Hi danz.I would think it out very carefully and look through some of the tour operators brochures for advice & Ideas. We have a villa in Portugal and have had one or two problems over two & a half years but we are just about getting it right hopefully you gotta learn by mistakes sometimes but they can be expensive ones. Make sure when you send out literature on your property you send a booking form to be signed by the lead name, this sometimes makes people think twice about taking more folks than they have told you. Put some terms and conditions in and also take a security deposit for any damage. Some people charge 25% deposit with full balance payable 8 weeks before departure.If you can get someone you can trust to oversee your property while you are not there is a benefit and a good cleaner is essential. Otherwise you could pay for an apartment management company but these sometimes can run out expensive. Also have a look on some of the Villa/Apartment rental sites online for ideas. Happy renting Regards Jayjan

Thanks for info.

We are starting to compile a list of things so your info is a good start for us.

Good luck with your rental

I don't own a property, although my husband and I have been looking into it for about the last five years. We came to the conclusion that there are LOTS of empty apartments, obviously owned by people who hoped to rent them out so, rather than pay about £100,000 for one of our own, it would be cheaper to just keep booking hotels or apartments. It's not just the initial cost but the regular maintenance charges that have to be paid. I was looking for apartments yesterday and on one website alone there were hundreds just on the Costa del Sol and, when I clicked on the availability button some of them were available all the year - no bookings at all.

You have to be careful about getting a "trustworthy" person to keep an eye on your property because I was talking to a woman on a plane once who was on her way out to her villa in Spain. She said that she'd had a villa somewhere else and had got a "little man" to do the garden and clean it etc. before anyone rented it. She was disappointed that she'd had hardly any bookings but, when she got there the neighbours said that she must have been raking in the money because the place was hardly ever empty. It turned out the ***** man was running his own little property rental business using HER villa!

This article we did recenlty may be of interest to you for furnishing your apartment:

Furnishing you property in Spain

I am currently in my 2nd year of renting out my apartment in the Costa Del Sol and I have learnt from a few of my mistakes but I am about getting there now.
With it being my first property purchase abroad I decided to go halves with a friend, therefore we share the responsibilityand share the outgoings which is a massive advantage.
The first mistake I made was spending too much on the furnishing of the property. I used a company recommended by the estate agents and was charged 7500 Euros for a 2 bed one bath. After visiting the Costa Del Sol I soon realised companies would furnish the property for half that amount.
OK, so you want reasonable quality, but as you are renting you don't want to be worrying about replacement costs if anything is damaged, so be sensible on the furniture used.
There are a large number of ex pats over in Spain who really appreciate any extra income opportunities, so try and get someone you trust who lives on the complex to do your cleaning for you. It's also a massive bonus if someone on the complex or nearby can keep an eye on the place while you are away as this helps with peace of mind while you aren't in Spain and it makes things such as cleaning and handing over of keys far more convenient.
It's a good idea if you can avoid using letting agents as they can be expensive and take a chunk of the fee's, resulting in you having to charge more for the rental.
I initially lost out on bookings due to not having satellite TV and air conditioning. I now have a satellite TV package that offers the basic English stations (BBC1, ITV etc) yet doesn't involve paying a monthly subscription. As for aircon, I have a unit installed that has a meter where a 1 euro coin gives 3 hours of aircon usage. This helps to keep costs down as it reduces the risk of the aircon being abused.
Some may disagree with this idea, but it's working for us and the Euro's collected soon add up.
The best thing we ever did is to buy an apartment in a location that we can use ourselves for a holiday as well as letting out. Everyone has their own preferences, but personally despite buying initially to let, the best thing I ever did is buy in a location that also gives me a very good holiday 3/4 times a year.

It's a good idea if you can avoid using letting agents as they can be expensive and take a chunk of the fee's, resulting in you having to charge more for the rental

......our agent takes 10% of all bookings...she looks after everything to do with the bookings, payments, maintainance, cleaning, laundry, etc, and looks after the clients - and us - very well indeed.
She gets the hassle.....we get to sleep at nights......
Seems fair enough to me !

we completed our property in jan of this year,we trusted our estate agent to rent it ,as he talked us into buying it and he would rent it for 42 wks .but by april we recieved 300euros and a hell of a mess in apartment .we inteviewed several people at this time ,a lot of them were charging around 1000 euros a yr to manage property,but eventually we found franky .british people earning a living caring for propertys they charged us 50 euros to manage.so what happens now is they clean our apartment for 40 euros,washing etc,if hopfully never,there was any damage, they will sot it out and bill us,and their cleaning is spot on.we even have asked them to be in apartment,for photos to be taken they charged us 10 euros.if you would like their email let me know but i would recommend to advertise on holiday site ,we had bookings following day,and some are free for 3 mths,can give some sites if wish.

forgot to mention we are on costa del sol benelmadina area ,they cover up to mabella,excuse spelling.good luck.

quakermass,

Can you tell me more about the metered Air conditioning?

Where did you buy it? Was the meter put on after? How much? etc. etc.

Cheers
Warren

we to would like to know about this meter for air con ,as people just leave it running 24/7,we were thinking of puting a timmer on it,we are going back in 10 days time,so would likesome ideas also.

deposits are a must ,we had our lock changed as people lost the keys,at the time it was when the estate agent,/c.nman ,had only one key ,it was lost hence had the lock drilled,it cost him money not us,well it was money he c.ned,off us ,even people you know should pay a bond.one friend broka shade,said it fell,it had been there for 6 mths ,replacement 35euros,we allow smoking only on balcony as the smell goes into soft furnishings,even worse,they could burn something

Thanks for all your info everyone. We are collecting a fairly detailed idea of what we should and should not do with all your help.

Regarding the air-con I have spoken to a friend who has a two bedroom apartment and he told me that he uses fans which are fixed to the light-fittings. He says that they are alot cheaper than air-con and do not dry the throat. He has just returned from the Sol which was red hot and he said the fans were fantastic. He also mentioned as people on here have stated that people do leave air-cons on 24/7 which is going to be a nightmare for us I think. The coin-operated air-con sounds a great idea if we go for that.

Once again thanks for info and please keep it coming, its a great help!!

Spindles, you make some important points. However I would never purchase a property if I had to rely on the rent to support it. Like you say many would have difficulty in making it pay. I do however believe with the right marketing and a following wind, you can do very well. I know Jayjan for instance this year has found it very successfull. Mostly though people should realise that this is likely to be a long term investment. And that really is the icing on the cake. I believe my propery has probably increased by 20 to 30,000 Euros this year. And my rental income for my first year covers about half my mortgage. I am only letting out to friends and family and have already got 5 weeks for next year booked.