My Top 5 Tips for Buying a Holiday Home in Spain

Even though I'm still a relative newbie to owning a rental home in Spain (I bought mine in 2022), I'm often asked for advice on choosing the right house and getting it ready for guests. So, here are my top tips, based on my own experience.

Tip 1: Look Beyond the Obvious Location

It's a cliché, but it's 100% true: location is everything. However, the "right" location isn't always the most famous one.

With a modest budget, the first instinct is to scour Idealista for apartments in the usual Costa tourist traps like Marbella, Benidorm, or Fuengirola. You soon discover that your budget doesn't get you much, at best a small one-bed studio. But price isn't the only reason to look elsewhere.

If you plan to cover your costs with holiday lets, these areas are fiercely competitive. In quieter periods, you'll find yourself in a race to the bottom on price with hundreds of other hosts. There's also the unfortunate reality that the more popular a resort is, the higher the chances of renting to troublesome guests or the dreaded stag party.

My first tip is to look beyond the big resorts. You'll get far more for your money, face less competition, and often attract a more relaxed type of guest.

Tip 2: Buy for the Long Term

Once you've found a location, it's time to find the house. If you're seriously considering buying in Spain, you'll be aware of the high transaction costs. Purchase taxes range from 7% to 11%, and on top of that, you have legal fees.

Selling isn't cheap either, with capital gains tax, agent fees, and more legal costs. Because of this, buying and selling property in Spain is horribly expensive. You need to get it right the first time. It's common for people to buy their "dream home," only to realise its flaws later and discover that selling up and moving would mean losing a huge chunk of their capital.

So, my top tip here is to buy the very best house you can afford the first time. If you have to stretch your budget, do it, because changing your mind a year or two later is often not financially viable.

Tip 3: Scrutinise the Build Quality (and Legality)

The quality of Spanish-built houses varies wildly. A property can look amazing, but the gloss can hide structural issues, poor workmanship, and a minefield of legal quirks.

• Townhouses: If you're buying in a village, ensure at least one full wall of the house gets sun for a few hours a day, otherwise damp can be a serious issue in winter. Also, check the floor plan carefully. It's common in older villages for rooms to protrude into a neighbour's footprint, or for part of your top floor to belong to the house next door.

• Villas: Check the wall thickness. Some are built with a single skin of brick, making them cold and expensive to heat in winter. Yes, it gets cold in Spain in winter, especially at night.

And always, ALWAYS, hire an excellent solicitor who is completely independent of the selling agent. Have them do a very deep dive into the ownership deeds and legality of any house you fall in love with.

Tip 4: Know Your House Intimately

Before buying our place, my wife and I stayed in rental homes all over Spain. When a minor issue arose, like a temperamental boiler or a tripped fuse, we'd often contact the owner, who would reply, "Oh, I don't know, I haven't spent much time there myself."

This is a killer for guest confidence. You need to know where the water stopcock is, which bedroom is quietest during a fiesta, and the secret trick to getting the boiler to fire up. You only learn these things by living in the house. I was fortunate enough to stay in our place for a few months after buying it. If you can't do that, spend several of your own holidays there before you even think about renting it out.

Tip 5: Equip It Like a Home, Not a Rental

It's easy to spot a property that's set up purely for renting versus one that's also used by the owners. The rental-only places are often sparsely equipped with the absolute basics, sometimes not even a decent coffee maker or enough pans to cook a proper meal.

In contrast, the places that feel like a home are always well-equipped. Your guests notice this immediately.

So, my final tip is: don't be cheap. Even if you never plan to stay there yourself, equip the house with everything your guests might need. Make your holiday rental feel like their perfect holiday home.