Rental Advice Please

Hello,

I'm hoping that some of you kind experienced Spanish property owners might be able to give me some advice.

My parents have lived in Spain for around 10 years & are now back in the UK due to health issues. They don't want to try selling their property in the current market and are instead considering renting it out, but they have a few worries that they need re-assuring over.

The main thing is that they see this as their home, not as an investment or rental property, and so they feel a little uncomfortable about who might stay in their home - their main worry is who might rent it from them - they are terrified that it might be rented by a group of lads who are there to get drunk & party and they might wreck the place.

They want to understand who typically go on holidays and rent out properties rather than going on say package deals, for example, is it mainly families, golfers, older couples, etc, oe do groups of younger people rent them too?

Also, why do people typically rent properties abroad - is it for family type holidays, or weddings, golf/sport, etc.

Finally, have any of you had any problem renters or do things usually go fine without any problems?

If any of you would be kind enough to share your experiences then it would be a great help to my parents in helping them feel easier about what to do.

Many thanks in advance,

Dave

I always advise people to hire an Insurance for unpaid rents and submitt the matter to arbitration rather than to Courts. Failed rental stories are always a nightmare and this greatly protects owners when renting.

Good luck!

Maria

It all depends where the property is and what type of people that particular area attracts.  If it attracts a young crowd because there's a wild nightlife then I would say it will attract young groups, but if it's an area frequented by more mature folk and families then this is what you will get. It would also depend on what sort of price you want to charge. Are you wanting to have long lets or short term lets?

When taking bookings you need to ask the right questions, get a breakages deposit and as much information of where they live, contact numbers ect..

Touch wood, we have never had any problems. We get couples with young children, couples on their own and retired folk. I think with the credit crunch, booking properties direct with the owners is becoming ever more popular. People go, enjoy it and want to do it again. Because for a group of four, not including flights, it can work out at less than £100 each per week.

I would never let to a group of lad's or girl's though.

Well... I suppose I should be starting a new thread, but as my question is related I thought I might kill two birds with one stone.

First in answer to your question, sort of.  I can fully understand your Dad's worries - any one of us surely would feel the same about their own place.  We've always respected the places we've stayed in but I wonder whether everyone else does?

Sorry - that wasn't much of an answer, was it?

As a family (two groan-ups and one teen lad) we have eased away from the traditional package hols, mainly since we were left pretty much to our own devices by the hol rep one year, and we have rented from a big(ish) co, paying for our own flights and transfers.  We're not sure if this is saving us any money but we do enjoy the independance - we like to go by ferry in part, stopping off on the way there. Lovely.

So, my own question is - next year we plan to branch out even further, and rent from a private individual.  We find this idea a bit daunting, though - what if the property is awful?  What if there is no-one there - no key, etc... how would we pay?  We usually pay on my card - I don't usually have that much available up front (I'm workin' on it!).

We'd love to stay somewhere for about a month, but we're tied to college hol's.

Any tips or advice would be gratefully rec'd - now I suppose we'll be inundated with offers...  :-)  That's OK.

Jill (Astrologer extraordinaire - she says)

Like most things in life, it's about trust. You, the tenant has to trust the landlord, and vise versa. I would say stick to well known sites that monitor customer feed back. If a person renting a property has had loads of complaints, they will get removed. Ask if you can speak with someone that has stayed there before if you are not sure.

What usually happens is that you will book and send a sercuring deposit, then pay the final balance about 10 weeks before you arrive. Keys can be sent to you by recorded delivery or someone will meet you with the keys. Some landlords can take payment by credit card, just depends.

Some sites to look at are holidaylettings and holiday rentals.

Thanks for your help so far guys,

I get the impression that its mostly families that rent properties?

I think my parents worries come from some friends of theirs who had a caravan at one of those holiday camps & it got absolutely trashed - doors broken, cupboard doors hanging off, seating ripped, fittings broken off, etc - plus the odd bit of petty theft of really stupid stuff.

Then there was the stuff they left behind....