Where would you set up your holiday home?

This week, I heard about Park Caravans giving away their older mobile homes to get people started on the second home property ladder (and you thought you were having trouble getting on the first home ladder). But if you are in a position purchase a second home, it’s certainly not a bad investment. You’ll probably only use it for a few weeks of the year, but you can make a fair whack on rental if you’re in the right area – definitely enough to meet the mortgage repayments.

But where do you settle for? Do you choose somewhere like Spain with an already established holiday property market, or do you choose somewhere a little out of the ordinary, in the hope of jumping onto the market when it gets more popular?

Of course, if we’re dreaming, let’s go a step further. Where would your ideal holiday home be?

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If you own a holiday home and let it out, then what are your reasons for doing so? There may be a number of reasons involved in your decision to put your holiday home on the lettings market, not least the desire for an extra income. According to a recent survey of over 3,000 holiday home owners, many people now let their holiday homes out of necessity.

The survey results show that 43% of people said they’d entered the lettings market out of necessity to cover essential costs, such as their mortgage, taxes and maintenance. A similar survey conducted by the same company in December 2007 found that only 30% of people let their property because they had to. This increase in the need to rent out a property is possibly reflected in the change of economic situation and the fact that more people have taken the chance to buy properties abroad.

Another top reason for letting a holiday home, cited by 41% of respondents, was being because they realised the added value of their second property as a means to generate income.

As far as the initial financing of their property goes, one third of the survey respondents said they had a mortgage loan to value (LTV) of 75% or more – and nearly 10% of people had a 90% LTV or more – and 27% had a local currency mortgage (Euro). Thirty-five per cent of people paid for their property purchase from cash or savings, 17% through remortgaging and 4% through inheritance.

The good news was that many people did say they were having success with letting out their properties. Over a third of people said they managed to fill their property for more than 25 weeks of the year with paying guests, whilst 50% said they achieved 18 weeks per year of lettings.

If you’re interested in letting out a property as a holiday home, take a look at our guide to letting a property abroad.

Do you already own an international property that you’re letting out? What are your reasons for doing so? What kind of success are you having?