If you want to rent your home while it is unoccupied during the vacation period and thus obtain extra profitability, this article is for you, we give you 10 tips to rent your home legally, either for tourist or seasonal rentals.
1. Defines the Leasing Regime
The first thing to consider is the type of lease that will apply to your home. In Spain, there are two common forms:
- Second Home Rental: This is the most common type of rental, ideal for those who wish to rent their home for single weeks or vacations.
- Rental as Tourist Accommodation: In this case, the dwelling is rented exclusively for tourist purposes, being considered an economic activity.
2. Know the current legislation
Regulations for the rental of tourist housing vary from one autonomous community to another in Spain. Each region has its own regulations and requirements that you must comply with. Make sure you know the specific laws and regulations in your area to avoid legal problems.
3. Meets Basic Requirements
In most of the autonomous communities, there are basic requirements that must be met by tourist homes. These usually include:
- Certificate of Habitability or License of First Occupancy.
- Furnishing: The apartment must be rented fully furnished, with all the necessary utensils for the tenant: sheets, towels, kitchen utensils, appliances (in addition to the basics, we recommend microwave, coffee maker, blender, as well as iron).
As part of our integrated rental management service, we provide the textiles and take care of the cleaning after each stay and the laundry during the tenant’s stay. - Emergency Phone: You must provide tenants with an emergency contact number.
4. Know the Local Restrictions
Some autonomous communities impose additional restrictions, such as limits on the duration of rentals or the prohibition of renting rooms in certain dwellings. Find out about local restrictions before putting your home up for rent.
5. Income Statement
It is important to declare your rental income on your income tax return. If you are an individual, you must include the earnings in the IRPF. If you are a professional, such as a manager or use a rental platform, you must declare VAT. Fees may vary according to the autonomous community and the nature of the rental.
7. Pay Tourist Taxes
In some autonomous communities, such as Catalonia, owners of tourist homes must pay the tourist tax or Tax on Stays in Tourist Establishments (IEET). Be sure to comply with these payments if they apply to your situation.
8. Avoid Fines
Failure to comply with the regulations can result in significant fines, ranging from €3,000 to €600,000. In addition to financial penalties, you could face a ban on renting your home for this purpose in the future.
9. Go to a professional
In legal and economic issues it is better to ask for professional advice to help us in any consultation. As we saw before, you have to manage too many papers and you need to be sure to get everything right, the price, the contract, selecting the tenant, advice, etc. There are just too many things to take into account for any owner, especially novices. These small problems lengthen the rental period. The professionals recommend asking for help from the experts because we will save time and money that we can use in other things, such as painting or tuning up our home.
10. Adapt and depersonalize the property
In this last section we mean that you should remove all photographs and personal objects and create a neutral and impartial environment. Leave the necessary furniture that best decorates the property, for example, sofas, television and similar. It offers the tenant the option to bring or change their furniture, the same at the time of painting the property. Therefore, you should adapt to your tenant and invest in your apartment by repairing and decorating it but with what is necessary, for example, in neutral colors such as white so that it is easy to change it.
Finally, you should consider the following possibilities:
- Invest and fix all damages. In this way, the value of the apartment will be revalued. We have an article in which we explain about home staging, what it is and how it can help you to rent your home.
- Clean your apartment and offer decorating options such as painting by you or the tenant if he/she wants.
- Finally, be flexible in negotiations.
