Potential Coastal Holiday Let

[PaulT9]

Hi - Hope this hasn't been covered elsewhere and it's the right section (?)

We bought up in Martos (Jaen) last year and am now thinking of selling our investment property in the UK to buy on the coast
So far research says that you need to be frontline (or very near the sea) to get plenty of bookings - Do 1 bed or 2 beds go better?
We've got a budget of €100k (ish) so we're not going to get a Marbella Penthouse but there's a lot around that we can get - Studios in Marbellla - Apartments in Nerja
If any of you are letting as a business (we don't really want to use it ourselves) could you share experience and potential yields so we'll get it right?
Thank you
Paul & Kate

[Trooperman]

I can start by asking you a question!

How many weeks letting a year do you want/expect to get?......and you will get some idea by looking at the availability calendars of similar situated and competitive renters on, for example, Owners Direct.

That'll also give you some idea of rental prices so the calculations become easier!

[PaulT9]

We have started there but wanted to get some "real people's" experiences - from the booking calendars at the moment it seems that the front line properties book up first, even thought they are more expensive
Its a new departure for us as we're more inland focussed!
Thanks for reading
Paul

[Manchesteral]

The problem you have is that you're very highly unlikely to get a frontline property or indeed anything withing several hundred yards of it for 100k, unless you were thinking of a a garage !

[PaulT9]

We're used to finding bargains!
I know we're not going to get a top penthouse but there are plenty of properties on Kyero for under €100k.
The how many weeks we'd let it was kind of why I came to the forum, is it easy to let through the winter or is it really just the summer hols you can guarantee lettings?
we've had 5 years of holiday letting in York so are used to it, it's more about understanding what sells over there, we could go for Nerja, La Herradura, Duquesa etc,

Please can you tell us about your experiences??
Thanks

[El Cid]

I can't speak for Duquesa but in Nerja or La Herradura you won't find anything for 100k that anyone would want to rent. In La Herradura the holiday season lasts for 6 weeks only and 95% of holidaymakers are Spanish.

Nerja is more year round but few will want to rent a 100k property when there are some many more attractive properties.

Also, don't forget that you now need a licence for holiday lets and the property has to have all facilities such as heating and a/c to be approved for holiday letting and Spanish tax has to be paid on the income.

Sid

[katy]

Sid you are correct. It is the same around Marbella, Duquesa probably worse as it is too far from the Airport. I have a friend who bought an apartment for investment when interest rates started to drop. It has been a disaster, he rented for 7 weeks and had some minor damage. Then he has agents fees, community fees, taxes etc. on the Western CDS there is a massive surplus of empty units to let.

[Trooperman]

OK. I'll come clean
I get 20 weeks every year....but I'm inland and with a pool and a whole finca to relax in and a completely different USP than a coastal apartment....you might get more than 20 on the coast where it's warmer for longer....but I'm in the "campo" and DO have a licence, but I believe licences are more difficult to obtain for urban lettings.....but, taking a guess, I'd say that 100K AND 20 weeks should get you a return in the order of 10% gross....but that's BEFORE any costs and income tax and assumes you can compete with all the other, numerous apartment to let AND get the magic 20 weeks!
Best of luck

By the way, don't forget that 100K purchase price is really 110K once the buying costs are factored in and may be more by the time the hacienda people try and tell you the tax should be more as the property is "really" worth a lot more!....oh! the joys of buying in Spain.

[Wicksey]

Personally, I would stick to your UK investment property. I don't think buying a cheap apartment here will be much of a long term investment .... only Ok if you want a place to use yourself and don't expect any great return on it.

We did once have a studio on the coast and it rented for about 20 weeks a year, but we are talking about many years ago. Now with the internet for searching for holiday lettings, there is a huge choice these days (just a quick search on Ownersdirect for apartments in Nerja alone comes up with 219). The running costs were also high as the community fees were averaging 500€ pa plus utilities. Nowadays, I would only 'invest' in the UK property market.

[KarenD]

We have a holiday place inland (Olvera) which is booked now until mid-November. There's no pool but we attract people who want to go sightseeing and we get all nationalities (except Spanish for some reason but I think it's because I don't advertise on the right websites for the Spanish market)

[PaulT9]

Thank you - all
I think we've come to that conclusion - campo seems to win out - I'd thought that our preference for inland Spain was unusual - guess I was wrong or the coastal market is just saturated... Think it's going to be a case of shelve the project for a few years, invest in reforming our existing unit in Martos then gradually climb the property ladder until we're in Trooperman's position with a nice finca a bit closer to the coast..
Thanks for the comments though, it's been really helpful