When to come for a long let in Gozo

hope137140 wrote:

I was told by an agent that if I came in the spring (ie April) that there would basically be no choice and little availability of long lets in Gozo b/c owners want to rent for short term in the summer. The agent said to come in February or March, at which point I could book ahead for starting in April. It's confusing to me b/c if an owner wanted to rent short term in summer, I don't see why they'd let me book in Feb for something starting in April. Can someone please confirm if I will have problems finding a flat in Gozo starting from April if I arrive then? I'm looking for something cheap (under 350 euro/month); I'm not sure if there's more demand at the lower or higher end of the market. Tks!

Unless you are coming to Malta/Gozo as the partner of an EU Citizen I would first check out whether you would be able to gain Residency, reading and following the advice in the 'Sticky' above which has a link to the Ministry which deals with Expats, before taking on a long lease.

What the agent may have meant is that if a  potential landlord has not agreed a long let before March/April he may start taking bookings for short lets for the summer so as to have at least some income from the property, if he can arrange a long let before then he has an assured income and does not need to worry.
When we took a lease on our first house back in 2012 we arranged it in December to commence1st March 2013, previously the house had been used as a holiday let.

You may well find an apartment in Gozo at that time of year but I think the guys who live in Malta would advise that it might be getting a little more difficult over there at that price level by April.

Good Luck

Ray

Tks for that. Yes, my husband is French, and residency shouldn't be a problem for us.

hope137140 wrote:

I was told by an agent that if I came in the spring (ie April) that there would basically be no choice and little availability of long lets in Gozo b/c owners want to rent for short term in the summer. The agent said to come in February or March, at which point I could book ahead for starting in April. It's confusing to me b/c if an owner wanted to rent short term in summer, I don't see why they'd let me book in Feb for something starting in April. Can someone please confirm if I will have problems finding a flat in Gozo starting from April if I arrive then? I'm looking for something cheap (under 350 euro/month); I'm not sure if there's more demand at the lower or higher end of the market. Tks!

I've just had exactly that problem, but I was looking for a farmhouse, not an apartment. Carmen at Arkadia only had one farmhouse available and she showed me one other which was possible to rent from the end of August. Denis at REMAX managed to show me 4 others, but this time of year is probably the worst time possible for looking. There is high demand for them in the summer for short-lets, and places which rent for up to €1000 per month long-let, a landlord can charge €200 a day to tourists in the summer. Many of them seem happy to rent them short-term during the summer months and keep them empty for 9 months of the year, they make the same amount of money.

Apartments won't be a problem though, there should be a much larger selection of available places, I wouldn't worry about it. One estate agent suggested I move into an apartment in Gozo for 3 or 4 months and then into the farmhouse of my choice towards the end of summer, but I've got far too much stuff to move, so I'm on the big island until the end of August.

Search for Gozo in the Maltapark website

Maltapark.com Long Lets

and keep an eye on adverts in the Times Of Malta. That way you don't have to pay any agency fees.

http://www.timesofmalta.com/classifieds/to-let

If you want to use an agency I can highly recommend Denis or Carmen, they were great to deal with, and they will sort out Form H in the contract for you.

On An Island wrote:

and keep an eye on adverts in the Times Of Malta. That way you don't have to pay any agency fees.

http://www.timesofmalta.com/classifieds/to-let

If you want to use an agency I can highly recommend Denis or Carmen, they were great to deal with, and they will sort out Form H in the contract for you.

I would also add Frank Salt in Victoria to that list of agents, we have used them twice and they have been very good.
You might also keep in mind that on a 300 euros rental your fees would only be 150.00 + vat at 18%

Ray

F0xgl0ve wrote:

You might also keep in mind that on a 300 euros rental your fees would only be 150.00 + vat at 18%

Yeah if you can get the agent to make sure that the signing of Form H is included as a specific clause in the contract, so that the landlord can't change his mind later on, it might be worth paying the extra fee. It could save you a lot of money in the long term if the landlord decided to change his mind, and I'm sure that has happened before.

On An Island wrote:

F0xgl0ve wrote:

You might also keep in mind that on a 300 euros rental your fees would only be 150.00 + vat at 18%

Yeah if you can get the agent to make sure that the signing of Form H is included as a specific clause in the contract, so that the landlord can't change his mind later on, it might be worth paying the extra fee. It could save you a lot of money in the long term if the landlord decided to change his mind, and I'm sure that has happened before.

The landlord signing form H has nothing to do with what I said about agents fees. My point was that the fees are not excessive, you would pay more than that in the UK just for referencing/credit check!

As far as being registered as resident on the Utility bill,for an average couple it makes about 25 euros a month difference which is not worth bothering about in the grand scheme of things.
If you deal through a good agent and a 'professional' landlord (our existing and previous landlords owned 6 or more properties each) you will find they want things to run smoothly and are normally more than happy to to take form H to ARM's for you and do whatever is necessary for a quiet life and keep there houses let and the money coming in.
If do a private let with an individual through a small add and things go wrong then you'll finish up moaning like many on here!

F0xgl0ve, the difference between being on Domestic and Residential rate is a lot more than €25 a month, on the Domestic rate your bill will be at least 50% more. If you mean having one extra resident registered on the premises, going from 1 to 2, then yes the difference would be negligible, it would simply mean a larger allowance at the cheaper rate and more chance of further eco reductions.

As for unprofessional landlords, I'm sure that many people have been stuck with one even after using a good agent. Once the contract is signed, many agents won't want to know, they're not going to jeopardise future business with a landlord by fighting against them. To say that it's only people who do private lets through newspapers and internet ads which have things go wrong is off the mark. The vast majority of expats who find properties in Malta probably use agencies.

How many people who are renting for the first time in Malta even know about the different rates? Is there another country in the world where this crazy scheme exists? How many 'professional' landlords and decent estate agents tell tenants about them? Probably close to zero!! If you don't ask, they won't tell you.

On An Island wrote:

F0xgl0ve, the difference between being on Domestic and Residential rate is a lot more than €25 a month, on the Domestic rate your bill will be at least 50% more. If you mean having one extra resident registered on the premises, going from 1 to 2, then yes the difference would be negligible, it would simply mean a larger allowance at the cheaper rate and more chance of further eco reductions.

As for unprofessional landlords, I'm sure that many people have been stuck with one even after using a good agent. Once the contract is signed, many agents won't want to know, they're not going to jeopardise future business with a landlord by fighting against them. To say that it's only people who do private lets through newspapers and internet ads which have things go wrong is off the mark. The vast majority of expats who find properties in Malta probably use agencies.

How many people who are renting for the first time in Malta even know about the different rates? Is there another country in the world where this crazy scheme exists? How many 'professional' landlords and decent estate agents tell tenants about them? Probably close to zero!! If you don't ask, they won't tell you.

As I said in my post we have had two rented farmhouses,1 four bed with pool and 1 three bed with no pool and in both of these we have had utility bills with 0 residents and with 2 residents, on both, the bills have differed by approx 50 euros on a two month standard billing period. (And I have proof)

Letting agents here are just that, they are not managing agents, what happens after the lease is signed is none of there business! Assuming you are not silly enough to sign a lease without meeting the Landlord and agreeing things face to face then it is down to you.

I would of course bow to your extended experience over here, after all we are only in our third year!

Ray

€50 difference for 2 months, WOW. You must be thrifty with your consumption. It is possible, there are others who seem to have utility bills much cheaper than me. For the last 3 years I've been constantly averaging about €90 a month, so if I was on the wrong rate it would probably cost me about €500 a year.

omg .... its not easy to find serious owners of gozo ? what about the offers on some pages ,,, i contacted many and no answers , so slowly i loose the trust , and how i can be sure , the rent is like in the offer ?
thanks for some tipps or serious pages !

Lailalila wrote:

omg .... its not easy to find serious owners of gozo ? what about the offers on some pages ,,, i contacted many and no answers , so slowly i loose the trust , and how i can be sure , the rent is like in the offer ?
thanks for some tipps or serious pages !

Many agents will not respond to enquiries from overseas, you need to be here to visit agents and properties. Many of the properties you may see advertised on agents websites wil not be available, our own property is advertised to let and we have rented it till April 2017!

Ray

hi hope ,
you are now of gozo ?
i am hopeful too , that i find a home for myself but i think , is not easy , still waiting for some answers ,
till now - nothing ....
there are many offers , are not really helpful if no answer ,   i believe its a adventure , cause i am still living in egypt ( I am german ) and i cant come to look for a place , before i arrive in january ...
nice to hear from you , only if you like ,
best regards
christina

hi christina,

i'll come in 2016, so you'll be there before me. good luck to you!!!