Any country in Europe to rent small apartment online without living there?

[Mani]

See if your target country auctions tax delinquent property. If you search their list you can probably find a vacant unbuildable lot for $300 that still gets mail.

 

[jafo]

If you regularly pay your taxes, I’m pretty sure that they will find an amicable way to address the situation.

 

[Marshal]

Belgium

I second it. And it doesn't matter if you are EU or non-EU national. If you want to register yourself in Belgium, the police have to check that you live at the address provided. Without it you won't be able to get a Belgian residence card/permit. The good thing for EU citizens that once police verify you live at the address they won't bother you again if you don't move to another address. After 5 years you automatically acquire a right of permanent residence. People living in Ireland or UK might find such procedures quite odd I believe

 

[myhand]

People living in Ireland or UK might find such procedures quite odd I believe

not only them

 

[peter taradash]

A friend of mine wanted to rent a place in Switzerland because he wanted to have a Swiss license plate on his car.
He did. Worked fine. Basically, he is legally sharing an apartment with some gorgeous stewardesses and paying 1/5th of the rent. I think he is getting it with benefits.
The rent needed was totally different if he only wanted his name on the mailbox (maybe E150 a month) or much more for a real place to use now & then..., In Italy, he found a place for E200 a month. The deal? For use one weekend a month. Obviously, to get an apartment and leave it vacant all the time for once-in-a-while but anytime on demand use, you'd need to pay the fair value of the apartment.
We did find the cheapest one in Switzerland at $450 a month -a tiny studio. In the course of helping him, we discovered lots of people who were willing to let their apartments be used mainly as a mailing address for various purposes-- but of course, all the smart landlords said they didn't want cops pounding on their doors due to their "tenant" doing illegal stuff. So they wanted to know exactly what was needed and why.
There is nothing illegal about renting an apartment (in person or online) and using it very little (or not at all). And yes it could be done online. I'd be able to help arrange it any time. A lot of landlords would welcome a tenant who paid a year in advance and hardly used the apartment. The same is true for utilities. Lots of people would be glad to put your name on their electric & or internet accounts if you paid them, once again with a year's worth of utility up front. Personally, I don't recommend faking anything if there is any chance of getting into trouble.
In the course of looking, we also found a really nice furnished super-view apartment with a pool in Manila to rent cheap and leave vacant most of the time... We took it ourselves. Good Luck with your search. Peter Taradash /

 

[Marshal]

In the course of looking, we also found a really nice furnished super-view apartment with a pool in Manila to rent cheap and leave vacant most of the time... We took it ourselves.

Is there really any point of having residence in the Philippines? Asking just out of curiosity.

 

[clemens]

A friend of mine wanted to rent a place in Switzerland because he wanted to have a Swiss license plate on his car.

Why Swiss ? Normally Germany has the cheapest cars!

 

[tomboy]

In all EU countries the authorities check if a resident really stays at the address provided. They inspect the property, check utilities, speak with neighbors etc.

No, that's not true.
In Spain no one is checking. In France neither.