Have fun renting your apartment!

Nearly five years ago I was sat at home reading the Daily Mail and saw that Parador properties were running an overseas property exhibition at a local pub. I'd toyed with the idea of buying a property abroad as I'd seen on the telly that they could be bought for next to nothing and the sun always shone once you'd got past Calais.

Off we went to the exhibition and were tempted by the "two inspection trips for the price of one" Just a few weeks later we were on board a flight to Alicante with no intention whatsoever of buying a property. We were "just looking".

Three days after our arrival we were in Parador Properties office, signing up for a property costing 171,000€ just at the time when we were clearing the mortgage on our home back in England. How could we have been so stupid? 

Luckily we didn't make every mistake that could be made. I was (and still am) a fully qualified financial adviser and knew that there are potential risks when buying a property. I knew that the Golden Rule was always take your mortgage in the currency you earn your income in, otherwise you can get caught by currency fluctuations going against you.

Now having owned the property for nearly four years and have been successfully renting it out for more weeks than the average property owner achieves, and at a better monthly income than similar properties, I'd like to share some of my experiences with you. It may help fill those vacant weeks and months and avoid some common mistakes when putting your property on the holiday rentals websites.

I intend to spread my pearls of wisdom over the course of the coming weeks as

• it takes time to type all  the information
• you'd get bored if I hit you with all the tips at once
• you can act on my advice a step at a time.

The first and most important tip is to actually stump up a few quid and advertise your property on one of the holiday rentals websites.

Do your research.

• Some sites are easier to navigate than others. Customers need to be able to get to see your apartment and there are so many websites that are poorly designed, customers will give up after having looked at a few properties and move on to a better presented website that allows them to search by price, area , availability, or even specific features. e.g the website I use allows potential customers to search for properties that have a dishwasher or air-conditioning.
• Don't advertise on more than two websites. We had two for a while as we won a competition for a years free advertising. It is a nightmare keeping two availability calendars up to date. You've only got a limited number of weeks available and your are in effect doubling your costs without the potential to double the number of bookings.
• Make use of the hints and tips on the website about how to promote your property. e.g use your creativity to describe the place in its best light, not just a two bed appt but a "beautiful, comfortable two bedroomed apartment with air-conditioning."
• When taking photos of the apartment you usually have a limited number of photos that come included in the cost of your advert. Make the most of them. If you exclude photos of the exterior of your apartment people will rightly be suspicious, thinking that it must be on the sixth floor of a block of flats or in a rough area. When taking exterior shots wait for a sunny day and choose the time of day that has the sun on your property if at all possible. Why waste your money showing pictures of the local beaches?Get a decent camera and before you take any photos, give your apartment a big clean and tidy up. Showing pictures of the kitchen with tea towels, cluttered worktops and dirty cups and saucers isn't going to give the best impression. Remember that there are 1,000s of apartments to choose, you need to make them want to choose yours!
• If you haven't already bought your furniture, don't buy the cheapest package of ugly,uncomfortable pine furniture you can find. It just makes your apartment look cheap 'n nasty and your rental rates will be at the bottom end of what is achievable.
• If you want to be able to show lots of photos of your property and the surrounding areas attractions, but without paying a fortune for additional photographs why not put a web album on Google and put a link to it on your advert?
• When your advert comes up for renewal do your research and calculate how many of your renters came from them and how many came from your own marketing. Have they earned their fee? Is it worth looking elsewhere? I had an owner phone me and ask how did I have such a full calendar of bookings. She took my advice and changed the web site that she used, copied my style of advert and I've seen how her bookings have improved. You could do the same and contact other property owners and ask them what success they've had using that particular website.

Next time I'll tell you how to switch an enquiry into a booking and later the ways to increase the weekly rental that you can charge.