The secrets of successful rentals

The Secrets of Successful Rentals

If you have a rental property you will know that getting the number of bookings you want over the year is tough. We are often contacted by experienced landlords looking to extend their rental season to benefit from bookings throughout the year. We are also used to helping first time landlords that really don’t know where to start in terms of preparing the property to be rented, marketing it and managing the bookings and visits.

Over the last 20 years of offering property management services on the Costa del Sol we have seen a lot of buy to let investments. These investors are normally happy to employ experienced property management companies to take care of the rentals and maintenance, as they know that with our support they can sit back and see the money come in, rather than have to stress about the whole process and deal with the demands of the clients.

On the other hand we have also seen more lifestyle investors who want a holiday home for personal use, but do not want it sitting empty for several months when they are not using it. Finally there are also those people who no longer use their property but do not want to sell it and so want to see a return on their investment. All these people can benefit from renting their properties out, either short term to holiday makers or long term to residents.

Short term rentals are good for people who still wish to use their property, but are not tied to the peak school holiday times, so can enjoy the high returns of renting over this period and still use the property. You get a high weekly rental rate for these bookings, but there is also a lot of work involved with servicing their needs.

Long term rentals are a better choice for those people who want to earn a steady income through the year and not have to do too much for their money. Long term tenants are completely managed by us so you can relax and enjoy the monthly rent payment!

Whichever type of rental you choose there are a few key secrets to renting out your property successfully –

1. Invest in marketing – Your property needs to be easy to find for potential tenants online and offline so you need to aim for maximum exposure and the widest reach possible.
2. Think carefully about your target market and prepare your property accordingly – If you have a family friendly property, then spend some time and money on setting the place up for their needs. Items such as a travel cot, high chair, sun loungers and even a hairdryer attracting first time bookings as well as loyal, repeat bookings.
3. Ensure your property is great all year round – If you want to break out of the seasonal booking trap or rent your property long term you need to think about heating and cooling the property effectively to make it a nice place to be whatever the weather.  For cooling think about ceiling fans in the bedrooms, they are great for making sleeping more comfortable and don’t require as much electricity as air conditioning. Hot and cold air conditioning units are very useful but expensive, so oil filled radiators are cost effective heating options. Offering a seasonal monthly rate in the winter months helps your property appeal to a wider audience.
4. Make it easy for people to book – Ensure that people can book quickly and easily, ideally online so that you can convert an enquirer into a paying customer as quickly as possible.
5. Offer support and help before, during and after their stay – It’s essential to be able to respond to questions and help clients get ready for their stay and then have someone on the ground to give keys, deal with any issues during their visit and do an inspection at the end in order to refund their deposit. The better you treat the tenant, the happier they will be, the more positive reviews you will get and the more repeat bookings you will achieve.
6. Be competitive – The Costa del Sol has a huge supply of rental properties so for properties new to the rental market, it is imperative to stand out. You can do this by offering a discount, reducing the minimum stay and offering great facilities which will encourage good reviews and a high star rating!

At HomeCarePropertyManagement we are in a great position to market properties via our website and various other portals such as AirBnB, TripAdvisor, VRBO and Expedia. Our partnership with Novasol also drives traffic to our properties all year round from different countries. As experienced property management professionals, we have cleaners, maintenance staff and a customer service team to support both owners and guests before during and after their stay and leave the owners to simply collect the rental income. If you’d like to find out how we can rent your property please contact us as soon as possible, as the bookings are coming in fast for this spring and summer season.