Apartment

Good morning from sunny Wales!

I'm looking into the possibility of buying a two bedroom apartment at HDA, it looks fantastic and being a keen golfer right up my street. I have two youngish kids and a busy work life, so our visits would be restricted to 3-4 weeks a year at most. our visits would be limited now,but at the current prices i feel it would be a great investment for us to use for years to come.

I was hoping to be able to rent the apartment out for part of the year, in order to help cover the monthly costs associated.

I'm not out to make huge profits but feel even 10 weeks a year rented out would go a fair way to covering costs. 

Does anyone on here do similar? I'd love to hear of any pitfalls, tips etc.

Also how do you go about exchanging keys to tenants? And are there cleaners available to hire when required?

Thanks in advance, Tom

Hi Tom

Oasis Services offer a bespoke service for owner within El Oasis at HDA where you can chose the level you require from just key holding to full management at very competitive rates. As with any holiday lets the thing you have to be careful of is setting your prices too low so that having paid the clean and the electricity and water bills there is still a profit for you otherwise you could end up effectively paying people to stay in your apartment.

Have a look at Oasis Services facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/Oasis-Services-209495782856122/

Regards

Tom Stevenson

Thanks for the reply Tom, I'll check out the link.

I'm waiting on some information from Blue Med on what the currently have available, prices etc.

Still a lot of research and due dilligence to do before I make a decision, but feedback so far seems very positive.

Im in a fortunate situation to be mortgage free at 34, my thinking is to take a 10-15 year mortgage out on a property at HDA, and hopefully have it paid off before i'm 50.

I'm positive it will work for us, I guess its just about having the 'balls' to do it. 

Thanks again

Hi Tom,

I have emailed the information over to you directly.

Have a good weekend.

Regards

Tom Stevenson

Thank you Tom, much appreciated. 

'The boss' is in Tenerife until next Weds, so will show her the info when she returns and hopefully we can arrange to come over for a viewing in the near future.

Thanks again, have a good weekend.

Have done a lot of research this weekend to further my knowledge and help me decide whether buying a property at HDA will work for me and my family. I must admit everything has been very positive so far, I've drawn up some financial plans which take into account all the outgoings (fees, taxes, utilities etc), and in theory it all adds up. In order to make it viable I would need to rent out for around 12 weeks a year minimum.

Now here's where the problem begins, I've researched into the availability of other apartments for 2017, and the ones I have found on booking websites appear to be available throughout the year (e.g. They have no bookings.)

This has thrown a major spanner in my plans, as if they cannot rent out their apartments then the likelihood is that I won't either.

I'd like to hear from anyone who can counter my theory, or who has experience of renting out on this site. 

Tom

On any of these golf resorts, which like Hacienda it is VERY UNLIKELY that you will receive any significant return from rentals and my advise to clients is, if you are relying on rental income, to fund the pruchase and ongoing fees, DO NOT BUY the property, certainly based on my experiences of renting clients properties on Corvera Golf it is unlikely that you will achieve 12 weeks

The facts are that on this resort and the Polaris resorts, the ongoing community fees are high,  compared perhaps to a comparable apartment, close to a golf course and offering all of the benefits of multiple local courses, for example properties around the Villamartin area, which may cost more initally but will generate a better return and MUCH LOWER ongoing fees

The difference being a different pattern of rental availability because they rent for golf in the season and are close to the Costa Blanca beaches, giving greater all year around opportunitiy, a choice of 4 different courses locally plus the beaches and La Zenia Boulivard, especially of you are a keen golfer with courses including Villamartin, Los Collinas, Campoamor, and Las Ramblas

Another good example are propertieson RODA Golf, achieving 30+ weeks per year but with prices now risen to €100k+ for a 2 bed apartment

These properties are certainly, based on the low priices,  an investment opportunity,great quality,  great for own use, but this is a failry remote area and you will be competing with places like Condado De Alhama, which s closer to the beaches of Mazarron, La Torre, Corvera and again have a look at the rental availability on this resorts

The best marketing for golf properties is normally via friends and family and work contacts and it typically takes 2-3 years to establish steady rental inclome and returning renters

Also make sure that you factor in a tax liability an don't underestimate running costs, especially when renting on things like air conditioning

There is one key factor that will transfer the resort and that is if Corvera Airport ever opens but there are still no immediate signs that this will happen

I am going to say it again, in this area, if you have to rely on rental income,  to maintain a property, don't buy the property and have a better look around some other areas first, don't just focus on the price of the property

Hi Tom.

Whilst I can agree with some of what Roy Howitt of Inspectahomespain has said I would not say that his unsuccesful experience of running a rental business on Corvera golf is typical of all resorts in the area.

There are several reasons why the situation he refers to is different from the circumstances you are now considering.

Corvera Golf  never quite managed to get established properly and the lack of any facilities (including not having a functioning golf course or clubhouse) did not really help. It also suffered from a resort owner who blocked any advancement and sat on a large number of properties keeping the occupancy of the resort at low levels. He has now gone and the resort has a chance to grow but only time will tell, I am sure you have seen this is not the same for other resorts in the area and there are several successful rental businesses to prove that.

Community fees are set by the community and are for the benefit of the community and so reflect what is available within each community, as a comparison I recently spoke with a couple who have a caravan on a campsite near Benidorm and pay over €4,000 per year just to park on a plot of land with electric hook up, I'm not aware of any community fees that high around here. However Roy is correct that they do need to be factored in to your maths.

There is no different pattern of rental availability between here and the areas Roy is now selling properties in, as the Golfing season is the same throughout the area and indeed there are more courses locally to chose from around Hacienda (More than a dozen) than there are around Villamartin along with 2 major cities Murcia capital and Cartagena rather than just a shopping center and the beaches at Mazarron and Mar Menor. I am also aware of owners at Villamartin who travel to Hacienda to play their golf as they prefer the course here.

It really is a matter of maths (which it sounds like you have done), owners who bought before the crash at more than twice the price you are considering and locked in to higher interest rates need to make more money to pay their mortgages and running costs and so will clearly struggle unless thay set their rental charges higher which is not sustainable hence the problems experienced by these owners. Therefore the initial price you pay for the appartment is a major consideration as it will drive all of your future costings this however should not be a problem for you if you are buying at todays prices and todays historically low interest rates. 

I do however agree that if the only way you can afford to buy a property is by using the rental payments to fund it then you should re consider whether or not you can actually afford the property, wherever it is. If on the other hand you are able to afford the payments but prefer the rental to pay them instead then that is a different matter,

I hope this has answered some of your concerns and given you a balanced view of the situation and I will contact you personally to discuss your individual circumstances in a more private manner.

Kind regards

Tom

I don't choose to turn to any personal insults here but Tom you seemed to have swerved the most basic question and considering you have operated a sales and rental business on HDA, for the last 6 years the question was, is it possible, based youir experience, to achieve 12 weeks rental on HDA

How can you compare the community fees with a caravan where typically they bundle the utilities into the fees and where the owners of apartments a 10 minute walk from Villamartin pay €360 a year community fees

In rental terms my suggestion is to also look at the very low rates that some people are offering on Condado because that is often where the competition for HDA comes from, I kmow that the resorts are not a fair comparison but it isnt just about the number of weeks but also the rate that can be achieved, anybody can rent at cheap rates, where you can rent peak season for €200 a week

There is a difference in the pattern of rentals because typically people don't come to HDA for a beach hoiliday where the beaches of Mazarron or The Mar Menor are 50km away and not possible to reach by public transport, and from the VM area the travelling times and distances to the Murcia courses of La Torre, El Valle, La Manga, Terrazes, are less, RODA, Serena and and Lo Romero are closer so not sure where you get the information from with the 12 courses, yes HDA is a fine course and of course societies travel to play all of the courses

So in other areas it is possible for the husband to go and play golf and for their partner to visit a beach or shopping centre, by bus or cheap taxi, this does increase the annual rental potential

The fact is that prices all over Spain have reduced by the same extent and there are still some bargains and mortgage rates, for a 10 year, fixed rate mortgage, on a 60% LTV of 1.7% so lending is good value but still people remain focused on the property prices, not the complete picture

So again based on real experience can a buyer of an apartment on HDA achieve 12 weeks rental

The cities of Murcia and Cartagena are beautiful but again the major shopping centres

This message was last edited by inspectahomespain on 20/02/2017.

As previously stated it's a mater of maths and if you are able to offer quality accommodation on a quality resort like HDA at the right price then yes based on my experience it is possible to achieve 12 weeks rental.

In rder to help people, nad based on the advertised rates for current apartnments & villas, is it possible to give an indication of what the rental prices will be

If you did a long term rent you will get more than 12 weeks , but the rent money you would get for that would only be around 400 euro pcm, but on a week 2 week basis holiday let ,you will find it hard filling a 2 bed apt on HDA if people do know the resort they would more than likely go for a villa and pay that bit more, i have owned  on la torre and getting 12 weeks for holiday lets is hard, nice villas with a private pool not so. Remeber many of the other apartments on the Oasis will also be looking to rent out also, so you will end up under cutting each other.