Why rent out your new property abroad? Lots of second-home owners decide to rent out their property abroad. In most cases, the rental income helps to cover the costs of buying and maintaining the property and, over a period of time, can start to bring in an additional income for the owners. Renting out your property is a risk though, and you should make sure you've investigated the rental options before you start advertising.

Who will rent your property?

You need to decide who you want to rent your property to. If you haven't yet bought a property abroad, you'll need to decide on a location that will appeal to your target rental market ? so for singles or young couples, you will want something that's close to the nightlife and for families, you want something that has good beaches and shops nearby. Once you have decided on who you're going to market your property to, you can begin to think about how to manage the rental process.

Renting through an agent

If you have a property abroad but are still living in the UK, it may be wise to use a rental agent to manage your property. An agent will take a percentage of the rental as a fee, or negotiate a fixed fee with you for each year, or holiday season. For this fee, they will usually handle the advertising, booking and management of the rentals, including cleaning and maintaining your property. This saves you a great deal of time and potential hassle with difficult renters. On the other hand, the rental agency might limit the periods that you can use the property, in order to fill the property with rental clients at peak times. If you are investigating using an agent, make sure you know exactly what they will charge; what they will do for the fee you're paying; and what restrictions will be placed on you.

Renting by yourself

You can, of course, manage the rental process by yourself. You can set up a good website for a relatively small cost and advertise in your local newspaper or in specialist travel publications. You will need to be organised though, and you will also need to pay someone to prepare your property abroad for guests and to handle any maintenance problems that may arise. You get to keep all the income, but you have to work hard for it.

There are many issues to think about when it comes to renting your property abroad. Make sure that you investigate all your options, and remember that either the UK or the country your property is in will tax you on the income you are making.