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Seasonal renting is not a classic civil activity. It is a commercial activity imposing two very important constraints:
- respect for the client in order to encourage fidelity,
- systematic reinvestment each year of a part of the rental income so as to maintain, or improve the quality of the amenities proposed.
Undertaking significant work means that the profitability of your rented property can be improved. Not completing such work on a regular basis is seriously detrimental to the quality, not only of your property, but also of the tenants who are going to accept accommodation in your apartment or villa.
You should, therefore, plan to reinvest a minimum of 10 - 15% of rental income to maintain the condition of your property and more if you wish to improve it.
You must also plan to devote a little of your time each year to organising basic, essential work, to redoing the inventory on a regular basis and to replacing cutlery, crockery and clothes hangers that have gone missing (always stick to the same pattern). Such minor readjustments each year are normal and inevitable.
Expenditure likely to help maintain rental levels includes everything that has an immediate impact on the accommodation quality of the property.
First & foremost, work aimed at improving the comfort: double glazing, sound insulation, bathroom renovation, reorganisation of partition walls, etc...
Next comes work ensuring respect of norms for electricity, plumbing, heating...
Finally, a regular, planned maintenance programme must result in a complete renovation of the property from top to bottom over a 15-year period.
For example, redecoration of an apartment (walls, floors, ceilings) must be accomplished every 3-5 years and taps and other sanitary fittings renewed every 7-8 years. The useful life of a cupboard under the sink is 5-6 years if it is in wood, 10 years in PVC. Tiling has a useful life of 20 years, faience 10 years.
The fixtures & fittings that prove to be the most economic over the medium term are those that are robust, requiring little maintenance. They are never those that are the cheapest to buy initially. On the other hand, luxurious fittings do not necessarily provide a significant benefit.
To avoid endless leaks and future problems, take care of taps and sanitary fittings in general (mixer taps with ceramic heads...)
For the finishing of rooms subject to humidity, give preference to floor-to-ceiling tiling.
For floors, avoid carpets, choose tiles or wood flooring.
For walls in old buildings, opt for glass-fibre reinforced wall coverings that hide the irregularities and can be repainted easily.
As a guide, the full renovation of an apartment costs between 600 and 900 euros per square metre. The following Table shows the estimated prices and times necessary for various jobs, as given by the french magazine "Le Particulier" :
| Painting |
€/sq m 15-20 |
0.5 days for room of 15 sq m |
| Tiling |
€/sq m 60-70 |
1 day per room |
| Floating wood floors |
€/sq m 30-40 |
0.5 days per room |
| Replacement of gas boiler |
€/sq m 1700-2100 |
1 day |
| Installation of window with double glazing |
€/sq m 500-800 |
2-3 hours per window |
| Full renovation of kitchen |
€/sq m 2500-4200 |
1 week |
| Full renovation of bathroom |
€/sq m 3000-4800 |
1 week to 10 days |
Certain pieces of equipment are absolutely essential to respond to the requirements of the Cannes property market for seasonal renting. Not providing them represents a major obstacle and can even be taken as showing a lack of respect for the prospective client.
The items concerned are vacuum cleaner, iron and ironing board, hair dryer, fan, coffee machine, microwave oven, duvet cover...
Without them it is not possible to accept a property for renting.
WIFI Internet has became now compulsory for convention rentals
You should also be aware that the majority of clients in Cannes come from abroad and insist on having a genuine shower with rigid sliding shower screen, where you stand up to shower, with both hands free.
It is absolutely vital that the bed linen be of excellent quality, and well looked after.
You must avoid at all costs giving the client the impression that you have tried to make savings on bed linen. Whenever possible, opt for twin beds that can be put together if required, rather than a double bed. A sofa bed must not be click-clack style, but should be capable of transformation into a genuine and comfortable bed.
Crockery and cutlery must be matching, include all items (wine glasses, steak knives...), and in sufficient quantity. All items cracked, chipped or otherwise damaged must be immediately thrown away. As a guide, it is recommended that you plan for 3 times as many place settings as the number of clients being accommodated: for a property providing accommodation for 3 people, you should provide a minimum of 9 plates, 9 forks, 9 glasses, and so on.
The wardrobes are also important. What can be more off-putting for the client than to find a wardrobe ill-equipped with hangers saved from the last dry cleaning order? Make the effort to buy a set of matching wooden hangers in sufficient number to give your wardrobes a professional look - it will be well-appreciated by our business visitors.
Obviously you must take a moment regularly to replace missing items of crockery, cutlery and hangers, so that the impression of care and attention to detail is preserved over time.
The Cannes AccoMModation team is always at your disposition to provide further advice to ensure that your property is well positioned on the seasonal renting market in Cannes.
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