Letting Your Property

Equipping Your Property

Holiday makers are no longer content to stay in accommodation that is ill equipped and poorly furnished.  People expect that the quality of their holiday property is of a similar standard to their own home.  We know from personal experience how a poorly equipped and furnished apartment can put a damper on your holiday.

Whilst we wouldn't recommend that you rush out and furnish your property with lots of expensive furniture it is important to ensure that the overall look and feel of your property is clean, comfortable, homely and attractive.

Ensure that your home is equipped with all the items you would expect in your own home e.g. fridge, freezer, washing machine, hob, oven, microwave, toaster, egg cups (we've found many holiday properties lacking in these) can opener, bottle opener etc.  We can give you a full list of recommended items on request.

Make sure that bed and bath linen is of a reasonable quality, no-one wants to use a bath towel that is so thin it hardly dries you (we have experienced this) ensure that there are enough spares to allow for washing and accidents etc. especially if you are letting to people with children and ensure that you have safety features in place like non slip bath mats etc.  Ensure that beds are good quality and comfortable, replace pillows each season, more often if necessary.

Ensure that outside areas like patio's and sun terraces are suitably and comfortably equipped.

Furnishing your property to a high standard will not only attract  'good tenants' and increase potential letting income, it will encourage guests to return again and again and recommend your property to their friends and family.

It is advisable to leave a folder with useful and vital information for your guests.  This should include: who to contact in an emergency, how to contact the emergency services, location of hospitals and medical treatment, information on local amenities, transport etc. and information about local attractions.  You should also include any rules pertaining to the use of your property and its amenities with instructions on where the fuse boxes are, where bins are emptied, how to operate shutters, air conditioning, alarm system etc.

Insurance

If you are letting your property don't forget to inform your insurance company.  Whilst it might increase your premiums slightly and some companies might impose restrictions, it is a false economy not to do so.  Don't forget, if someone injures themselves on your property you could be liable so you don't want to find yourself uninsured.

Buying a Property to Let

Buying a property is nearly always a good investment and offsetting some of the cost by renting the property out makes good sense.  But it is vital to do your homework.

If you wish to rent your property it is essential that your property is well furnished, equipped to a high standard and last but by no means least, in a popular area.

Rental Income

Another important consideration is how much you are going to make in rental income.  We know from personal experience that when buying holiday property the agents will often give you projected income figures which sound very attractive.  We also know from personal experience that you have to be very lucky indeed to rent your property for this amount of time.  Even Spain has a tourist season. 

It is always beter to be safe rather than sorry and don't overstretch your finances when buying a property abroad.  We strongly recommend that you don't buy based on projected rental income.  Yes, by all means plan to offset some of your costs by renting your property but please don't depend on it to pay the mortgage.  Your home in Spain should be a pleasure, not a noose around your neck.  Be realistic.  Talk to other property owners, buy one of the many property magazines available and call some of the owners and find out realistically how much you can expect to make from renting your property.

Short Term Holiday Rental

By far the safest way to rent out your property is on a short term holiday let called arrienda de temporada.  These contracts do not give the tenant any right to stay in the property and require the tenant to vacate the property at the end of the specified period.  Rental contracts need to be headed Por Temporada which means short term only. The other advantage is that the rental income is higher and it is paid in advance.

Most properties in Spain are part of some form of community and it is important that you make your tenants aware that they are bound by the rules of the community or urbanization.  If your tenants cause disruption with their behaviour the community can serve notice on you to control the situation.  It won't do your popularity rating with your neighbours any good either.

If you are letting the property yourself it is always wise to insist on a security deposit, refundable after the property has been inspected for damage by your agents. 

There is no foolproof way of ensuring that you only let to 'good' tenants but from experience we have always found that having by talking to the prospective tenant and asking questions about them e.g. what sort of holiday and entertainment will they be looking for, who is going to be in the property with them etc. can give you an idea of the type of person you are renting to.  That said, it is rare for people to cause willful damage to your property.  We personally rented a holiday property for 9 years and never experienced any problems.