Tips for buying a vacation home

Isabel Osorio, CEO of ATIPIKA answers

Buying a vacation home is a decision with different aspects where we want to combine leisure and enjoyment of the property with the investment made in its purchase. Catalonia is an area with great tourist attraction, as well as the islands or the south of Spain. We observe that the tourist potential becomes less and less homogeneous due to the possibility of making known alternatives different from the traditional tourism, like the rural, cultural, sport, relax, beach, mountain tourism… The number of possibilities that we can offer nowadays makes this decision complicated, but at the same time 100% right.

Tips for buying a vacation home - Atipika Lifestyle Properties 2024

What are our recommendations?

1. The first question to ask at the beginning should be: Why do we want to buy this vacation home? We can have several reasons: the area, proximity to relatives, proximity to the sea, rural life, views, sports, nightlife, and a long etcetera. We must not lose this point of view throughout the search process, as it will be our main criterion to start filtering products.

2. If we really want to enjoy the vacation home, our recommendation is that the distance of the house does not exceed two hours of driving time from our primary residence. Otherwise, in many cases, it ends up becoming an obligation instead of a process of novelty and enjoyment. We can exempt from this point all those people who are looking for a vacation home in the islands, for example, with the idea of moving there to spend the summer vacations.

3. And, in the case of wanting to rent that property that we do not want to have available all year round, consider the main characteristics that are most sought after in a holiday rental property

    a. A good presentation of the product, cleanliness, order, and warmth in the decoration.

    b. Proximity to the main attractions of the area

    c. Good services nearby

    d. Proximity to airports, trains, or buses.

    e. Price according to the offer in the area. If we want to stand out, we can try to offer more for the same amount.

    f. Our final recommendation is that the client should be the best salesperson, attracting other clients with their positive experience. This way we will achieve maximum occupancy.

4. Another important recommendation is not to be carried away by illusion and to think about factors such as cost, economic capacity, taxes and a realistic possible return, calculation of the outlets you must rent or to sell, in case it is necessary. We will have to keep these factors in mind at all times and analyze the numbers.

5. Before buying, it is necessary to analyze the demand in the area, how are the prices, and to think that we will be able to pay it in the worst of the scenarios.

6. If we want to combine both leisure and family and business, it is preferable that the area has a great economic potential or that it fulfills the requirements to obtain a tourist license. However, this is an issue that can be complicated depending on the area, so it is necessary to study well in which area we want to buy. Each area is governed by certain rules and in some areas, such as Barcelona city, this activity is suspended.

7. Beware of deception! You can always apply for a tourist license, but that does not mean that it will be granted, so you have to make sure that it is not an application, but a license with a number and not a fake one.

Tips for buying a vacation home - Atipika Lifestyle Properties 2024

Do you want to buy a vacation home or put your vacation home up for temporary rental? We are great experts in making profitable, increasing, and improving the assets of our clients, this is the only way we have managed to stay for more than 22 years. You can contact our office in Barcelona, we are happy to help you!

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