Housing Questions

Hello,
Those are quite a few questions... But I'll try to answer all of them:
1) Legal requirements for renting: none, but it would be of great help if you at least have a Chilean ID, which you get from the Servicio de Impuestos Internos.
2) Customary deposit: 1 month rent.
3)Furnished vs. unfurnished: It is easier to find unfurnished apartments, but at least in Santiago, de availability of furnished properties is increasing rapidly.
4) Customary lease length: 1 year, but very variable.
5) How to find apartments: the first alternative is to visit certain websites (emol.cl & portalinmobiliario.com are the biggest). The second alternative is to talk to the porters at the buildings you like. If you will start looking from abroad it may be better to ask for help from a real estate agent/relocation company.
6) You can find rental agencies over the internet. However, there is no legal requirement to become a real estate agent in Chile, which means you can never be very sure about the quality of service you will receive. You could ask for recommendations via InterNations or Facebook's Find in Chile group.
7) Normal sequence of events: look for properties over internet/visiting buildings -> visit properties and negotiate price and conditions with landlord/real estate agent -> sign contract at the notary, pay deposit and first month's rent, receive keys.

A few details to keep in mind:
- Do get an inventory with pictures when signing the contract and receiving the keys, otherwise you will probably never get your deposit back.
- Although there are no legal requierements to rent properties, most real estate agents usually ask for various different papers, which as an expat you will not have. As a result, you have to end up paying various months/one year rent in advance.

If you have any more questions, you can contact me directly via [email protected]. I'm a real estate agent in Santiago - always happy to help exapts negotiating in Chile!