Korinia Estates Agency News

If you have taken delivery of your property here in North Cyprus and finished furnishing it, perhaps now it is time to recoup some of your investment through the rental market. But just what is the best way to go about this?

The rental income that you can expect of course depends on your property, its location, and whether you have use of a pool.
If you are not going to be here full time to manage the property yourself and would like to rent it out for holiday lets, then the first thing you must do is to find a property and rental manager. Ideally it should be one agent that can provide both services so that you have only one key-holder taking full responsibility for your property rather than having copies in many different hands. That is not to say that you should not market your property through many different companies. We advocate that exposure is vital to get the rental bookings required and recommend that a separate marketing budget be set aside for achieving such exposure. Some companies work on a commission only basis whereas others require an annual payment up-front for listing your property on their website or magazine. If you are looking for internet exposure, do some prior research to see which rental companies come up high on the search engines and are already advertising properties in North Cyprus.


What should one expect from property management? Standard services generally include regular interior and exterior property checks, the maintenance of the pool and garden if required, and timely payment of water and electric bills on your behalf. Should repairs be required the property manager should arrange for the requisite maintenance people but the cost of the actual workmanship and spare parts are usually extra. What are the duties of the rental agent? Rental management involves a lot of initial work drawing up full inventories, ensuring that there is everything needed in the property and perhaps sourcing whatever is missing, taking photos for the marketing, listing the property on the website with all the details, and drawing up rental contracts. The easiest way to attract tenants is through repeat booking so it is vital that they feel well looked after and should they have any problems that they are quickly resolved. A welcome pack of groceries is a nice touch especially if they are arriving late at night, and it is to be thoroughly recommended even if it means increasing the rental price to cover the cost. A good rental agent should also be able to provide services such as arranging airport transfers, car rental, babysitters, extra laundry or maid service etc, which go a long way to ensuring that the tenants have a relaxing holiday.

So what are the costs to think about? First you have the property and rental management fee, cleaning, laundry and welcome pack expenses, the utility bills, rental commission and further marketing expenses, plus insurance and general repairs if required. Please also bear in mind that it is your responsibility to declare any rental income to the tax office; tax is officially set at 10% of such income and there are warning signs that the government is going to clamp down on this in the near future. This perhaps all sounds like a lot of further outlay so what about the income? The rental income that you can expect of course depends on your property, its location, and whether you have use of a pool. It also varies depending on whether you are looking for short-term holiday lets or long-term lets. Holiday lets command much higher rates and are usually quoted per week whereas the price for long term lets should be much reduced but it would be the tenants' responsibility to pay all the utility bills and moreover there are no cleaning, laundry and welcome pack costs involved.

We usually recommend to look for longer term lets at a reduced rental fee but better occupancy through the winter unless you feel that you can attract special interest tourism during the winter for example golf should your property be located near the golf course. Occupancy rates go hand in hand with the amount of exposure you have, especially now that there are so many properties on the rental market. You should also investigate the market so that you don't over-price your property – your agent should be able to advise you on this. What can one expect from this venture. The goal should be to cover all property running costs and to have a good healthy income whilst knowing that your property is well looked after and that its value is not diminishing due to deferred maintenance.
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