How To Effectively Lease Your Holiday Home
With the housing market always changing and the country embracing new leadership, it can be a tough time for renting out your holiday home. It’s not just people who are new to the holiday home market that can find it difficult either, it can be extremely difficult for those with years of experience in the industry.
With that in mind here are some quick top tips to letting out your holiday home successfully:
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 also want to look at the local amenities, proximity to local points of interest, public transport links, etc. etc..
But what about if you’ve already bought the property? Here are the rest of the tips with that in mind.
Propety Furnishings
If you spend money on your property you need to always ensure it’s spent as wisely as possible. Choose furnishings that are neutral in tone and colour; try and avoid any loud colours that could turn-off any potential renters. You should try and find hardwearing furniture that won’t require regular maintenance or replacement. You want to aim for mid-range stuff for your electrical items and furnishings - expensive items will give you a financial headache when you come to replace them, and cheap items will need replacing far too often. It’s worth mentioning too that very expensive items might increase your holiday home insurance policies.
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. Don’t be afraid to experiment with your structure and talk to local estate agencts to correctly gauge the average rental prices in your area.
Promotion / Advertising
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. Make sure you promote your property using all the means available to you; use free online listing sites (such as Gumtree, etc), take out ad space in the local papers and get onto a local rental agency, you’ll have to pay them but they will help you find potential renters for your property.
Photographs
Photography is an often overlooked element to renting out your property, but they can make a huge difference; try and make sure your photos are clear, well lit and show off the features of the property. 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 the property clean and 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. as this may come in useful for your renters should they encounter poor weather.
Get Insured
The last element and another that is often overlooked, make sure you have holiday let insurance to protect yourself and your guests from any unwanted financial complications. Make sure to shop around for your insurance quotes too, they can very dramatically by company and you’re much more likely to find an inexpensive insurance for holiday homes if you don’t just take the first quote you receive.