There’s nothing quite being in a position of owning your own property. It’s a privilege to be able to own a home that you can call your own and change over and over to your hearts content. Being able to change your interior design from room to room, without having to gain the permission of anyone else such as a landlord is one that feels comfortable. You can make changes as many times as you like; painting and repainting to stay on track and on trend with the interior design world.
The thing is, once you’ve upgraded and tweaked your current home, there is soon nothing left to add. There’s only so many times you can open the nearest interior design magazine to make changes over again! Once you get to that point, you know it’s time for a new property project, and that right there is far more exciting than decorating the house you already live in. If you are in the fortunate position of being able to buy a second property or more, then you will be in a place where you can choose whether you buy at home, or you buy abroad. Either way, you won’t be able to live in two separate houses, so renting one out and earning an income from it is the best idea. Not every person will buy a second house purely for a rental income, but if you choose to there are some things that you need to know first so that you can get the best for your investment.
Know The Law
Wherever you choose to buy your second home, you need to know the legalities of renting out in the area. Some places need you to have a licence or permit to rent out your home, some only require you to have a mortgage specific to the rental. Buy to let mortgages like these are fairly common, and you may find that to qualify for a rental mortgage your tenants need to stay for a minimum length of time. A lot of people choose to buy a home that is let out for the holiday periods across the year – especially in beautiful locations across the globe. Always check the laws in the area you are buying before you choose to buy. There’d be nothing worse than buying a home to rent out only to discover you won’t be allowed to rent it out.
Ensure Your Insurance
The one worry of most holiday home owners is damage. People will flock from around the world to see the area you have bought a house, and if you are not adequately insured, you leave yourself open to paying out a lot of money on repairs. It makes sense to ask holidaymakers to purchase holiday insurance cover for a small fee on top of their booking rent. This then covers everyone all around. If you plan to rent to long term renters instead of holidaymakers, you need to have the standard insurances as well as cover for third party damage. Ensuring that you buy medical insurance in addition to what you have already can only do you a favour if there are any accidents on your property.
Market Right
Having a second home is the same as having a business, and this means you need to market correctly. When you purchased your dream house – the one you’ve spent time doing up over and over – you would have seen it advertised and marketed correctly. If you are aiming for your second home to be a holiday rental, then you could use websites like this to market your property for you and save yourself the work. If you can afford it, the investment of a professional photographer to come in and take pictures of your house can be invaluable if you get the right price for your rental. As a rental owner, you can advertise on multiple channels and websites and get the most exposure for your money.
Get Some Help
Buying a property abroad may be a dream for you, but it’s a little difficult to self-manage a property when you live so far away from your rental. Outsourcing isn’t just for businesses to get an IT or marketing team on side. You can hire a management service to manage, rent out and clean your property for you on a regular basis. They will take a fee for the work that they do for you, but if you get peace of mind out of the service, then it’s priceless, isn’t it? Property managers can and will go above and beyond, including screening tenants for you so that you know that your property is in the right hands. You can make the right choice by interviewing several property management companies to come and work for you and be on your side with your rental.
Preparation Is Key
Preparing a property for renters is not always an easy job, but decorating a home and getting it rental ready can be fun! You want a property to be cleaned, with essentials like cleaning products and bath smellies provided in a basket. The idea is to get the property to be a home away from home for the renters. If your property is abroad and used for short term rentals, you need to replenish the toiletries and cleaning supplies regularly enough that every new tenant has fresh supplies. You can go above and beyond for reviews for sites like this one, simply by including touches like a well-stocked fridge and fresh flowers in every room.
Buying and furnishing a second home is a huge investment, but think about what you could get back from it. The rental income alone is enough to sway you to short term rentals, and if you want to aim for a long-term rental, you need to get prepared and insured in the same way you would for your own house. Creating something beautiful and earning an income from it will serve you so well while you rent it out. Live the dream and become a property mogul!
XOXO
Debbie
This is a collaborative post