Best way forward to rent my apartment

Just wait for Matthew to comment, he gives really good advise regarding this sort of thing. I decided it just wasn't worth it.

I appreciate that. I've seen some pretty "grounding" comments to people looking to rent, for example, in order to fund their retirement. This is not the case for us. I am fine with realistic perspectives, but it's important to note that any rental income would be more a "nice to have". We don't plan on coming during the summer months, I speak Spanish, and I'm just testing the waters on the best methodology to extract added value from our beautiful home (three bedroom, two panoramic terraces overlooking the Mediterranean, etc.). 

You have two options:-

1. Do your own rentals. Advertise in your own country. Set whatever you think is a fair rent. You must have somebody to clean the property on changeovers. You need good neighbours to hold spare keys and keep an eye out for you. You are depending on much trust. Repeat rentals are best. You need good internet. Also you need suitable insurance.

2. Hand the whole lot over to an estate agent to do everything for you. Again trust is of the essence. But, if you’re lucky you’ll turn a small profit during high season. And you don’t have the hassle of any negotiating.

Have a look at mine and others advice on other threads. 

If you don’t need the money, count yourself lucky and don’t go after any rentals. But if you are going after rentals you need to look at your venture in a businesslike way.

As Mathew says, you are lucky if renting is not essential to your finances, but these are not the only considerations.  You have exactly the right idea to benefit both yourself and others!  

The first absolute essential is to find someone , or a firm, to run the cleaning and changeovers for you: everything depends on this person to get good reviews.  This also provides local employment.  Airbnb and Tripadviser both have one system where you communicate with prospective guests before confirming the rentals, they see your reviews and you also see theirs, and you review each other after the rental, so each side behaves well!  It is a friendly and enjoyable  ( and lucrative) way of renting. Though you may get fewer rentals than 'instant book' systems where anyone can come, your beautiful flat will be looked after.

It is really sad to see places that could give many people  happy holidays hoarded by one owner and left empty most of the time!  This also deprives local traders of income and turns some areas into ghosts of empty accomodationn outside the holiday season, besides depriving locals of places to live.  This has happenned to some seaside areas of England, we should not do it to areas of Spain, but try to add value to the local community .

To be honest youll be lucky to make any money renting. If you go through a rental agency you will pay commision on rentals , cleaning costs after every rental and monthly checks on the apartment. Gas and electricity will also eat into any profits too. Finally you have to declare rentals to the tax office who will take 19% for EU nationals which you declare every 3 months. They will also charge you for calculating rentals !! If your left with anything after all this youll be doing well. 

We bought our apartment 4 years ago and, tbh, didn't intend renting it out at first. Then, after speaking with some friends, we decided why not give it a try. We've used an estate agent from the outset and they've been pretty good: they have a good website, good staff, seem on the ball with what to charge renters and organise cleaning, keys etc. Yes, they take their commission but I reckon it's reasonable value. They are also able to keep an eye on the place. We have turned a profit each year - okay, not huge but not a loss - and it's funded upgrades to the property. Another benefit is that the apartment gets used so it doesn't get stale.

As we are UK residents the tax rate is 24% and we can't deduct any expenses, but that is just one of the downsides of Brexit.

We also use a Spanish accountant to submit the quarterly returns and keep us right with the tax authorities. Again there's a cost involved but we want the least hassle!

Good luck.

Matthew always offers sage advice and Bess makes some excellent points. 

We have had no intention to rent out what we regard as our 2nd home, but leaving it empty for months at a time, while also depriving local businesses of additional customers, is the main issue that troubles me about not doing so. There's also the responsibility to our neighbours and Bess's suggestion of using sites that require usual reviews is helpful. 

The other mental hurdle for me would be the need to get our home ready for strangers to stay in, tidying personal stuff away etc. I don't know how others cope with that?

Good luck with your decision. 

Good advice from others, I would add that getting a licence is the first step. Also for short term renting there are more numerous requirements than for long term. Google it for the list! 

Good luck and hope it goes well. 

I nearly had to take a strong sleeping pill to get to sleep last night worrying about this rental. The subject of scammers and renting property hasn’t been raised on the thread yet although the overriding message here is to deal with honest people only. This is not as easy as you think. The real estate company is probably excellent, but is everybody working there honest? The landlord here is taking all the risks in all the dealings with everyone. Every kind of scammer known to man is involved in property rental in coastal Spain. The victim and loser is always the property owner. Think about this sentence for a few minutes.

I am probably the only non resident property owner to admit of being scammed. In fact, I’ve written the scams in a booklet in preparation of my memoirs to be circulated within the greater family. Not many will admit to being scammed because of how foolish you look when you’ve been “caught.”

So you don’t believe me! Then drive on and fall for the soft stories, but remember I told you so.