Spanish Property Magazine News http://www.spanishpropertymagazine.com Spanish Property Magazine en-gb http://www.spanishpropertymagazine.com/images/logo.gif Spanish Property Magazine News http://www.spanishpropertymagazine.com Wed, 31 Dec 1969 19:00:00 GMT Wed, 31 Dec 1969 19:00:00 GMT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Weblog Editor 2.0 will@spanishpropertymagazine.com will@spanishpropertymagazine.com Spanish Property Holiday Rental Guide By Will Needham

For updates to this article please check Spanish Property Magazine.com/holiday_rental_guide. Please feel free to redistribute the guide, but keep the links intact. Thanks!

You may be purchasing for out and out investment or wish to use the property yourself and make some money by letting it out. Either way maximising your rental return can pay the mortgage and make you a tidy profit. In this article I want to examine the best ways to maximise your rental return.

Making a success of renting a holiday property does take some effort, but it can make the difference between paying a hansom return (inlcuding paying the mortgage of a financed property) and being an expensive luxury.

What a holiday renter looks for in a property in Spain?

Before purchasing a property you intend to rent out, bear in mind what a rental client will look for and try and match that.

  • Close to an Airport (Within 1 hour), the closer the better.
  • Proximity to the beach - ideally within walking distance
  • Safe attractive area
  • Access to a swimming pool
  • Restaurants and bars within walking distance
  • Proximity to activities such as golf, diving, tennis, walking, boating...etc (especially out of season activities)
  • Distance to a popular venue or tourist attraction.

Blue Med Invest have a number of properties on their portfolio, which make ideal rental units. Mojon Hills, near Puerto de Mazarron, Murcia for example fulfils all the above criteria. To get the latest information on properties they have available please contact their sales office in Spain on (+34) 968 595 684 or email info@bluemedinvest.co.uk.

Mojon Hills

  • Within 30 minutes of Murcia, Corvera International Airport (Opening Summer 2013), and 50 minutes from Murcia, San Javier Airport. Alicante and Almeria airports are 90 minutes away. So it's ideally placed for international visitors
  • Mojon Hills is 7 minutes walk to the beach.
  • Very appealling area. For more information please visit the Blue Med Invest website www.bluemedinvest.co.uk
  • Restaurants and bars are a short walk from the resort in the village of Isla Plana.
  • The Mazarrón area is popular for diving, walking, golf, fishing and watersports
  • Mojon Hills is a short distance from the planned Paramount Theme Park

Rental Diary

Are you going to have a strict change over day (Friday to Friday, Saturday to Saturday, Sunday to Sunday)? Will you just take whatever bookings you can get? When starting out it may be advisable to adopt the second stratergy and then move to a fixed change over day to maximise your bookings.

How will you manage the diary to ensure that you don't get any double bookings.

10 top tips for more bookings for your property

  1. Give your property a memorable name, preferably the same as your domain name property rental website. This will help people to distinguish your property from other properties out there
  2. Get back to rental eqnuiries as quickly as possible. When people make rental enquiries, they often enquire about more than one property. The sooner you get back to your enquirer, the more likely you will convert the enquiry into a booking.
  3. Follow up email / phone call. After a client has stayed at your property give them a call or send them an email. If they enjoyed they enjoyed there stay and if so would they like to book the property for in the future. Also ask if they would take the time to . Take on board any negative feedback. Learn and improve.

Promotional leaflets

A promotional leaflet is a cost effective way of promoting your property. At Vistaprint.com you can design your own leaflets online or upload your own design. L

  • Give

A double sided colour A4 TRIPLE is ideal. Include attractive photos of the property / area. Don't forget to include:

  • Phone number
  • Email address
  • Website address
  • Booking instructions

Enquiries you can't fulfil.

It's a nice problem to have, and if you have marketed your property effectively it will happen a lot. The more your rental calendar fills up the more this occurs.

It's worth getting to know other owners who rent out similar properties in the same area. If you can pass business to other owners you can't fulfil on the basis that they pass you business they cannot fulfil. A good place to get to know other owners in the area is eyeonspain.com

Choosing a rental agent / management company

If you are not at hand to look after your property and guests or don't wish to undertake the work involved, you'll ned a rental agent.

Where can you find details of rental agents: Property Management

  • Key holding
  • Hold a damage deposit
  • Cleaning the property
  • Take bookings
  • Meet and greet your clients
  • Undertake minor repairs
  • Tradesman liason
  • Check the property

Payment Methods

Your ability to accept credit / debit cards will have a large effect on your ability to take bookings.

Credit card processing

Advertising your property

Make sure to ask your clients how they found you adn use this to plan future marketing expenidture.

Property rental portals

There are a plethora of portals where you can advertise your property. Some charge a subscription, some charge a percentage of the booking others take a flat fee.

The list below isn't an endorsement or recommendation

Maximise your rental yield

The core of maximising your rental return is selling as many weeks as possible

Pricing

The holiday rental market is very price sensitive. Take a good look at the competition in your area and price according. On many holiday rental portals clients will compare prices and choose their holiday accommodation accordingly. Many holiday renters have a high, mid and low pricing structure. In my experience it is more profitable to price weekly according to demand.

The Spanish Rental Market

Spaniards tend to rent a holiday property for the whole month of August or for retirees often the whole of July and August. They will often rent the same property year after year. This can be a great way of covering a

For Rent Board

If your property is in a prominent position and can be seen. It may be worthwhile adding a "For Rent / Se Alquila" board. If you do decide to put up a rental board:

  • Make sure the board is securely fixed and doesn't interfer with the aesthetics of the property
  • The phone number should be clearly legible from a distance
  • Make sure you use a sun proof ink or paint on your sign.

Inventory Items

  • Hair Dryer
  • Plug adaptors
  • First aid kit

Repeat Business

Register with the local tourism office

Pick up leaflets of

Local Events

There may be out of season events that attract people to the local area, it's importnant to

Late deals

It's not uncommon

How many we

Property extras

It's worth considering what items to include in your property inventory. Having these items can boast your enquiries and give your the edge over other properties in the area.

  • WIFI - These days a lot of people won't book
  • Satellite TV - An expense that can boast your
  • Air Conditioning - Can really push up your electricity bills. Be sure to ask people to
  • Games Console - If you are targetting the family market, a games consol may
  • Hair dryer - An inexpensive, but often forgotten, item to boost your property's appeal.
  • Safe - Renters like the security of being able to leave their passports, cash, credit cards, valuables and tickets in a safe place.

Social media, reviews and trip advisor

People like to talk about their holidays, using social media and trip advisor you can get further bookings. Trip advisor can be a double edged sword. Good reviews mean an increased likelihood of a potential guest

Photography

  • Use a wide angle lens when shooting indoors
  • Take plenty of shots, you can always discard bad ones
  • Take your photos when it's sunny (No excuse in Spain!)
  • Don't forget to take photos of the communal pool, gardens etc...
  • Area shots and sites of local interest will help you market the property.

Property website

A property rental website is a no-brainer. It's an investment that should pay for itself many times over. It will

SpanishProperty.es do an all in package for 300 euros.

Their package includes:

  • Dedicated domain name i.e. www.YourPropertyName.com
  • Enquiry form
  • Availability Calendar
  • Advertising on SpanishProperty.es
  • Photo gallery
  • Contact form
  • Late deals offers
  • Google map

Please find an example here Casa Altomar.

Email: will@spanishproperty.es

Marketing your property.

Article by will@spanishproperty.es.

Please feel free to email the author with any comments, suggestions

http://www.spanishpropertymagazine.com/page/152-spanish_property_holiday_rental_guide.html Tue, 24 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT