Nine guides written by people who manage houses, not by a blog
These eight guides answer the questions owners actually put to us before handing over a house: which tax regime works out better, what is needed to be compliant, how much a property can earn, how to choose a manager and what happens in the first twelve months. We write them at Propertize, where we manage 90+ properties across Sardinia, Lombardy and Sicily and have generated over 1 million EUR in revenue for owners.
We wrote them for a practical reason: the same questions came back on every call, and what owners were finding online was generic, out of date or simply wrong. This is what we say on the phone, with the legal references in the right places.
It is not a blog. A blog writes about what people search for on Google; we write about what happens to us in management. Every page sets out the rules with the legal reference, says when an answer depends on the individual case instead of improvising one, and contains not a single number we cannot document. Where we do not have solid data, we do not write it: we would rather publish a shorter guide than one that leads you to the wrong decision.
If you do not know where to begin, this is the order we suggest. First work out whether short letting makes sense for your house (guides 3 and 4). Then put in order what needs putting in order (guides 2 and 7). Tax comes afterwards, once you already know what you will do (guides 1 and 6). Finally, if you decide not to manage on your own, look at how to choose a manager and what happens in the first year (guides 5 and 8).
The eight guides
- 1. Cedolare secca 2026: when it is genuinely worth itFor owners with one or two houses in short letting who need to understand which rate applies, how the threshold on the number of flats is counted and on which amount the tax is calculated. It also debunks the rate tables circulating in owner groups that exist in no piece of legislation.
- 2. CIN: what it is, how to get it, what you risk without itFor anyone who has not yet applied for the National Identification Code or does not know where it has to be displayed. How to apply on the Ministry of Tourism portal, which safety requirements are needed and what the penalties are, starting at 800 euro and far from symbolic.
- 3. Short let or long let: how to decideFor anyone with an empty house weighing up the two routes. The comparison is not made on gross rent but on the net figure, on the time it takes you and on risk: here are the items to put on each side of the scales before signing anything.
- 4. What a house in Sardinia really earnsFor anyone who wants to understand how a return is built and why the gross figure on a portal tells you almost nothing. What moves the result (bed spaces, seasonality, distance from the sea, photography, price) and which numbers to demand from anyone promising you a figure.
- 5. How to choose a property manager: what to ask before you signFor anyone talking to several managers and unsure how to compare them. The questions to ask about fees, reporting, the mandate and the exit, and the vague answers that should make you postpone signing. It applies when the manager is us, too.
- 6. The tourist tax: who collects it and who pays it overFor anyone unsure whether that money is theirs (it is not) and who answers to the council if it goes unpaid. Why it is a pass-through item that never enters your taxable income, and why the rules have to be read council by council.
- 7. What you need to start: documents, safety, equipmentFor anyone who has decided and wants the practical list: filings to open, safety requirements such as gas and carbon monoxide detectors and extinguishers, minimum equipment for the house. It is the list we use before publishing a property.
- 8. Your first year with a manager: what happens month by monthFor anyone who wants to know what happens after signature, stage by stage: survey, mandate, putting things in order, photography, publication, first bookings, monthly statements and the first winter. Including the part where owners get restless.
- 9. The short-let market in Sardinia, with the Region's own figuresFor anyone who wants the context before their own case: how fast tourism on the island is growing, how much foreign demand weighs, where overnight stays concentrate and how to read your own municipality by cross-checking the regional Observatory with ISTAT. All public figures, none of ours.
What you will not find on these pages
Three things are missing on purpose, and we would rather say so straight away.
Guaranteed returns. Nobody can guarantee you an income, because it depends on the season, the weather, the competition and how the market moves. Propertize currently publishes a historical portfolio range of +30% to +140% for homes previously managed by their owners. It is neither an average nor a guarantee, and we do not present it as a rule.
Return figures by area. Two houses on the same street produce different numbers because of bed spaces, condition, outdoor space and price. An average return for a locality is a number that holds true for no house in particular, and whoever publishes it knows that. We would rather explain how to read a return and then look at your house.
Tax answers on your own position. The guides explain the framework of the rules, not your situation. Co-ownership, usufruct, properties bought halfway through the year, the move to trading as a business: these depend on your documents. They exist to get you to your accountant prepared, not to replace them. If you need it, we arrange the consultation with ours.
Want an answer about your own house? Ask for the free valuation: we look at it, tell you what is missing and where it would start from. The owners page explains how we work, the fee and what is included.