Johannesburg - Letting agents have cautioned homeowners - expecting to make a fortune in rental income during the 2010 Fifa World Cup - to consider their options carefully before choosing tourists over long-term tenants.

Cape Town is already having a shortage of rental properties available on six- to twelve-month leases, as owners take their properties off the market, hoping to let them to tourists in June and July next year.

These are not only owners with seaboard properties, but even those in suburbs such as Durbanville and Parow who blithely assume they will be able to let their apartments for R3 000 a day and more, Sake24 was told.

One agent, who focuses on Durbanville and Bellville, said there are owners who have asked for their properties to be kept off the market once current leases expire, as they want to let them to tourists. The agent already sees a shortage of long-term rental stock for that period - and this is across all of Cape Town, not only in the city centre and along the coast.

The agent said she is receiving a lot of enquiries from foreign tourists, but has decided to remain focused on the long-term market because of the risks attached to short-term letting. A homeowner would, for instance, struggle to enforce compensation payment from an overseas visitor in the event of damage to one's property.

Andrew Collins, the owner of Just Letting in the Cape Town city centre, said owners should also consider what they will do once the soccer tournament is over.

What will happen on August 1, when they need new tenants? Traditionally, August is not a good month to get tenants and there will be thousands of units simultaneously vacated, Collins warned.

But he conceded it could be worthwhile for owners with top-class furnished investment properties, which could realistically fetch R3 000 a day, to focus on the World Cup.

Tourists, he said, look for flats that are tastefully furnished and neutral, similar to hotel accommodation. They don't want to sit and look at photographs of one's grandmother on the wall, for instance.

"We'll certainly hear of people who've let out their Clifton homes for R1m, but there will be a lot more who won't make anything," he said.

Johannesburg's prospects

Moreover, by far the majority of the 480 000 expected visitors would prefer to find accommodation around Johannesburg because six of the ten stadiums are relatively nearby.

Unlike Cape Town, Johannesburg owners seem to prefer long-term tenants.

Veronica Bright, a rental consultant at RE/MAX Central in Sandton, said there are few Johannesburg owners making their properties available to tourists, although some owners - earning monthly rentals of R24 000 and more - are starting to keep their properties out of the market for the soccer showcase.

She pointed out that these properties generally offer outstanding security, domestic service and breakfast, which tourists demand.

- Sake24.com

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