Renting out and managing your Cuban property while living abroad

You own a home in Cuba and live abroad. Selling it is not the only way out: renting it can keep the house occupied and cared for, generate income and leave the door open to a return or to selling later on better terms. The key is to set up the operation so it works without you on the ground.

This guide reviews the essentials of renting and managing your property at a distance: the types of rental, who handles it in your absence, how to prepare the listing and how to decide, with data, whether renting or selling suits you.

Short vs. long stay, Cubans vs. foreigners

Not all rentals are the same. Long-stay rental to residents — families, professionals — is a different market from short-stay tourist accommodation, with different demand, prices and requirements. And renting to a foreigner is not the same as renting to a Cuban: the expectations change and, above all, so does the framework of licenses and taxes.

Renting out homes, rooms or spaces is regulated and requires registering as a taxpayer with the ONAT and meeting tax obligations. The specific figures, licenses and procedures change frequently, so confirm the current regime and what applies to your case directly with the ONAT before you start.

Who manages in your absence

Renting from a distance works if there is someone trustworthy on the ground: a relative, a manager or an attorney who shows the home, collects payment, handles incidents and deals with the tenant. It is the piece that makes everything else viable.

Define in writing what you delegate and what you do not: who sets the price, who accepts a tenant, how and when they transfer what they collect, which expenses they can cover without consulting you. If managing it involves signing contracts or doing paperwork on your behalf, you will probably need to grant a notarized power of attorney with clearly defined faculties.

Preparing the home and the listing

A clean, functional and well-photographed home rents sooner and better. Many of the tips for selling a house faster apply equally to renting: photos with natural light from the corners of each room, an honest description that answers in advance what everyone asks — water, electricity, voltage, furniture — and a location properly pinned on the map.

Be clear about what the rent includes: furniture, appliances, who pays the utilities. A complete listing filters interested parties and saves you from repeating the same conversation ten times from a distance.

Collection and expectations

Document everything: a written contract, clear terms and a record of every payment. At a distance, the paperwork and the trail of transfers are your only safety net if a disagreement arises.

And be realistic with the numbers. Profitability depends on the area, the condition of the home and the stability of the tenant; no one can promise you a fixed percentage. Treat any promise of "guaranteed rent" with the same skepticism you would apply to a sale price that is too good to be true.

Rent or sell?

This is the underlying decision, and it is best made with data rather than intuition. Compare the average monthly rent of your area with the sale prices of similar homes: in high-demand zones, renting can pay off well over the long term; in low-demand zones, selling is often the better choice.

On CubanPortal you can see the average sale and rent prices by province, municipality and neighborhood, computed from real listings. Use them to put figures to the comparison before deciding, and remember that renting today does not close the door to selling tomorrow.

What the contract must say

At a distance the contract is not a formality: it is the only thing you can enforce without being there. The more specific it is, the fewer difficult conversations later.

• Identification of the parties and the home, with the full address.
• Amount, currency, payment date and the channel it is paid through.
• Contract length and the conditions for renewal or termination.
• Who pays electricity, water, gas and any other utility.
• An inventory of furniture and appliances, with their condition.
• Repairs: which the tenant covers and which the owner does, and above what amount they must consult you.
• Deposit: amount, the conditions for returning it and within what period.
• An express prohibition or authorisation to sublet.

If the home is going to sit empty

Renting is not always possible straight away, and a closed-up house in Cuba deteriorates fast: damp, termites and disuse do more damage in one empty year than in five lived-in ones. A long-empty home is also more exposed to occupation by third parties, with the legal complications that brings.

If there is no tenant, the reasonable alternative is for someone you trust to live there or visit regularly, air it out, check the roof and pipes and keep the utility payments current. Our guide on what happens to your house if you emigrate goes into this scenario in detail.