Tips for renting out your property in Spain.

Before renting your property you need to consider the following:

a) How often will I wish to holiday there? Remember the peak times are when the rental is at its highest premium
b) How much income do I require? are you interested in only reaping enough income to cover costs or do you wish to maximise the income to its full capacity?
c) Is my property on a golf course? ski resort? Should I specialise in marketing those areas?
d) Will I allow children? smokers?

So, what's the best way to market your property?

Unless you live within close proximity of your property you will require someone to manage your property.

This requires someone to meet the holiday makers with the keys or arrange keys to be picked up, clean the property, change bedding towels, be on call in case of emergencies and communicate with the owner regarding any problems. This may also involve pool maintenance.

Who can manage my property? There are two main options.

LOCAL PERSON/COUPLE
Quite popular is for a local person/couple, often English who live in the area, to carry out the above. Best way to find someone local is to speak to other owners in the area to recommend someone who provides a good service. Remember, you want holiday makers to return, so don't necessarily go for the cheapest! People will often advertise in local free English papers.

PROPERTY MANAGEMENT COMPANY
Rates vary but normally, there is an annual or monthly charge plus a 'change-over' charge. They usuall form the following tasks: cleaning, laundry, keyholdin, welcome packs, pool maintenance, gardening, general maintenance, window cleaning etc

As well as deciding who should manage your property, you need to consider HOW you will market the property.

DO IT YOURSELF!
If you aim to organise the rental yourself you have the following options:

Option a
Advertise in your local paper - people often design a leaflet to be displayed in shops, clubs etc. You may extend your audience by advertising in a holiday magazine or in a national paper. Advertising can be expensive. Will I need to advertise more than once? Annually?You may decide to create your own web page. How do I market it?

Option b
Advertise on a rental property site. This requires the owner to apply online, enter details of their property, take photos and send them in. Your property is then advertised on their website. Holiday makers view the properties on the internet and either send in a form which is sent to the owners, who then makes contact or they can phone the owner direct. the owner then deals with the holidaymaker directs and arrangements for payment are agreed.
Companies vary from small sites which concentrate on a particular area e.g. www.murciagolfowners.co.uk
Company who specialise in golfing properties on golf resorts in the province of Murcia. For £95 a year your property has two pages, includes up to 12 photos.

This compares to a large established company such as holiday-rentals.
Highly recommended company, who advertise 17,500 properties all over the world.

If you are not interested in being involved in the bookings then you may consider the following two options:

Option c
Booking agency who markets the property but you still have to find someone to manage the property. The agency deals direct with the owner, takes the bookings, organises payment and normally transfers income to your account less their commission which is normally between 10 - 20%. e.g. orangebeach

Option d
'The whole package' e.g Letting Agency, Management Company or holiday company e.g jamesvillas
The company not only looks after your property but also advertises and rents property for you. You just sit back and receive the income from your holiday rentals. Rates vary but for a total package it can cost between 30 - 50% of your rental income.

Questions you may need to consider for option c and option d
- Where do they advertise - on the web? locally? nationally?
- Do they require a minimum number of weeks to be available for rent?
- Will they guarantee a minimum amount of bookings?

Whichever method you decide we wish you well in managing your property and hope your home in spain is a success!

For more information about advertising your property in Spain, please visit Murcia Golf Owners

About the Author: