One of the advantages of buying property in Costa del Sol is that you can easily recoup your investment by renting it out to tourists. However, you should take proper precautions when choosing renters. You have to select tenants who will respect your rules, and make sure your property is well maintained. They should also be conscientious about payments and, if they accidentally damage the property, to be ethical enough to pay for it.

The best scenario of course is that the renter will do these things because he has a good moral character. But why leave it to chance? By creating a contract and a solid system of rules you will at least protect yourself legally. If they skip payments, or damage the properties, you can make a claim.

There are two kinds of rental contracts. The short term rental contact is called arrienda de temporada. The long term contract is called arrienda de vivienda. It’s best to get lawyer who can create one for you and make two versions: English and Spanish. You can actually get blank copies of these contracts at some stores but they are unfortunately in Spanish. What’s the point of getting a contract that you don’t understand?

But what kind of contract should you get? It is in your best interests to limit the contract to a short term agreement. This covers situations where your apartment or home is rented for anything from one week to several months. Under this contract the tenant can’t extend the contract without your consent. This lets you hold the right to offer the place to another person or to even use the property yourself, if you wish to go on vacation.. The long term contract can last for up to five years, depending on whether or not the tenant wishes to extend.

Aside from a contract you should make an inventory of everything in your property including art work or décor, the sofas, even the special lamps. Thus there’s chance for a tenant to claim that something is his. If there is any dispute it’s on paper and if he tries to take it then you can charge him with theft!

You should also have a policy of having a deposit so that if there is any damage to the property or he skips payments then you can cover it. The tenant will get his deposit back if there were no problems of that sort.