14 Oct Five Keys for Investing in Rentals in Barcelona

With the economic crisis over, the real estate market is coming back strong, delivering ever more business opportunities. Entering the apartment rental market in Barcelona is an interesting option for many investors thanks to the dynamism of a city that sees the arrival of large numbers of tourists annually, as well as many visitors who stay for months at a time for school- or work-related reasons. Cosmopolitan and international, the temporary residents of Barcelona form a versatile market that offers many opportunities to generate real estate income, but that can only be exploited by offering them quality services that respond to specific and particular needs.

At Lodging Management, a company dedicated to Barcelona rentals for more than 15 years, we are completely versed in the market and the opportunities of the sector and we make sure that your investment is as profitable as possible. According to the Bank of Spain, mid-way through 2017, buying a building and renting it out offered average returns of 8.8% throughout the country. But this return is even higher in locations that are especially attractive to visitors, where the average rises to above 10%. One of the most outstanding examples of this is Barcelona, a city ideal for this type of undertaking in which, nonetheless, you can continue to find many examples of poorly managed rentals and short-term strategies. Today we’d like to offer you 5 of the keys for taking maximum advantage of investing in rentals apartments in Barcelona.

Choose a good neighbourhood in which to invest in Barcelona

Not all Barcelona districts offer the same returns when it comes to rentals. If what you’re after is maximum benefits in the short-term, together with the greatest possibility of property appreciation, the star neighbourhood is the old city, at 27.7%, followed by Eixample, at 22%, and Horta-Guinardó, whose benefits from rentals are estimated at 20.5%. Altogether, as we’ve mentioned previously in this blog, outlier neighbourhoods of Barcelona can also be an interesting source of income. There are people who, because of the constant travel required by their work, seek neighbourhoods that offer easy access to the airport. There are other residents that want to get away from the centre and areas filled with tourists, whether it’s because they want to pay less in rent or because they want to live in the “real” Barcelona, immersed in the day-to-day and authentic customs of lifelong residents. No matter the situation, Lodging Management helps people looking for an apartment to rent in Barcelona and offers them all the options and services they could need during their stay – whether in a holiday apartment or in a month-to-month rental – so they’re as comfortable as possible. Property owners that trust us to rent out their apartments in Barcelona know that we not only help them avoid the irritating tasks associated with the daily management of tourism flats (housekeeping, maintenance, check-in, check-out, etc.), but we also provide additional services for apartments oriented towards monthly rental (furniture, linens, kitchenware, and even housekeeping), meaning that owners get maximum returns from their investment.

The holiday rental option

If you opt for holiday rental, our target will be the tourists who come for several days or weeks to enjoy the sights of Barcelona. However, everything must be set up through the proper channels. That means that your apartment must have a tourism license conferred by the Barcelona City Administration, an absolute necessity in order to avoid fines of between 30,000 and 600,000 Euros. Lodging Management always works within the legal framework and only with properties that respect the current legal norms.

Though tourism apartments are a truly noteworthy source of income, they have the drawback of bringing with them the constant movement of tourists. But this is an area in which Lodging Management has led the sector in Barcelona for years. Our holiday rental management company takes care of every detail for you, from the publication of your apartment listing at an optimal price on the various online booking platforms, to managing the arrival and departure of visitors, and including housekeeping and long-term rental of the property. The only thing our clients do is collect their profits.

Month-to-month or medium-term rentals

In this scenario, your rental in Barcelona serves a different market. The final customer is usually a businessperson or a foreign student looking to stay in Barcelona for a number of months in order to work or study and who would like to live in a space that offers, above all, quality and convenience. This type of investment has two fundamental benefits: the first is that your apartment can be left free for part of the year if you choose, meaning that you can use it for other ends; and the second is that those who rent because they are here to work or study are often freelance professionals or expats with high purchasing power, prepared to pay a bit more in exchange for extra services such as housekeeping or not having to buy things like kitchenware or linens.

In these cases, Lodging Management takes care of everything during a client’s stay. When a potential client asks us to manage their rental apartment in Barcelona, we first assess the home to see whether it fits into the Lodging family of apartments. If the apartment is accepted, sometimes we will propose homestaging improvements or even small renovations that will positively impact your guests’ impressions of the apartment. And finally, we keep the apartment in perfect shape and take care of your guests throughout their stay, offering 24-hour service, 365 days a year.

Small apartments: a great opportunity for investment

There are great benefits to be had in the rental market for companies or individuals who own a full building or are interested in buying one. Experts like José Antonio Pérez, the director of the Real Estate Faculty of the Business Practice Institute, agree: “In rentals: the smaller, the more profitable.” Distributing the building space over small but charming apartments will multiply your profits and won’t be an impediment to the quality of the time that your visitors spend in Barcelona. In fact, in terms of month-to-month rentals, the occupant often comes alone, meaning that the apartment needn’t be as large as that required by a family on holiday. Lodging Management manages several full buildings, and we have optimized them for this type of monthly rental. We take care not only of customer service, but also have agreements with a number of our owners to reform their buildings and get the apartments market-ready, a service that Lodging Management can offer thanks to economies of scale.

Professional apartment rental

Renting a property, whether for months or for days, requires continuous attention to the details that matter to guests so that they remain happy throughout the duration of their stay. This happiness is transmitted by word of mouth on social media and specialized portals and it elevates the reputation of your service, which in turn brings in more guests and better profits. This extreme attention to detail in fulfilling the needs of whomever rents the apartment can require considerable time investment from the property owner, who is not always prepared to deal with the complications that come with attending to the day-to-day needs of a temporary resident.

Lodging Management takes care of all these requirements efficiently, quickly, and professionally, thanks to our experience in the sector and the qualified professionals on our team who guarantee your guests the best benefits and care, from 24-hour customer service to housekeeping and maintenance. We even take care of Welcome Packs, homestaging, or big and small renovations; everything required so that our investors, whether individuals or companies, don’t lose a moment of their time and see their income grow quickly. Rentals are a business that can bring in very interesting returns in the short-, medium-, and long-term, as long as you are willing to invest in making a difference in the quality and services you provide to your guests.