Advice to buy a Holiday Home/Rental

me and my partner just bought, however we are maltese so its a little different in what we can buy.
anywho my advice is that it is perfectly reasonable to buy direct from owner in malta, we have a great site, http://ownersbest.com.mt/ that has all direct from owners and also http://www.noagentsplease.com.mt/landing-page. All an agent will do for you is find you a place and show it to you, and make their commission aside from that they dont offer any great assistance, although they will drive you around saving you from hiring a car lol.

if you are not a resident here i suggest reading these FAQs
http://franksalt.com.mt/buying-a-proper … residency/ also of all the agents frank salt are quite good when we were looking we found that when we would call about a place and it was already sold they would jump to trying to sell us something that didnt tick any of their boxes, and through renting i have found agents here to have great integrity... but thats just my personal experience.

if you will not be in malta to manage the property you will need to find someone willing to manage the property for you, there are heaps of companies here doing this but i would consult with many to ensure they are reputable and are not ripping you off with their fees.

malta is pretty empty in winter and full to the brim in summer meaning maybe you have low occupancy and low rates in winter, or you could also rent out to someone long term for the winter so that there will be less hassle and less management fees. but you will more than make up for the low times in summer providing you have a good location.
we used to have an apartment in msida/santa venera like 10 wlak mins from the marina and next to lidl and bus stop and there were times in summer we had trouble filling rooms so my advice is get somewhere that has easy access to a bus stop and supermarkets and the seafront.

yes property prices are still on the up here, although i see it kind of plateauing at the moment.

the buying process.... this was the fun part
number 1 get yourself a good notary and one that is experienced in dealing with foreign investment.
number 2 find a good architect
the process goes as follows, you choose a home, you create the konvenju (promise of sale) and pay deposit, the konvenju needs to stipulate that the sale is promised providing no defects are found by architect and subject to finance and searches.

the konvenju has a period of about 3 months (or however long you and the owner decide on really), in this 3 months you get the architect in to check the property is sound and do the drawings, arrange finance, the notary does all the searches to see that the property is free to transfer title and there are no outstanding bills etc, then you will get together with the notary and the owner to do the contract. if the place you decide to buy is in an apartment building this can be lengthy and strict, including items such as pets, how you can use your balcony, who looks after common areas, rubbish, garages, shafts, drainage, roof maintenance and so on.
if you buy a free standing house or maisonette this is easier and its just the contract explaining that you are taking ownership of the property.
for a glance at costs, we bought a townhouse that was €185,000 our notary fees came to €2000 and our architect fees €500. a more expensive property will garner higher notary fees.

the architect we used was https://mt.linkedin.com/in/paul-cuschieri-7a50093b
[email protected]

the notary we used was [email protected] - she is located in zejtun though which is not central at all. Paul is super central, his office is in swater (next to the hospital)

areas i would suggest, without knowing your budget its hard, but sliema, st julians and gzira are the easiest place to get return on investment, are close to nightlife and beaches.

Msida, san gwann, kappara, high ridge and ta giorni (a pocket of st julians) is good because it has great transport links and for those who dont mind walking and can get their head around our sneaky maltese streets not so far from the seafront
msida near the hospital is good, but bkara/swater near the hospital doesnt have good transport links, my friends live there and they always have to have an eye on the time because busses stop early and to cross from the hospital is dangerous as there is the big motorway
ta xbiex is good because you can swim there and is super close to sliema
Valletta is good because it is so beautiful there and transport links to everywhere in malta from there.
the north is good for beaches, but not so good for transport, and dead as dead can be in winter.
rabat is nice but you will be looking at a niche market in terms of rental potential because its far from the beach and sliema etc, however it has lovely country views, is a well kept villiage and next to mdina. naxxar and mosta are other central towns with decent transport and a well kept villiage with great amentities
the south - marsascala, marsaxlokk, birzebuggia etc cheap, wonderful in summer but far from the main hotspots of the island, transport isnt so great and dead in winter.
pembroke and swieqi have been having trouble now days due to overflow of party people from paceville, although ibragg still tends to be safe and quiet
some other notes in location
if you are too close to pv you may end up always renting to party go-ers as it is next to the clubs
bugibba, st pauls, qawra are super affordable but the area itself has been left in quite a state of disrepair.
valletta will always bring in a good return but the properties are old or if refurbished expensive so you would need to do some research
3 cities has a yacht marina and a sea front promenade with restaurants so can be good but is quite far from the main areas like sliema and st julians, although there is a ferry to get you to valletta quick cheap and easy

whoa thats long, maybe i got carried away, happy house hunting