So you’ve bought a holiday cottage! Hooray! The most difficult part is, hopefully, behind you. You now have to prepare it for letting and undertake any refurbishment and furnishing that may be necessary. If you are not from the area yourself and if tradesmen are to be involved, your solicitor again may be able to help with names of reliable operators. With regard to furnishing, the days are gone when the contents of granny’s attic could find a second career in a holiday cottage, so don’t be tempted! Holiday makers expect more – clean, fresh, good quality, furniture and fittings are essential.

On the subject of cleanliness, unless you intend to handle turnarounds yourself, you will need a reliable caretaker, someone on hand who will ensure the place is clean and ready for each new group of tenants and take responsibility when the electricity goes off or the tenants can’t get the washing machine to work. Even if you don’t live locally yourself, you will probably have made quite a few contacts in the area by the time you have got your cottage up and running and word-of-mouth, especially in rural areas, can work wonders, as can an ad. in the local post office!

With all this in place, you now have to think about promoting your cottage in what can be a highly competitive market. This can be extremely costly and time consuming and, unless you are going to make this a full-time career, your time, too, is money. First you have to pitch your rentals at the right level, then you have to do your advertising. It’s all very well setting up a web site, but people have got to be able to find it, which means more advertising and on it goes. Then you have to administer all the bookings, run booking charts, handle cancellations, re-lets, ensure deposits and balances are paid before guests arrive etc. etc.

The other alternative is to get a good agent to take all the hassle out of the process for you. If you contact them early enough, they can also give excellent advice on the cottage you are hoping to buy, how well it should let and what sort of rentals you should hope to achieve. In short, they will hold your hand throughout the setting up process, and take the grind out of all the ongoing running of your investment. They know all the tricks of the trade, where best to advertise, and can navigate you safely round the hazards which might otherwise trip you up. You may well find that it works out not only much less stressful, but also less costly, than attempting to do it yourself. And as a final little cherry on the cake, the amount you may pay them for acting on your behalf is also tax-deductible!

Letting a holiday cottage should be an enjoyable and profitable experience. Hopefully the above will help to make it even more so. Good luck!!

Article courtesy of Scotland's premier Holiday Cottage Letting Company - Ecosse Unique Ltd.

Source: www.articlesbase.com