Bought a property and need advice ....
 

Hi all,

Looking from advice from anyone who rents their own property out in Spain. I appreciate I cannot advertise it on here. We keep getting conflicting advice about how to do it and to be honest starting to feel a little stressed.

I'm also puzzled at the differences in rental prices. A similar apartment to ours is showing at almost double with all the well known holiday booking website for 4 adults a week in July compared to the price we were quoted by the rental branch of estate agent that we purchased from. How can it possibly be so different ?

Also aware that there are rental sites we could advertise on ourselves but unsure re. Arranging cleaning services, key handover and maintenance .

Also wondering where the best place is to purchase electrical goods near peurto banus?

We have bought one to rent in aloha near to peurto banus and one for us to use at Duquesa Marina.

Looking forward to enjoying some Spanish sunshine and lovely new experiences.


We are total newbies and needing good advice.

Thanks in advance

😎

Re: Bought a property and need advice ....
 

Hi and a warm welcome to the Spanish forum on BE. Myself and Fred James are the moderators for the Spanish forums whilst BEVS moderates Europe. Moderators are there to ensure that the site runs smoothly within the rules of BE. This is so that members gain the information that they are looking for and find their experiences on the forums to be friendly and worthwhile.

Problems and complaints should always be addressed to a moderator who will look into the matter and deal with it efficiently and fairly. Our members who post in the Spain Forums are usually friendly and helpful with a wealth of knowledge about the issues of living in Spain. I hope that you enjoy your time participating in the forums.

Please let me know if you need any further help.

Rosemary

Re: Bought a property and need advice ....
 

If you are not going to be available to do the preparation, cleaning, laundry, guest greeting and post rental property inspections yourself then your best bet is to find a decent letting/management agent. Expect to pay between 10-12% of each rental and possibly a retainer to the agent plus the charges for laundry and cleaning (which you can probably pass on). Incidentally, this may be the reason for the difference in rental prices : one price may be fully loaded and the other may require all the add-ons. The other reason may be location, location, location.


The trick is to get a good, honest agent. You will need to go by reputation and recommendations as there are loads of sharks out there. Good luck with that.


You should also expect that renters will have no respect for your property so make sure you get a deposit and a proper inspection before returning it. It is a good idea to delay refunds until a decent interval since a hurried look round before handing back the deposit on the changeover day often misses the real damage - guests can be really crafty and inventive in covering their tracks.


Also make sure you have a good landlord rental and since April this year you must register your rental property (and pay tax on the income). This is a wheeze thought up by the hotels to discourage private renters who were eating into their market, and they lobbied the junta very hard to get this law enforced.


Work with the agent on marketing and promotion. Make sure you have good enticing photos of the property - it is often a good idea to get some professional shots done - but good shots with a wide-angle lens and suitable lighting to make your rooms look cosy and inviting and show off your property to best advantage. TripAdvisor is where people look to judge your property so it is vital to get some good reviews early on. Incidentally TripAdvisor also have a holiday lettings subsidiary which I believe is quite good [note I have no commercial relationship with them]

Re: Bought a property and need advice ....
 

Thanks Mike that's all really helpful. We are lucky as our research paid off and we feel we have picked a great real estate who hooked us up with great lawyer. (Lots of great reviews award etc online) We are good with the legal stuff due to research and OH Is a solicitor.
Yeah we need to work (unfortunately) in sunny Scotland so need to trust someone else to do all the rental stuff.
We don't get keys for a few weeks and needing some work done first. My oh family road testing it for us mid July so that gives us time to decide on who to use and promotion etc. Will probably in addition to professional help I will get my own website and as you say get good photos (looking forward to that bit) and will get glossy plastic flyer and hand into golf courses in my area as apartment right in golf valley. Been advised to get it onto NHS net and police , other intranets .

We've sorted out Spanish bank accounts and have both had businesses here in the past and I rent a house here so used to self assessments etc bit will ensure we get good accountant to advise on Spanish side of stuff. Also been advised the get Spanish Will to incorporate both houses.
Heading out for a week June to sort it all out and research companies and packages offered . Thanks again � ����

Re: Bought a property and need advice ....
 

My advice would be to use one of the main holiday rental sites (like HomeAway) for a number of reasons. HomeAway is the number 1 holiday rental site and gets way more business than any other. They also take credit card payments which gives the holiday maker bags more confidence.

Having your own site is great but it won't appear on the first page of a Google search (unless it's really good!) and you, as an individual, probably won't be able to take credit card payments online.

I would find an agent (or an individual) who can do the whole raft of tasks - meet&greet, changeovers (cleaning etc.), pool maintenance (if appropriate), minor property maintenance, alarm company interface etc. and basic key holding.

Re: Bought a property and need advice ....
 

I know people who rent out properties in that area

If you arent personally going to be in the country then you need to hire a holiday lettings company to manage every aspect for you. They will charge between 30-50% of the rental price and will tell you how much to rent out the holiday lets for. Alternatively some holiday lettings companies will pay you a fee for the entire year and then charge the holiday makers whatever they like, but your property has to be very desirable for them to do that

Holidays makers need a lot of hand holding. What happens if the Wi-Fi goes down, or there is an electricity cut, or they lose their luggage, or someone needs to go to the hospital? They expect to being to call the landlord to sort this out for them

And secondly, holiday lets need to be immaculate and very organised for when new holiday makers arrive so turn around days are a lot of hard work and very stressful. Who can you trust to do that?

Re: Bought a property and need advice ....
 

Thanks for replies.
Yeah sorry I meant I would do a website in addition as I had been told if I get rentals on my own efforts then commission fee from rental company is reduced for those dates ?? Having said that it's a big learning process for us and I guess it's going to be a work in progress.

Yeah I worry re. Hen and stags but also know that's beyond my control.

Cheers guys. Really appreciate.

Re: Bought a property and need advice ....
 

Homeaway may be the #1 in Britain , but airbnb is the world's largest with by far the most traffic. It's worth pointing out that limiting your marketing to British guests is well, limiting. Besides, Germans and Scandinavians have a well-deserved reputation for being tidy and respectful.

You need not hire a "professional" firm to manage your property. Some of them are disasters and can actually scare clients away. There are plenty of trustable individuals who can do the job for a lot less money. Ask around or it an ad up in the local rag.

Re: Bought a property and need advice ....
 

Cheers. Totally take that all on board. Yeah it's a Scandinavian company that we bought from and they rent too (mainly to Scandinavians). I'm happy to rent to any nationality tbh ;)

Re: Bought a property and need advice ....
 

It came into effect yesterday and they are expecting over 20000 registrations.

The Junta expects an avalanche of some 20,000 of tourism apartments - Spain news in English

Re: Bought a property and need advice ....
 

Cheers for that. Sent to OH to digest .

Re: Bought a property and need advice ....
 

Well I hope you are the exception that proves the rule but conventional wisdom says never, ever use a lawyer introduced by your estate agent. The fact that your OH is a solicitor will help but, of course, the law is quite different in Spain.


I note that your property is on/near golf courses so you can expect a very different seasonal market. Many Scandinavian, and of course Brit, golfers choose to visit in the cooler months. They are often single sex parties so it is a good idea to furnish with single beds - which can be pushed/zipped together for couples. So make sure your marketing efforts reaches these European and even Russian markets. Great way to extend your season.


BTW - I know things vary from place to place but I think Cricketman (above) estimates are at the top end. We never paid more than 12% plus an annual management fee of €400 - and the management company did everything, although their changeover inspections were a bit cursory which is why I warned about this previously.


It's also worth noting that registration, which has just come into force as Fred says (above), is not just a formality. The property must comply with a number of specific things, eg smoke/fire alarms, emergency exits clearly marked, fire extinguishers, fire blankets in the kitchen plus the property must have a minimum of features, comforts and facilities which the tourist might expect. You should go online and see what the requirements are. The hotels want to make private renting expensive and force casual rooms out of the market and they seem to have done a good job in the regulations. We have stopped renting (and you cannot even take money from family and friends any more unless you are registered).

Re: Bought a property and need advice ....
 

Lol I had researched lawyer before I did anything else. Researched in full ;) coincidently my estate agent recommended same one . My OH is suspicious beyond suspicious so that helps ;)

Re: Bought a property and need advice ....
 

My own lawyer in Scotland has also worked with our Spanish lawyers firm several times in past and found them very professional. This also put us at ease.

Re: Bought a property and need advice ....
 

Hey I need to add I was duped years ago when attempting / planning to emigrate to NZ. This past experience helps keep you alert but I'm aware this is all tricky to negotiate without problems.

Re: Bought a property and need advice ....
 

I use HomeAway with their 'basic' package. As well as in UK they have dedicated sites in France, Spain, America, etc. etc. which I get as part of that package.

In fact, if you choose their international package, just about everywhere in the world is covered.


Another point, make sure you get and have the necessary licences to trade as Holiday accommodation.

Re: Bought a property and need advice ....
 

Cheers. Will go through all these posts later and write down all the important points for a check list.

Re: Bought a property and need advice ....
 

There's a site called laymyhat.com where people discuss renting holiday homes and many are what you'd call professional B&B and accommodation hosts. They have a view on the pros and cons of the major rental web sites.

On that subject, re creating your own site, unless you want to upload a lot of information about your home that you can't put on the standard letting sites, you're probably going to waste time and money. Your site won't make the first few pages of Google results and hardly anybody gets past the 3rd or 4th page when looking through results, apparently.

Re: Bought a property and need advice ....
 

Cheers for that. Yeah defo want a good company to do it all for us at least the first year till we understand it all a bit better

Re: Bought a property and need advice ....
 

I was more thinking of a website that I can point friends of family towards with special rates. Obviously I'm not sure yet if that's a good idea, kind of thinking out loud ..

Re: Bought a property and need advice ....
 

Have you actually registered the property as a tourist rental yet?

Re: Bought a property and need advice ....
 

No as don't get keys till June 16th and requires a bit of work. I realise the season is ticking on but unfortunately our first choice fell through

Re: Bought a property and need advice ....
 

My apartment is in Andalusia . I think that register opened on 11th may 2016 and we have 3 months ? Am I right in assuming it's similar to my requirements here in regards to a property that I rent in Scotland ? Landlord registered, electricity and gas appliance checks, house in good order etc ?

Re: Bought a property and need advice ....
 

Depends what you include in "etc" ;). I used to rent out a property in Nottingham (it wasn't an HMO) to University students. The legal requirements - eg gas/electricity - were straightforward but the University had their own much higher standards. IMHO the requirements in Andalucía seem to be more stringent than that. Of course, how strictly you adhere to the letter of the law depends on how "Spanish" you are feeling :rofl: as you are very unlikely to be inspected. The only problem would come if you were denounced by a dissatisfied customer or rival

Re: Bought a property and need advice ....
 

Lol ok no probs . We have a great builder and have also both have had businesses in past (good and bad)
Oh is solicitor and I am ex policewoman . I will ensure everything is up to high standard and kept that way. The resort has high rental and demand and rental prices tell me that people expect high spec .
I'm not looking to make lots of money as we both work. It's an investment tbh. If it pays for us to fly out and enjoy on occasion then we will be happy :)

Re: Bought a property and need advice ....
 

They're friends and family. Talk to them! :-)

Re: Bought a property and need advice ....
 

Lol no probs. Was actually meaning a little more distant. Golf club members but take your point ;-)

Re: Bought a property and need advice ....
 

What I do with mine is to say "there's the website, look at availability and then we give a discount for friends and family".

Obviously close family get the use of it for 'free' - we just give them a small shopping list of things to bring over with them.


By-the-way, as I understand it, the tourist licence is just a registration although they might inspect. Google it as there is a good web page that gives exact details of what is expected. Things include minimum size of rooms, gas certificate, heating, etc. etc.

Re: Bought a property and need advice ....
 

Thanks snikpoh, we've bought one at Duquesa Marina which family can use for free. I think they will prefer that one. (I certainly do).