Buying a condo to rent out.

[sonjack2847]

1 hour ago, Jack Peterson said:

 For me, as some may Know/Realize  you just Got to have a Healthy Bank balance and certainly a good Plan "B". I have an Interest in a Mid range Apartment block in "Malta" with 6 letting Apartments. As a Tradesman is only as good as his last job, Owners that Rent are many times only  as good (the balance sheet) as when all rents come in. Doing some investigation Recently into my Tax Return on the island, I find that over the Year, some Rents are owed and can play Havoc with your own Plans & Tax liabilities, what I mean to say is that you can have a 100% occupancy yet only maybe a 75% yield if Rents are not Collected in Good and Due time, even worse if it is only 1 rental. If I had my time again I would not have gone into this Game but getting out is not that easy, I now find I have a problem with a Sub_Let something that can be a swine to deal with if you are an absent Landlord as I am here

Just my Thoughts on this

Jack

Morning All.

I ran into quite problems when I was an absentee landlord.As it happens I am still trying to sort some of them out. Even if you have a good management company things can and do go wrong, it only takes 1 bad tenant and you can lose a lot of money.

[Snowy79]

45 minutes ago, sonjack2847 said:

I ran into quite problems when I was an absentee landlord.As it happens I am still trying to sort some of them out. Even if you have a good management company things can and do go wrong, it only takes 1 bad tenant and you can lose a lot of money.

That's the bonus of short term rentals. My apartment is inside a secure resort with armed guards and cctv. I've also got a caretaker on 2,500 php per month. No keys are handed over until the ID is photocopied and cash is handed over. 

Her husband also works inside the resort. I'm insured via airbnb and booking.com plus the resort.

On booking out the caretaker checks the property and calls front desk to confirm the guests are good to go. The only possible issue is if a guest doesn't turn up I offer free cancellation up to 2rhrs beforehand. If they don't turn up I've still to pay the company booking fee which is about 300php per day. Over 80% of my rentals are for 2 days the majority of the others are one night. 

So far I've had 2 no shows which I can live with. I've worked out that if I rent out 5 days I break even. Most months it's a minimum of 20 days I've got booked and some months I've only 3 empty days. I fully agree long term rentals can be an issue but if I was to go down that route I'd still ensure there was a weekly quick check by the caretaker under the auspices of the resort policy. 

Edited August 18, 2017 by Snowy79

[RBM]

Interesting, I use airbnb frequently and most have a care taker, although they meet and greet it's rare they ever unit on departure if ever.

As the OP is a Scott I must say he seems quite a spender, strange Indeed!,

[mogo51]

All sounds too hard, will just stay a quiet retired pensioner, enjoying the twilight of my life.

[RBM]

26 minutes ago, mogo51 said:

All sounds too hard, will just stay a quiet retired pensioner, enjoying the twilight of my life.

A man after my own heart.

[Jollygoodfellow]

3 hours ago, Snowy79 said:

I fully agree long term rentals can be an issue but if I was to go down that route I'd still ensure there was a weekly quick check by the caretaker under the auspices of the resort policy. 

If I was a tenant and that was the policy I would rent elsewhere. Most people like their privacy in long term rentals. 

[stevewool]

Where is this place that you have brought, or have I missed that.

The figures you are quoting are good and I may have 2nd thoughts, but my biggest problem is trying to get Emma interested, "what ever" springs to mind sometimes .

[Snowy79]

20 minutes ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

If I was a tenant and that was the policy I would rent elsewhere. Most people like their privacy in long term rentals. 

I fully understand that but as it's a resort I've also got to protect the resort reputation and other guests not forgetting my investment. 

I wouldn't long term rent it anyway as I like the option of visiting the island now and again without paying for digs. 

The inspection would literally be an open the door to receive fresh bedding and towels with a cursory glance around. Certainly not looking into drawers etc. 

I've seen too many long term rents turned into drug dens for my liking to trust anyone long term. 

[Snowy79]

9 minutes ago, stevewool said:

Where is this place that you have brought, or have I missed that.

The figures you are quoting are good and I may have 2nd thoughts, but my biggest problem is trying to get Emma interested, "what ever" springs to mind sometimes .

Without burning my own bridges all I'll say is it is on an island that's highly rated and inside a resort managed by one of the major property companies with a long trading history.

There's one nearby called Oceanview which is brand new and run by another reputable company. Apartments there have increased in price by 3m php in the last two years and there seams to be plenty offered for long term rentals of 45,000 php per month for a 44 sqm rabbit hutch. 

Another one doesn't let you rent out your own property but you can put it in a pool for 15 years. I looked into it and it's a rip off. Average returns of 70,000 peso per year. 

Sorry I can't be more specific but I don't want to advertise or bring in the competition. 

[Snowy79]

As a side note one of the first properties I looked at as an investment 2 years ago was a loft apartment at Regatta Bay in Puerto Princessa, Palawan. On paper it was great. A resort style complex by the beach with running track, club house, swimming pool, gym etc. Since they started advertising almost 3 years ago prices had increased by over 1/2m by the time I got interested.

I visited the site and spoke to the sales team and managed to pick a prime apartment. They toured me around models of the apartment and showed me a building that was half finished. I ask for time frames and they said November last year. 

I paid my deposit to hold my apartment with the remainder to be paid in three months. I kept stalling as I had a bad feeling about the resort. Sure enough very little was getting done on site. I warned them they can sing for the money if I don't see progress. After one year I told them to shove it and asked for my deposit back.

Fast forward to today and so far they've finished the one building I saw and put in a bit of road. At this rate it'll be 20 years before they're finished, if ever. My money says they'll fold and leave behind disappointed buyers.