Top Tips For Buy To Let Success Abroad
After 38 years of corporate life Harry King retired to Spain. He now lives in Alicante in a house overlooking the Med, with the mountains at his back door. He is also author of Going to Live in Spain, How To Buy a Home in Spain and the forthcoming Knowing the Law in Spain.
TOP TIPS FOR BUY TO LET SUCCESS ABROAD
- It is important that the general location should have been visited on a few occasions since there is no substitute for first-hand knowledge.
- Consider whether the property is served by an adequate infrastructure, such as airport, roads, utility supplies, shops and medical facilities.
- Should the property be a villa, chalet or apartment? Should it be coastal or inland, in a busy location or secluded?
- Consider the amount of personal occupancy and what happens to the property when not lived in.
- What is the attraction of the property in the eyes of the tenant? Is there a tenant market for the property?
- Consider if there is someone locally who can be relied upon to manage the property. If not, consider engaging the services of a local management agent. Consider what the costs are in each case.
- What funding is required? Can the property be bought for cash? If not it may be appropriate to take out a loan.
SUMMARY
- Becoming a landlord requires skills. The foremost is a commitment to property.
- Even today there is a stigma associated with being a landlord.
- The buy-to-let market in the UK is expanding rapidly fuelled by changes in social patterns and an alteration to the UK mortgage lending laws.
- There have been successive and parallel changes in rental laws in both the UK and Spain. The rental market in both countries is now considered to be in equilibrium.
- The new landlord is young and upwardly mobile. So are the tenants.
- Buy-to-let abroad has the same characteristics as the UK market – with sun and local customs.
- A top tip for letting abroad, in fact three top tips – location, location and location.
