renting farm cottages

Joscia

Hi all, I have recently taken over my late uncles' sheep farm in waterford in a very scenic area. There are a few buildings / cottages on the farm that I was thinking of renovating and trying to rent them for tourists. A lot of walkers and cyclists tour around the area so I believe there is a market , has anyone had a similar experience? is there any type of funding available? I was told waterford leader has some funds available, anyone have any dealings with them?

Sam Kade

Not being a spoil sport but did you see the episode with the Brennen's with the couple who had farm cottages and couldn't rent them out because hotels are much cheaper now.

_Brian

Sam Kade wrote: »

Not being a spoil sport but did you see the episode with the Brennen's with the couple who had farm cottages and couldn't rent them out because hotels are much cheaper now.

Indeed.
The NAMA zombie hotels are letting rooms at below cost which are hard to compete with.

waalaa

We did something similar, my brother and I bought a farm a few years ago primarily as there was some beautiful stone buildings and farm house with it, they were in fairly bad shape but nothing that scared us off. Initially we were going to use them for a B&B and self catering units but it was too seasonal a bit much hassle, so we converted the sheds into apartments, fixed up the house, landscaped around them and rented them all as long term unfurnished lets which have worked out fairly well. They are reasonably close and have easy access to Dublin which helped enormously.

We were able to do about 90% of the work ourselves so our costs weren't too excessive, but it probably wouldn't have been feasible if we had to pay people to do what we did.

I have seen these type of buildings used as offices and studios for artists, I don't know if they generated any ROI but they certainly looked nice.

If you think they're worth renovating, get a good architect, they were well worth it to us.

20silkcut

_Brian wrote: »

Indeed.
The NAMA zombie hotels are letting rooms at below cost which are hard to compete with.

Location , location

keep going

Doing the renovation is the easy part, the hard part is the marketing angle. You must have an angle that fills the house more than just the summer season because its then you will make your money.you have to be selling an experience not just a bed but I saw an excellent example of something around drimoleague west cork last week and it was just a case of seeing an opportunity with what you have

smokey-fitz

Either way if you have them as holiday homes/b&b sort of thing or rent all year round, you have plenty of options and either one are both good investments.

Better than buying a load of cattle anyway :P

Miname

smokey-fitz wrote: »

Either way if you have them as holiday homes/b&b sort of thing or rent all year round, you have plenty of options and either one are both good investments.

Better than buying a load of cattle anyway :P

Property tax , septic tank water charges and renovation costs add in the fact it might just push you up a tax band, you would want to have your costs and all well worked out prior to venturing into it.

Raised Eyebrow

I can't help with whether it would be profitable or not but I think it sounds like a lovely idea. If they are done up nicely, high spec yet rustic and plenty of character I would be surprised if you couldn't keep them occupied if you market professionally and have a good website with good photos. Good Luck

JONJO THE MISER

You would want to be going after the wealthy U.S and German retiree market, lots of wealthy folks like to rent cottages for a few months.

smokey-fitz

Miname wrote: »

Property tax , septic tank water charges and renovation costs add in the fact it might just push you up a tax band, you would want to have your costs and all well worked out prior to venturing into it.

I agree with you there, big plus that the property is owned and the cottages are there. All depends on the market around the area also, and I'm sure the op or anyone else that would go down this road will be doing the maths.

John_Rambo

I don't have any advice. But I really hope you don't get bogged down in red tape and bureaucracy and you get this off the ground and it works out for you. If you need help with graphics or photography when you're up and running pm me, we can do a deal!

Joscia

smokey-fitz wrote: »

Either way if you have them as holiday homes/b&b sort of thing or rent all year round, you have plenty of options and either one are both good investments.

Better than buying a load of cattle anyway :P

Cheers smokey... Yea was going to stay with the sheep for now, no cattle yet? I'm in the building game so I have good experience in this sort of thing, thanks anyway.

Joscia

Raised Eyebrow wrote: »

I can't help with whether it would be profitable or not but I think it sounds like a lovely idea. If they are done up nicely, high spec yet rustic and plenty of character I would be surprised if you couldn't keep them occupied if you market professionally and have a good website with good photos. Good Luck

Thanks raised Eyebrow. I guess it depends on the budget, I was going to do maybe one this year and tackle another next year. I might get some idea then. I've been using air bnb a lot I'm the last 12 months so I was thinking along those lines

Joscia

John_Rambo wrote: »

I don't have any advice. But I really hope you don't get bogged down in red tape and bureaucracy and you get this off the ground and it works out for you. If you need help with graphics or photography when you're up and running pm me, we can do a deal!

Sounds like a plan John rambo. Thanks

Joscia

waalaa wrote: »

We did something similar, my brother and I bought a farm a few years ago primarily as there was some beautiful stone buildings and farm house with it, they were in fairly bad shape but nothing that scared us off. Initially we were going to use them for a B&B and self catering units but it was too seasonal a bit much hassle, so we converted the sheds into apartments, fixed up the house, landscaped around them and rented them all as long term unfurnished lets which have worked out fairly well. They are reasonably close and have easy access to Dublin which helped enormously.

We were able to do about 90% of the work ourselves so our costs weren't too excessive, but it probably wouldn't have been feasible if we had to pay people to do what we did.

I have seen these type of buildings used as offices and studios for artists, I don't know if they generated any ROI but they certainly looked nice.

If you think they're worth renovating, get a good architect, they were well worth it to us.

There is a lot of walkers and cyclists tour around the area, so I believe there is a market, whether I can tap into it is up to myself. I'm in construction so hope to save money that way, I was told there may be some help from the likes of Waterford leader. Thanks though.