Covid-19: How Marbella property owners can prepare for the return of holiday renters

Though the Coronavirus epidemic is keeping people at home and restricting travel worldwide, it won’t last forever. For those landlords on the Costa del Sol that are focused on short term holiday lettings, this means these months have been quiet but the tourists will come back to Marbella and the surrounding areas. This is a good time to reflect on your property and assess how you can make it achieve better results and you get back to business. Here are a few points to consider for holiday lettings and property management once the market reopens and the tourists return:

1. There will be an upsurge in vacation rentals:

After months of being confined to their homes people will be anxious to get away, and taking a holiday will be the quick way for people to forget about being locked up at home and put themselves back into a lifestyle similar to pre Covid 19! Marbella´s beaches will be open for business this summer and beyond and we expect people to take advantage of that as soon as possible. Those delaying vacation plans will be rushing to book before the end of the summer season or for a late vacation in the autumn. Airlines like British Airways, Ryanair, Easyjet etc are keen to get back to the skies also, so, compared to normal years, expect an increase in demand for holiday lettings towards the end of summer and well into autumn.

2. Use this time to improve your property:

While waiting for the world to re-open, why not take the opportunity to improve your properties so they are more attractive to potential guests? Since you cannot currently take in guests, this is a perfect opportunity to upgrade your vacation properties.  
A fresh coat of paint and some new additions can help revitalise and make some dramatic improvement to the appearance of your holiday homes, also, why not get some new pictures and funk up your online image and stand out from the crowd.Those who have been putting off other renovations and repairs can use this time to do so. Modern properties with new kitchens and bathrooms are always appealing and will help you standout on Airbnb, Booking.com, homeaway etc. No better time to do these projects than now while the properties are empty.

3. Make sure you appeal to what the new requirements will be:

After escaping their isolation, many people who have never before booked a vacation rental will be looking to do so for the first time. With no prior experience of booking a vacation rental, they will inevitably head for the famous, big-name companies everyone knows..Providing the right package of property, property services and reliability. The post Covid client will be more focused on cleanliness, hygiene and reliability. The improvement we spoke about in the last paragraph will help portray that image online, but having the right management company servicing your property will be essential also. People may feel more at ease renting through a dedicated property management company rather than direct with owners.