Pension or property
 

Hi all , advice please , I am able to access limited tax free cash as I am now 55 . Would love to buy a small property for both personal use and as a rental income . Looking at a 1 / 2 bed with community pool for under £40 k . Unsure whether this is will provide a regular income relatively hassle free . Any advice , comments or recommendations welcome folks

Re: Pension or property
 

Welcome to the forum.
several questions which need your answer before a more precise answer can be given.
Are you also going to live in Spain? If so how will you manage the property? Things like cleaning, maintain, meet and greet all need to be done by someone. If not you there will be costs involved.
What location is this property? If you rent out your property on a vacation let model then you will need to apply for a licence. What this entails is dependant on location.
I also think you may need permission for the buildings community and or other flat owners.
Also you will need to declare tax on income. What they will be will depends on if you live in Spain plus what happens with Brexit.
Have you looked for other vacation rentals in the same area as you wish to purchase? If so have you established if there is a market? How much do these charge? How long in the year are these properties occupied for.
Putting money into property could be risky.
Putting savings into some sort of account could be risky too and give you little return.

Re: Pension or property
 

Don’t intend living in Spain , not yet anyway , would want to engage a service to carry out all rental , cleaning , maintenance etc . Looking at Mercia at the minute

Re: Pension or property
 

Thanks for the reply.
Non resident taxes:
You are legally obliged to submit an annual income tax declaration in Spain, Impuesto de la Renta de No Residentes. You will need a form called Modelo 210
https://www.spanishpropertyinsight.c...non-residents/
Official link to apply to a licence in Murcia.
https://sede.carm.es/web/pagina?IDCONTENIDO=657&IDTIPO=240&RASTRO=c$m40288
You will fall under the classification of Apartamentos Turisticos
These are your obligations for running this sort of business.
https://www.spain-holiday.com/rental...day-rental-law
If you choose another region then the laws will change.
The links I have given you may not be up to date. Things do change and not all websites are up date immediately. You should take advice from a Gestoría and a solicitor. They will be able to confirm more than anyone here exactly what is required to run a tourist apartment rental. They will also advise you if the Comunidad de Propietarios (of the building) needs to give you permission.or the guests can (under Spanish law) use the swimming pool.

Re: Pension or property
 

Buy to let in Spain whilst living in UK is not hassle free. I don't know any who make a profit.

Re: Pension or property
 

Thanks , would being mortgage free make a difference?

Re: Pension or property
 

Think carefully, do your sums and hopefully it may work for you. However, it is not easy money and there are significant risks. Do you have any experience of BTL?

Re: Pension or property
 

Casa Santo Estevo made some good points and the question is always if you are relying on income, or is it just nice to have some income? It's all about location and you will probably find a thousand properties in Murcia for that price, but what is the demand?

Re: Pension or property
 

No experience at all , at 55 I intend to retire at 60 . Thoughts were invest my tax free lump or leave it where it is . If I end up buying I intend to use the property myself maybe 6 - 8 weeks out of season and let out for the rest via an agency

Re: Pension or property
 

Mercia not set in stone, would take my time in identifying the best area , but have no experience of buy to let it Spain for that matter ,

Re: Pension or property
 

You'll just need to do your sums very carefully, but I'd be surprised if you could make much (or any) profit. I have no experience as a property owner in Spain, but I do own a holiday let elsewhere that we rent out, and by the time we've paid agency fees/cleaner/linen/gardener/window cleaner/maintenance man//heat/water/logs/annual refurbishment/taxes/fees/etc, etc, we don't make much despite renting for more than 30 weeks a year and having no mortgage.

Work it out based on very realistic weeks rental (don't assume more than 20 weeks a year), take off your rental agency costs (whether that's a big established company that'll take 20% or just Air BnB), plus your other regular costs including linens and utility bills, and don't forget to factor in an annual re-decoration and replacing various items regularly. People that rent holiday homes aren't as careful as we would be with our own homes! We've had all sorts of things that have had to be replaced including windows and tv's that have been smashed. A deposit often doesn't cover the true cost.

Some companies that do cleaning/keyholding/gardening/maintenance will want to be paid a retainer for weeks that you don't have a rental as well, so that's another thing to check up on.

As above, all of this is just based on owning a holiday home, not one specifically in Spain, but those in the know will be able to tell you about other Spanish specific costs too (equivalent of council tax? maintenance charge? refuse collection? income tax on any profit? etc).

Good luck.

Re: Pension or property
 

I guess you mean Murcia? This is a large bustling city. Not many Brits living there. Not a popular tourist destination and you might struggle to get interest for a holiday let.

Re: Pension or property
 

Región de Murcia is an alternative. The usual listing portals show plenty of tourist apartments everywhere. IMHO if someone aimed their vacation business on visitors from just one country (no matter which one) is not going to do well.

Re: Pension or property
 

Non-resident taxes will be increasing after Brexit (see other threads) but given banks paying virtually 0 interest putting money into property may not be a bad idea - but do your sums and see if it is worth the hassle.

I have a property I rent out to long term tenants and that I find is a good deal and is income in Euros (as against my sterling income pension and the problems of floating exchange rate) which in my circumstances in taxed favourably (if that is not an oxymoron!)

Re: Pension or property
 

To be honest your budget is small so ask yourself if it will be good enough for someone to pay rent on. Given the likes of airbnb and the masses of rentals available through them I'd say use your money elsewhere. I have a UK property portfolio, I know the system, the rules but know nothing about buy to rent in Spain so even though I could easily afford to buy a property out there I won't...I just don't know enough about how it works out there and I don't live there so any profit will likely be chewed up with management/insurance/utilities/maintenance/cleaner/tax costs.

There is a thread here about recent changes to taxation on property rentals you should look through.

Good luck with your endeavour.