It safe to say get this not as much money in the buy to let market as they used to be. The days when you could get great rates for a property to rent out and make money being a landlord? They’re pretty much long gone. However, it can still work even if it’s not on home soil.  Many savvy people have started investing in holiday homes abroad to make more of their money. They’re all banking on the vast amounts of cash to be made from the inflated prices charged for weekly rental rates during peak season. Most holiday operators put a premium on their prices during the highest demand periods. For example, think school holidays, Christmas and new year. And why wouldn’t they?

[Photo courtesy of Max Vakhtbovych/pexels.com]

Out of season, the property could sit empty for weeks or even months at a time. And the mortgage and running costs still need to be paid.  You need to be able to offset those outgoings to make sure you can pay for them all year round. If you are thinking about investing in the holiday lettings market, then you need to be careful. It’s time to think long and hard about all the extra money and work involved, which will be more than your typical buy to let in your hometown. One of the reasons that people pay such a high amount to stay in lovely holiday properties is they want to go somewhere a little bit different to home.

Therefore, you need to decide where the best place to purchase is. It could be as close to home or as far away as you like, but remember to make sure you can afford to get there if there’s a major problem. You could plump for a luxury place like the Four Seasons Nevis in the West Indies for something entirely different. If that’s just too far away, stick to a cheap holiday apartment in a less exclusive resort. It all depends on what sort of cash you want to invest.

[Photo courtesy of Rachel Claire/pexels.com]

Running a holiday property is not a piece of cake. There’s a lot of work involved and you have to ask yourself if you are prepared to do it yourself. If not yet going to have to pay someone to do it for you and that’s going to take a chunk out of your income. There is a reward for all of this extra effort, though. Yields will be much higher, and you could make yourself more money in the long run.  Another benefit adding to the long term appealing investing in a holiday home is that you should receive tax benefits. This means you could make even more profit.

You also need to consider how you are going to get your hands on the funds to buy a holiday home. Unless you’ve got substantial savings, you going to need to borrow some money. You are not going to have as many options as if you were looking for a traditional buy to let mortgage. Calculating how much income a holiday home is going to make can be  little more than guesswork, so lenders are often hesitant.

Have you invested in property overseas? We’d love to hear your stories and tips! Please leave them in the comments below.