Hi all
My parents and I have a holiday house in Mannum (South Australia). We are struggling with paying the bills and we don't really have time to go there more than twice a year, so we were thinking of renting it out for short periods of time. What would be the cons of doing this? Is it a difficult process? Would this be a good idea or just too much hassle?
Look forward to hearing from you soon.
HI there
I note that we did something similar with one property which came off a permanent rental and we have had as a holiday letting.In our case we offer it to friends, workmates and family at a reduced fee which is a plus for them as they are not paying full price for holiday accommodation and we get some of our costs paid.
I know of another owner in the same building whose unit he rents out 6 months of the year and the other 6 months he uses.
My SIL has a unit which she holiday lets and has an agent manage for her.
It really is up to you – as it is definately doable.
thanksA member of my family has a house which she lets for holiday accomodation (furnished) with the assistance of the local tourist information centre and a local cleaner. Would it be possible to get an agent for this type of letting? Get some prices for mgt and cleaning and see if they add up.
The other thing you could do is sell it and buy a "traditional" investment property with good yield; you could pay for your holidays with the savings in your outgoings and also holiday in more places.
Is it possible for us to claim the holiday property expenses such as rates etc and maintenance on tax? I mean we intend to rent it out but it we are not at that stage yet.
You can only claim the percentage of the expenses that relate to the holiday letting.
So, if you let it for 48 weeks a year, you can claim 48 weeks worth.
The other way to do it would be to treat yourselves as a normal guest, pay all the proper rental rates for the time you use it, and then claim the whole year's expenses.
Management fees for these types of lettings are hefty – 20% is not uncommon, and then you have all the cleaning fees etc unless you do it all yourself.
We looked at doing this with our house when we moved overseas foir the last 3 years, but the "season" for letting was short, and the income was not that great compared to permanent tenants after you got the place into a decent shape for holiday rentals.
In a nutshell; not worth it for the return.
We went permanent tenants instead.
I am now thinking of selling the holiday house. It would make me debt free as it would cover most of the cost of our house we are about to start building. The only thing is, we might never be able to afford a holiday house (especially not in that location) again, and we are trying to figure out what the best thing would be.
What would you guys do?
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