Renting Out Your Holiday Home: Top Tips
With housing markets constantly fluctuating and the country coming off the back of a national recession, it can be difficult to rent out your holiday home and get the right price for it. It’s not only people who are new to the market that are struggling either, even those with lots of experience are finding the going tough.
So to aid those struggling with renting out their holiday home, here are some top tips
It may seem very obvious, but location is still the single most important factor; if you’re buying to rent then make sure you properly consider the rental market your property has before buying. Decide if you’re looking for an all round let or a seasonal one (places like seaside properties tend to be seasonal).
You should also consider the local public transport links, facilities available to the general public and proximity to any local points of interest, shops,. etc.
But what if you’ve already bought your property? Here are a few more tips for those who are looking to rent out properties they’ve already bought.
Household Furnishings
You need to make sure any money that you spend on your property is spent well. Choose furniture that is reasonably neutral in taste and colour, don’t go for anything loud or brash that could put off potential renters. You also want to look for heard-wearing, tough furniture that won’t need replacing too regularly. Aim for mid-range for furniture and electrical items, you want them to be of a good quality and don’t want to be replacing them all the time, but conversely, you don’t want to have to replace very expensive items for the house. Also, extremely expensive items may push up your holiday home insurance policy.
Price
You should try and ensure that your property is correctly priced for the rental market in your area; too low and you’ll lose revenue, too high and you’ll find it tough to find tenants. Have a look at the prices of similar rental properties in the area and don’t be afraid to experiment with your pricing structure until you get it right.
Advertising and Promotion
It’s all good having a beautiful property with every amenity someone could want, but if nobody is aware of it, you won’t have much luck renting it out. Ensuring your property is promoted well isn’t too difficult as long as you’re happy to spend a little bit of money; take out adverts online and in local papers and hire a rental agent, who will help dramatically with listing and publicising your property.
Photographs
If you are spending money on promotion then you don’t want to ruin your listings with bad photography; make sure you use bright, clear photos that show off the property well. If you can’t take decent quality photographs yourself, hire a professional it may cost more in the short term but will certainly help you create genuine interest in your rental property.
Keep it tidy!
Another one that may seem obvious but keeping the property clean, tidy and free of clutter is an extremely important part of successfully renting your property. When you do rent out the property ensure that anything that counts as ‘clutter’ is removed from the property but feel free to leave DVD’s, books, etc. should your renters have a few rainy days.
Get Properly Insured
The last element and another that is often overlooked, make sure you have holiday let insurance to protect yourselves and your guests. Have a good shop round for insurance too, quotes can vary wildly and you’re more like to get cheap insurance for holiday homes if you don’t just take the first quote you receive.
