Does anyone do holiday lets and/or bought with someone else?

[HolidayHelen]

Have NC for this (for fairly obvious reasons).

My grandad died about 5 months' ago and I and my siblings (DB and DSis) inherited £50k each which is lovely but I'm trying to decide what to do with it.

My DSis said to me at the time of the will being read out that she'd like to buy somewhere to rent out as an investment but obviously £50k isn't going to get you very far but it set me thinking ...

I live in a very touristy area of the UK (think Cumbria) and I am thinking of putting my money into a BTL holiday let property which I will manage myself. But I think it's probably more lucrative if you can buy somewhere a bit bigger so I was thinking about asking my DSis if she wanted to pool our resources to buy somewhere as a holiday let, rather than a standard property. Obviously the income is higher but so is the hassle factor. My sister and I get on very well on the whole and if we could agree that she manages bookings and I sort out any issues/keep an eye on cleaning etc, I think it could be a really good idea.

Before I approach my sister (and she may bite my hand off or tell me to sod off, I really don't know), I'd appreciate other perspectives on my (potentially) hare-brained scheme.

ps I wouldn't ask my brother to join the scheme as he's much younger than we are and will be using the money as a deposit for a first home. Plus we don't get on especially well.

Good idea in principle, biting wouldn't mix business with pleasure! How will you feel if she doesn't pull her weight?

Hmm, yes I'd thought of that. I could potentially do the whole thing (the managing booking and sorting out issues) as I'm in situ and also it might make it a bit more cut and dried. But obviously she'd have to agree to pay me a % of her income to do that - I guess that contacting managing agents to find out how much they charge for that type of thing would be the way forward?

Sounds very workable but I think perhaps there may be an imbalance if that's how you want to split roles.

I manage our holiday let, including bookings, and that part is the most labour-intensive part of the process. We have a local person who goes in to clean and check the property before the security deposit is repaid, and that's a very straightforward part of everything. Depends how you are going to split the proceeds. If you do go ahead, best to make everything crystal clear going into it, and have regular reviews of progress, so there's no chance of misunderstandings or resentments along the way.

Why don't you research costs of using a holiday let agent instead before you speak to her - it would take away a lot of hassle and chasing - and depending on the fees you might all agree it is worth it. Also find out about cleaners and costs - ask the holiday let people to give you some names.

Maggie - is it profitable? Are you glad you've done it? If you were me, would you raise it with her (sorry, that's loads of questions but I don't know anyone else that does holiday lets around here)

As I said in my 2nd post, I'd be prepared to take on the whole thing or maybe we split it depending on availability so we do 50/50.

Also, are you being realistic for what you can get for £100k? I did a quick rightmove search and there were only a couple for properties (wooden chalets) in the lakes area - everything else affordable was on the coast which I'm assuming doesn't have a huge holiday let potential.

upinthehills - sorry x-post. Good thinking re researching price of agents. And no £100k isn't enough to buy something outright but we could put £80-90 into a mortgage and £10-20k into furnishing.

Between us, we have enough capital to buy something decent I think.

A joint mortgage gives another set of issues doesn't it as you will be liable for all her payments if she doesn't pay her share.

Oh yes, that's a very good point :(

Thanks - this is all very helpful

I did this with a good friend, due to the location she ended up doing most of the work. Although she knew this would be the case she resented it in the end so I would save it needs to be a 50/50 split of the work I think to make it fair even thought she was paid to do the cleaning. Even better get someone in to do the handovers. We didnt fall out about it but there was pressure on my to do my share which was hard being over 200miles away! We didnt make any money really until we sold as we had a high mortgage then due to rise in the market probably doubled our money if I remember right?

My parents have a holiday let in a tiny seaside village.
Pros are its next door to their house so very convenient for changeovers and maintenance and they now have an established customer base with some people returning 2/3 times a year. There's no mortgage on it as it was my grandparents home, they make a very small profit but there are still all the usual bills to pay.

Cons and this is the big one, they are very tied to it they can't or rather won't go away when there are bookings so they can't just decide they are going on holiday and scoot off! This could be because my father is too attached to it so you really have to see it as a business and detach yourself! Changeovers can be a lot of work cleaning and laundry change can take at least half a day.

I was thinking of paying someone to do the cleaning/change the linen - I don't want to be stuck doing that :o

Hmm ... maybe it's not such a good idea. I think I will suggest it tho and see what she says

Hi
Just wondering what you decided in the end as I am considering something very similar
Hayley