Booking Private Villa Rentals in Spain Direct from Owners
Hundreds of thousands of private villa rentals in Spain can be booked direct from the owners these days, largely thanks to the power of the Internet.
Until Internet use became commonplace in the late 1990s, villa owners wanting to let their properties were forced to use agents or pay for costly adverts in newspapers and magazines. Agents’ commissions and marketing costs were inevitably passed on to the customer so a Spanish villa tended to be something aspired to only by the well-heeled holidaymaker.
It’s a completely different story today and in many popular tourist areas of Spain, villa rentals are far outstripping the hotel sector as the favoured form of holiday accommodation for foreign visitors.
An increasing number of ex-pats, particularly from the UK, are investing in Spanish property specifically with a view to generating income from letting. It’s in their best interests to have tenants for as many weeks of the year as possible so there are some great deals to be had – especially outside the high season months of July and August.
Many of these villa owners now advertise their rental properties on web sites which charge a small annual advertising fee but no commission on bookings. Site visitors contact the owner directly and because there’s no middleman to pay, rental tariffs often represent exceptional value for money.
Dealing directly with owners offers other advantages including the fact that an owner inevitably knows more about the property itself and facilities in the surrounding area than an agent. You’re likely to get a far more personal service from an owner than you are from an agent who may never have visited the property you’re interested in renting.
Private Villa Rentals: key things to remember
So what’s the downside? Well, for a start you have to remember that many villa owners are letting their properties as a sideline – most are not professionals in the letting business so they may not be able to offer the same professional services as those of a letting agency. An agent may, for example, be able to arrange your flights and car hire as well as the villa rental. And you’re more likely to have a wider choice of payment options with an agent, including the chance to pay on line by credit card.
When you’re dealing directly with an owner, it’s vital to check that they have a property manager within easy reach of the villa you plan to rent. Many owners don’t live in Spain themselves so you need to know that there’s someone on the spot to fix any problems that might arise during your visit – leaking taps, power failures, non-flushing loos etc. Get the name and an out of hours phone number of someone who can be contacted in an emergency.
It’s always a good idea to have a chat with the owner on the phone in advance of your visit, rather than just corresponding by email. There’s the occasional shark to be found in most waters and it’s easier to identify one on the phone than it is in an email message.
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