Holiday lets

[Willowbella]

Hi all.

Does anybody have any experience of starting up in business running a holiday let?

I live in a quiet coastal part of the country although there is a holiday park and an area with chalets. I would love to buy a chalet to let it out for holiday rentals.

How hard is it to get a mortgage for a holiday rental when you are in your 40s? The chalets for sale are between £50k to £80k but I would need to borrow to do it up as well.

Any tips greatly received.
I have seen an example of one in the same area (done up to a very high spec) which is booked out for the next two years.

You can get specialist mortgages for holiday let properties, so your age shouldn't be an issue.

You need to look at whether your area will attract visitors all year round too, or if your summer income has to cover the mortgage for the year.

I run a holiday let with 85% average occupancy across the year, but to get to that level I need to sometimes drop to single night stays in the quiet months, which means more changeovers.

There are mortgages for holiday lets. Age is not a problem. Ideally you should have knowledge about the area. How will you advertise offers to attract people?

Do you have any experience? What skills do you have? I recommend producing leaflets describing the property and distributing copies. Or advertising in the paper and online too. It is also a good idea to have a website and telephone number.

Will you allow animals?