What should holiday let investors look for to make the best possible return on their purchase?
We thought that with over 35 years’ experience in Holiday letting and one of the UK’s most trusted brands in the self-catering market, and winner of the British Travel Award for best Holiday Cottage Booking Company, we would ask the experts at Holidaycottages.co.uk to help steer our potential investors.
What properties would you recommend for a potential buyer to purchase?
This is an interesting question and almost a how longs a piece of string answer. However a number of factors can determine what advice we give to our potential owners, where are they purchasing? How well can it be presented both internally and externally? Who are they looking to attract? What’s their potential budget? Will they want to use it themselves, as their personal preferences need to be factored in!
What style of property do you find tends to let best?
It’s not always about what style of property you let, but how well a property can be presented and how well it manipulates our website www.holidaycottages.co.uk.
The better a property can be presented the far higher the likelihood of it appealing to the maximum number of people, and so the higher the number of bookings throughout the year and the higher the return you can produce.
“The properties setting makes a massive difference as to what guests would look to stay in:”
If you’re looking to let by the coast in an area such as Westward Ho! You find that a modern apartment perched on the water’s edge will do extremely well. However that same property placed in a remote rural setting, would struggle against that traditional chocolate box thatched cottage or barn conversion. In a traditional fishing village like Appledore, famed for its maize of cobbled streets and charming fisherman’s cottages, guests will look to stay in a characteristic property of the area, and so that would tend to trump a modern new build property.
Is there a more popular area in North Devon to buy a holiday home?
North Devon is one of the highest searched for areas on our website, which is no mean feat when being compared against areas such as The Lake District, The Cotswolds, Pembrokeshire and of course our neighbours, Cornwall.
There are hotspots throughout North Devon such as Appledore, Clovelly, Westward Ho! Braunton, Croyde, Woolacombe to name but a few, however guests tend to know roughly where they want to holiday and then define it down to a given area such as North Devon, and then refine their search down further to suit their individual requirements. So the most searched for terms on the site are (in no particular order):
Beach within 5 miles
Waterside views (this covers Sea, River and Lakeside locations)
Pub within 1 mile
Shop within 1 mile
Enclosed Garden
Swimming Pool
Hot Tubs
Wood/Multi-fuel burner
It’s all about trying to offer your guests something that they don’t have on a daily basis. So with the vast majority of clients that head down to Devon and the Westcountry as a whole coming from areas such as London, The South East, the M4 Corridor and The Midlands, you can see why proximity to our world beating golden sandy beaches, and the vast open space of the rolling countryside is such an allure.
What is the best advice you can give?
Regardless of what stage you are at, whether you are ready to start advertising, or whether you’re in the early stages of purchasing a holiday home or even considering planning, pick up the phone and speak to our friendly professional New Business team, and they can advise as to what could or should be done in order to gain your best possible return.
To contact the experts from Holidaycottages.co.uk call 01237 459808 or email [email protected]
View our range of existing and potential holiday homes under the ‘Ideal Investments’ section or speak to the Morris and Bott team on 01237 459998 to find out more about holiday homes that suite your requirements.