I've been thinking about buying in Tenerife to let to the holiday market. The idea is that I would also use the place when it's empty. Los Gigantes is an area that I like. I was wondering if there's anyone out there who has done this and also if they have found a local management agent with whom the experience has been good?

Thanks in advance - Dave.

We were going to do the same but then discovered how tricky it is with the rental laws ie a property must have a 'tourist license' so you can legally rent to tourists. This is to protect owners in owner/occupier complexes from the problems tourists bring . The govern't is cracking down on illegal lets in non-tourist complexes, if you are caught, was somewhere in the vacinity of £10K fine (from memory). Our solicitor advised us to look at tourist licensed complexes ONLY, we found them outrageously expensive to buy, as we don;t want to do illegal rents we opted out, some poeple aren't worried about not having the license but if they're caught they might. I think the costs of buying there with purchase taxes means you are better to buy in a place you know (ie your own backyard) and just enjoy renting a place on hols with none of the worries.

Be aware we were also shown MANY props without the license but EAs swore blindly they were correctly licensed or that you don't need one. Be warned, you do! I had one lying EA show me a prop he crossed his heart had the license and as we walked in the foyer, a sign 6ft high said any owner doing tourist lets will be prosecuted & fined and their tenants evicted with no notice. Such a surprise that EAs lie in this country and that country!!!

Thanks for the info Julia. I've been watching the market for a long time and most of the info comes from the EAs who are sometimes quite dishonest and are always biased. The market is very weak and it's just too late to buy. The UK market is pulling it down and I think that dispite the gloss from the EAs we can expect to see the market soften further over then next year or two. It's a shame about these land grab laws that are causing so much misery in Spain although I don't think that it's so much of an issue in Tenerife. So I'll be waiting for the next property bubble madness to start which I think will be in quite a few years time from now.