Just starting...actually not even started!

If you are planning to buy a rental home, or you're thinking about what to do with one you have just acquired, this is the place for any questions about starting out in the rentals business.
Sara
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Joined: Thu Aug 11, 2005 4:53 pm
Location: Assini/Nafplion, Greece
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Just starting...actually not even started!

Post by Sara »

Hello everyone

I'm Sara and am in the process of buying a villa in Greece purely for rental purposes. I live in Athens so will only be a 2 hour drive away from the new house and any problems that may/will occur.!

THis website is absolutely fantastic for those of us "new to the game" and I will have hundreds of questions. At the moment the two things that spring to mind are:-

Swimming pool safety regulations. What must I do to make sure I comply?
Secondly, rental price. The villa is built on an incline and three bedrooms are in the main house and the fourth is at the garden level. It has its own entrance. Should I offer a price for four bedrooms but with a discount for those only wishing to occupy three?

That's it for now.
Sara
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paolo
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Re: Just starting...actually not even started!

Post by paolo »

Sara wrote:Should I offer a price for four bedrooms but with a discount for those only wishing to occupy three?
Welcome to the forum, Sara!
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I think I would initially, to get a sense of the market. It may be that a 3-bedroom is in big demand and a 4-bedroom isn't, or vice versa. You would only find out by offering this flexibility.
Paolo
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A-two
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Joined: Mon Oct 25, 2004 10:05 am
Location: USA

Post by A-two »

Welcome Sara!

Well, you're off to a good start having found this place. I only wish the forum had been around when we started.

If you rent only the 3 bedrooms, what happens to the 4th? I don't think you want to offer it on any kind of "per room" basis, otherwise folks might think they are in a share house situation, or a hotel, whereby they can book by the room, or if they only book the 3 bedrooms, someone else may be occupying the other one in too close proximity.

Not exactly sure of your set up, but it sounds a little complicated to me, so to keep it as simple as possible, I would be tempted to sell it as a 4 bedroom house, but make a big feature of a "low occupancy discount" for those only needing 2-3 bedrooms. The low occupancy discount ought to atttract couples and smaller families without implying they are in a share situation.

Anyone asking for the low occupancy discount would need to be told that the 4th bedroom will be locked off for the duration of their stay (and do it), or that they can always pay the full supplement to have it opened up for an extra person or two.

For those who book all 4 bedrooms from the start, then I think you need to make it clear in the description where the 4th bedroom is located. Everyone must know how it is both separate and connected to the rest of the house before they arrive. In terms of pricing, I think I would pitch it at the rate of a 3 1/2 bed villa, as not everyone would be attracted by the fact the 4 beds are not together, in effect charging half price for the 4th bedroom.

If the 4th bedroom has it's own bath and is more like a studio apartment that can be rented out on it's own, then I think you have to advertise it as 2 units, being a 3 bedroom house with accessory apartment (or whatever the appropriate description may be for your location).

I think that's how I would approach it anyway and you'll soon know after a few months what is working for you. Good Luck!
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LaLuz
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Location: Costa de la Luz
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Post by LaLuz »

When I've rented villas for my family and parents in the past, a completely seperate bedroom was a bonus.

My parents would use the seperate bedroom and that way we could all have a little more privacy. I would think this could be same for teenagers too.

It would need a bathroom though, so if there isn't one now, is there space to put one?

One villa we used a few times did offer a discount if you only had the main house as the extra room could be locked. However this was only an option in low season, probably because families tend to want the main summer months.

Anyway, Good Luck!
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