Newsletter November 2007
Dear all
I had started to draft this news letter a little while ago but events took over which has led to a delay but the content is still relevant.
The first thing I need to advise you all of is that we have had some bad news personally and Carol will be undergoing a major operation in a few weeks time and the recovery period is likely to be considerable.
As you are aware Carol and I cover the administrative arrangements between us so with her away I will be taking on both our workloads and just ask for your patience when contacting us as there may be a few delays if the matter is not urgent.
The year so far:
Well we have had a busy time of it and for most of the time it’s been in extremely hot weather so the cooler months are a bit of a relief although the excessive rain we have been experiencing is something we could do without.
It’s has been an eventful year for us with an office move and the sale of our first licence plus a sharp increase in both enquiries and actual lettings.
We have averaged around 28 long term tenants in place at any one time for most of the year.
The office has been a bonus for a number of reasons not least of which is our having been given the opportunity to get our house back. With all the office equipment out we now have room to move and most importantly we can close the office and go home.
Our Licensees at Catral have been kept busy and have had a good start to their new business venture.
Our web site has also undergone pretty major changes and we hope you like the new look and functions. There is still work going on behind the scenes and we will be looking at every individual web page and be making changes to the layouts over the winter months. We are always looking for feedback so we would welcome any comments you have good or bad.
The future
With so much activity this year (our busiest in 4 years!) we will be taking a good look back over the trends and feed back that we have had from guests.
I did a quick count up at the end of August and since January had an average of 48 arrivals month although the bulk of this were over the summer months.
It has also demonstrated to us that the main holiday season occupies a 6 to 8 week window through July and August. Anything either side is a bonus.
We did have a number of owners agree to making special offers available which in some cases did bring about some positive results.
We even had to turn some people away because we could not match up what they wanted for the dates that they wanted. This is a result mainly of people securing their flights first then looking for a property.
With developers still getting the go ahead to build even more properties in the surrounding areas it is not going to get easier with competition growing almost on a daily basis.
We will keep trying to come up with more new ways to promote your property and if we can help with any ideas that you have just let us know.
The offer from Independent Owners to build each of you individual web sites is a good one and would make it very easy to focus any of your own efforts onto your own site where there is no other competition.
Christmas Closing and Bank Holidays
Just to let you all know we will be closing for a period over Christmas. We will be closed from Friday 21st December at 6pm and will not be available for any meet and greets or departures until 28th December. The actual office will be closed for day to day business until 3rd January2008.
Bank Holiday closing
Although we have been operating in Spain for 4 years we have on the whole just kept going throughout the year. We now feel that it is time that we respected the traditions of our adopted country and will in future be closing on the designated bank holidays. We will try to make you all aware of when these bank holidays will arise as soon as possible.
Electric Water and TV payments
It’s the same old story I’m afraid but it has been another year where the various services have been cut off in a number of properties.
Added to this some tenants have suffered where owners have failed to pay their local community charges with notices being left on properties or pools being made unavailable to guests.
So once again please make sure you received your bank statements from your Spanish banks or check your accounts on line. Ensure that you are paying for electricity ever 2 months, water every 3 months, UK TV every month and community fees at least once a year.
Free web site creation and on going use.
Just in case you missed the recent email, we have found a company who will build you your own web site and allow you to carry on using it for free. If you fancy building your own site then you can or you just take advantage of the company’s offer to at least get your started and then you can play around with it. You need to contact Independent owners.com before 16th November to take advantage of this offer.
- 1. You need to go to the Independent Owners web site at www.IndependentOwners.com and click on Join Now.
- 2. Fill out the details and make sure you complete the Property Management Section with our details so that they will know that you are one of our clients and qualify for their additional service of creating your website for you.
- 3. You must register by Friday 16th November to take advantage of this offer.
I think that’s about it for now so we hope you have a merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year
From everyone at Property Hounds!
Our Contact Details
Tel/Fax Office 0034 966765549
Mobile 0034 600092957
UK Skype No 0208 1232489
Office Opening Hours 10an to 6pm Monday to Friday excluding bank holidays.
Office located in the Plaza at Villa Martin, No B13.
Up the steps at the front and then turn left at the top. Carry on along the front and we are just passed Fontaine’s.
