherypro

Alicante and the Costa Blanca is a good area. We're your neighbours in UNESCO-listed Elche.

It's always possible to find long-term accommodation remotely, but in my experience it has always been a right faff. The easiest option is always to book a sensible short-term option (I use Booking and Airbnb, typically) for a few weeks, and then do your property viewings once you're there. You're an EU citizen, so you can relocate for any reason, and the immigration formalities (EU Citizen Registration Certificate) are straightforward (and don't even need to be done immediately).

Idealista is a very big property site with listings (for sale/rent) all over Spain. It's a great option to research the market, and see what you can get for your budget in different areas, or shortlist some agents. Downtown and nice beaches are substantially more expensive, so there's a pretty wide range from 600 euros ish to 5k euros ish. Idealista has plenty of shares too, so it shouldn't be hard to track down a nice bedroom/apartment somewhere decent.

Personally, I much prefer to get a good job offer, and then rent something nearby, rather rent an apartment and then hope there's a job in the area for me. This is another reason for sticking with easy in/out short-terms rentals. Job-hunting is also easier when you're free to attend the interview and start work, but it might be possible from France, if you prefer.

Good luck!

Hello, thank you for your response.

Yes, it's true that it's doable but not easy. It's also true that having a job lined up in advance would be nice. Finding an apartment in advance would have been great, but following the order you gave me, by getting short-term accommodation until I have a job, will be the least complicated. However, to avoid losing out, I think I'll go through flat-sharing; otherwise, it gets expensive on Booking, haha.