The opportunity to travel the world doesn’t happen very often, so if you’ve been offered the chance, you will not want to turn it down! However taking time out to travel as a homeowner, presents the dilemma as to what you will do with your house whilst travelling? You could simply lock it up and go, but you run the risks associated with an empty property such as burglary, also you will still have your mortgage and bills to pay no matter where in the world you are.
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There are options to generate an income from your property, which will cover the mortgage as well as provide funds for your travels. This article aims to look at ways to make your house “work” for you.
Renting out your home
Rental properties are currently in short demand and most landlords require tenants to sign up for long periods of time in order to guarantee their income. Sometimes people only want to rent a property for a short length of time – ie a short let. This may be due to wanting to rent a property whilst renovation work is being carried out on their own property, whilst moving house, or when visiting relatives in a particular area. This where your own property would fit the bill perfectly! You could stipulate when advertising your home that it is for a short let only. This is particularly useful if you know exactly when you are travelling and your return dates, so that it can be written into tenancy agreements.
It will be essential to ensure that your property meets all safety regulations regarding it becoming a rental property. Regulations vary depending on where in the world you live, so research carefully.
Decide whether your house is to be rented out fully furnished or not. For a short term let, it makes sense to leave some furnishings, such as white goods, carpets and curtains. Everything else and all of your personal items and clothing will need to go into storage. Magenta self-storage offer storage solutions for varying lengths of time.
As you are going to be out of the country it would be worthwhile hiring a property management company to keep an eye on things. They will probably do checks on the property to ensure no damage as occurring.
Rent your home to the holiday market
If you live in an area that is popular with tourists, or you live close to a major city, such as London and Edinburgh, renting your property as a holiday let could be potentially very lucrative. You will earn a weekly income rather than monthly and can demand high prices in the summer or around festivals and events. Ensure that your property is furnished to a good standard, with all modern conveniences that the discerning traveller requires.
When pricing the weekly rental, ensure you factor in costs of cleaning the property in between rentals. It would be better to employ a management company to deal with any maintenance issues and a commercial cleaning company in St. Catherine’s (or wherever it is that your property is located) to keep the rental clean. Otherwise, you’ll likely spend a lot of time whilst travelling worrying about the state of the rooms before your guests arrive and sorting out leaking washing machines or a fridge that has stopped working!
Once your house is sorted, you can thoroughly relax and enjoy the many countries and cultures around the world.