Letting costs

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ken silverlock
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Aug 20, 2005 2:28 pm
Location: Nr Granada. Spain
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Letting costs

Post by ken silverlock »

We have brought a home in a village in Southern Spain but it seems that we may have to return to the Uk for a year or so.
Can anybody tell me what it should cost us if we give the letting to a local agent
Thanks Ken
Patia
Posts: 61
Joined: Sat Jun 18, 2005 11:51 am
Location: Moraira, Costa Blanca

Post by Patia »

Oh dear Ken . . . hopefully somebody with far more experience than me will come to your aid on this one, however I'm happy to tell you the little I know on this subject.

For one thing, we're in Northern Spain, and it seems to me that agents' rates might be a bit lower in the South but, if you're talking about asking an agent to deal with the whole thing . . . rentals, changeovers, client problems, maintenance, etc. then it can get very expensive. We looked into this as a possibility, but with quotes at around 25 - 30% of rental charges, we decided it wasn't for us. We also heard of very varied degrees of success in the bookings stakes with this too since, naturally, nobody will try harder for bookings than you will yourself.

Anyway, whether you decide to go down that road, or choose instead to deal with the bookings side yourself from UK (if you will have the time) and just appoint a local agent to do the rest, my best advice would be to start work right now interviewing as many prospective agents as you can (from recommendations wherever possible) and make copious notes on all of them! Then, if you appoint one but find you are not happy with them after all, or they let you down badly, you will at least have the information you need in order to replace them . . . from a distance if necessary. Be careful though, as some (if not most) will ask you to sign a contract which ties you to them for a certain period of time. I reluctantly once decided not to use one such agent, who really appealed to me, purely because their agreement looked so very legally binding, and rather scary.

I hope the other Spanish Owners can reply with something more useful than this once they see your posting!

Good luck,
Patia
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