Buying a Spanish Property to Let
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Spain Holidays - ThomasCook.com/spain
Buying a Spanish property to let is now one of the favourite types of investment for foreigners disenchanted with the vagaries of the stock market and keen to cash in on the lucrative and more predictable holiday villa market.
It’s certainly true there’s good money to be made from the letting business as long as you buy the right kind of property in the right location to attract a regular supply of visitors. This may sound obvious but many foreign buyers fail to make money from their holiday homes simply through failing to carry out adequate research into what the majority of renters actually want. If you don’t want to live in your Spanish property or use it for regular holidays, then don’t waste your money buying something that YOU think is ideal – buy what the masses are looking for in a holiday rental.
Spanish Property: choosing the right one
The advice from seasoned holiday property owners is to go as upmarket as you can possibly afford without breaking the bank and don’t skimp on fixtures and fittings. A quality, well equipped villa or apartment with comfortable furnishings can command a much higher rental tariff than a more down market property. It will also attract more visitors and generate far more repeat business (which is where many owners say they generate most of their income).
Most visitors to Spain want their rental property to be close to the sea, within easy access of an international airport with cheap charter flights and within easy driving distance of local shops, bars and nightlife. Consider where your main market lies. The UK currently provides the lion’s share of Spain’s 50 million foreign visitors so even if you’re not British yourself, you ought to be targeting a British audience. So advertise in publications and/or on web sites that specifically target British holidaymakers, buy close to an airport which has charter flights to and from all the main UK airports and buy a property in or near a resort area which is popular with Brits.
Consider by-passing rental agencies and handling bookings yourself via the numerous Internet web sites which specialise in Spanish rental properties. You’ll maximize your rental income by not forking out hefty commission fees which can be as high as 25% or more in Spain. But you’ll need to ensure that you have a good property manager in situ to deal with key handovers, maintenance, cleaning etc.
Finally, don’t forget those little extra touches which make all the difference to renters. Provide a guest book detailing how everything works in your property and giving information about local services, facilities and entertainment. Have a bottle of wine chilling in the fridge and a “welcome pack” containing a few essentials such as drinking water, bread, tea, coffee and milk. Make sure there’s soap and at least one toilet roll in each bathroom and add some nice “smellies” (a small bottle of cologne, shampoo, foam bath) which your female guests will love you for. These things don’t cost much (they can be bought from wholesale suppliers) but they’ll delight your guests. They’ll tell all their friends about you and hopefully return to your Spanish property year after year.
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