Buy to let in Italy by the sea: what a two-bedroom flat in Eraclea Mare really earns

Every spring someone walks into our agency dreaming of a seaside home that pays its way. They often bring the same line with them: “I was told that with a flat in the pine forest the rent covers the mortgage.” It is almost never as true as it sounds. Eraclea Mare does earn, but between the gross income and what you actually keep there is a gap that few people describe in full.

To avoid being dazzled you need the whole calculation, from the first week let to the last euro of cedolare secca, the Italian flat-rate tax on rental income. In this article I work it out for a trilocale (a three-room flat: a living room and two bedrooms) in a residence, a holiday complex with shared facilities. I follow it week by week and item by item, all the way to the 2026 taxes. It is an example, not an average, with every assumption written out, so you can redo the sums with the figures for your own home. By the end you will know where the profit is made, where the margin is lost and whether this kind of buy to let in Italy makes sense for you.

Why look at Eraclea Mare: the entry price of the “Perla Verde”

Eraclea Mare has a measurable advantage: getting in takes less capital than on Jesolo's Lido or in the beach area of Caorle. That comes from the OMI quotations of the Agenzia delle Entrate, the Italian Revenue Agency, whose property market observatory (OMI, Osservatorio del Mercato Immobiliare) publishes official price ranges. That you earn more here, on the other hand, no official figure measures, because nobody records short-let income zone by zone.

The context gives the scale. The eastern Veneto coast receives around 22.7 million overnight stays a year: 22.74 million in 2024 and 22.69 million in 2025 (Veneto Region, Statistics Office). The count adds up five municipalities: Cavallino-Treporti, Jesolo, Eraclea, Caorle and San Michele al Tagliamento with Bibione, one of Italy's main beach districts.

Within this flow Eraclea carves out a niche of its own. Here I do not sell nightlife and big numbers: I sell a slow pace, the shade of the pines and families spanning several generations, grandparents and grandchildren in the same flat. In our experience these are loyal guests who come back every year, and that lowers marketing costs. The shoulder weeks, in June and September, still need more work on prices and listings.

Eraclea, Jesolo or Caorle: where it costs less to enter the market

For the same goal, Eraclea Mare is the most accessible way into the Veneto coast. According to OMI, in the first half of 2026 a home in normal condition in Eraclea Mare is worth €1,700 to €2,000 per m², while Jesolo Lido and the beach area of Caorle start higher.

Source of the quotations: Italian Revenue Agency, property quotations database (OMI), first half of 2026, standard residential homes, € per m² of gross floor area. The tourism profile is our own reading as an agency.

A lower entry capital means less money tied up and, for the same floor area, a smaller mortgage. Whether the home then earns more in percentage terms depends on how much you take in, and OMI does not publish rents for these zones. That is why, instead of an average, you will find a calculation below. If you want a comparison of values in the micro-area, here is our analysis of prices in Eraclea compared with Jesolo.

Income and costs of a two-bedroom flat: an honest breakdown of one season

In our example a two-bedroom flat in a residence with a pool in Eraclea Mare takes in €10,800 gross over one summer season. Around €6,100 of running costs come out of that figure, before any tax. This is where the promise of paying the mortgage with the rent starts to creak.

I am working on a concrete case, the type of property I handle most often: a mid-sized trilocale in good condition, in a residence with a pool near the pine forest. I assume around 80 m² gross at €220,000, that is €2,750 per m², within the OMI range for excellent condition in Eraclea Mare.

Anyone who looks only at the price gives little thought to the purchase costs, which in fact change a great deal depending on who is selling to you. In the example you buy from a private seller, and for the notary and the agency fee I add around another €9,000, as an assumption.

Buying from a private seller, the total capital invested comes to €235,000: €220,000 for the price, around €6,000 in taxes and around €9,000 for the notary and the agency fee. This is the base on which I measure the return further on.

If you are just starting out and need the full picture of the process, from choosing the property to managing the lets, I have written a dedicated guide to renting out a holiday home in 2026. Here I stick to the numbers.

The income: how you get to €10,800 in one summer

Seasonal income is built on strongly seasonal rates. From our 2025 listings, a week in early June or mid-September lets for €315 to €450, while the weeks around Ferragosto, the 15 August holiday, rise to between €1,200 and €1,500.

For July and the August weeks away from Ferragosto I have no recorded rate to give you. In the example I use €1,000 a week, a midpoint between the two bands, and I treat it for what it is: an assumption. Here is the calculation over 12 weeks let between June and mid-September.

For the two bands we know, I used the higher value. With the lower one, €315 in low season and €1,200 at Ferragosto, income falls to €9,660: 1,260 plus 6,000 plus 2,400. If July brings you less than €1,000 a week, income drops further, and the sum is redone in the same way.

Final cleaning needs a word of explanation. *If it is included in the rate, it is a cost to you; if you charge it separately as a flat fee, it becomes part of the base for the cedolare secca***, because the tax is paid on the whole amount the guest pays. In the example cleaning is included in the rate, so you will find it among the outgoings.

The outgoings: service charges, IMU, utilities, cleaning and agency

This is where gross becomes net. There are six items, all to be budgeted if you want to let at a decent standard and sleep soundly. The amounts for service charges, utilities, cleaning and maintenance are assumptions of the simulation: always ask for the real figures of the property you are considering.

Added up, running costs come to €6,096. Taken from the €10,800 of income, that leaves €4,704 of net operating income, before tax. Then the taxman steps in, and the figure gets thinner still.

The 2026 tax rules: cedolare secca, CIN and when you need a VAT number

Since 1 January 2026 short-term letting in Italy has been more regulated than before: *private owners keep the cedolare secca only for up to two flats.* For anyone with one or two properties it is still worthwhile, but it applies to the gross rent with no deduction for costs. The obligations on the identification code, safety and reporting, moreover, come with real penalties.

The two-property rule: cedolare secca at 21% and 26%

This is the change that most wrong-foots investors. Until 2025 letting was presumed to be a business activity above four flats. The 2026 Budget Law (Legge di Bilancio, Law 199/2025, article 1, paragraph 17) lowered the limit to two flats.

The two rates, on the other hand, have applied since 1 January 2024: 21% on one unit that you choose in your tax return, 26% on the others.

The cedolare secca is always calculated on the gross, that is on the €10,800. On our flat the 21% rate means €2,268 of tax; the 26% rate, which concerns the second property, €2,808.

It is still lighter than ordinary IRPEF, which in 2026 can reach 43%, and it frees you from registration tax and stamp duty. *If you own one or two properties, the cedolare secca is almost always the most sensible choice.* You will find the full picture, with tax returns and the tax withheld by intermediaries, in the tax guide to short-term lets in 2026.

Safety and obligations: CIN, Alloggiati Web, ROSS1000 and tourist tax

This is where fines really hurt, and they are enough to wipe out a whole summer's profit. The national identification code (CIN, Codice Identificativo Nazionale), provided for by article 13-ter of Decree-Law 145/2023, has been mandatory since 1 January 2025. You obtain it by registering the unit in the national database of accommodation (Banca Dati delle Strutture Ricettive); it must be shown in every listing and displayed outside the building.

Before the CIN, in Veneto, you notify the Region on ROSS1000 that you are starting a tourist let: this generates the CIR, the regional code you need to apply for the CIN. Checks are carried out by the municipality. Without a CIN the fine ranges from €800 to €8,000; failing to display it or to show it in the listing costs €500 to €5,000. Without fire extinguishers and gas and carbon monoxide detectors you risk €600 to €6,000 for each violation.

Two obligations are often confused, but they serve different purposes and both must be met. Reporting on Alloggiati Web goes to the police (Questura) for public safety reasons, within 24 hours of the guest's arrival, or within 6 hours for one-day stays. Skipping it exposes you to criminal penalties.

The return to ROSS1000 Veneto, on the other hand, goes to the Region for statistical purposes, within the first ten days of the following month, even when there were no movements. Anyone who fails to file it risks an administrative fine of €1,000 to €2,000 (Veneto Region FAQ).

Finally, the tourist tax (imposta di soggiorno). In Eraclea, under municipal executive resolution 44/2025, it is €1.00 per person per day for apartments and residences, and it applies all year round. Children up to six, non-self-sufficient people with disabilities with one companion, police forces on duty and emergency volunteers are exempt.

You collect it from the guest and pay it to the municipality by the 15th of the following month, with the annual return due by 30 June. It is not a cost to you: you only act as the go-between.

Calculator in hand: what your real net margin is

In our example the net margin of a two-bedroom flat in Eraclea Mare, after costs and taxes, is between €1,896 and €2,436 a season. On the capital invested that means a net return of between 0.81% and 1.04%. Here is the full calculation, from the first line to the last.

The figures are a simulation: the June, September and Ferragosto rates come from our 2025 listings, the rest are stated assumptions. Your property, with its own location and condition, may earn more or less.

The order of magnitude, though, is this: gross income is worth 4.6% of the capital, the net stays around 1%. It helps you avoid illusions without running away out of fear. It also shows you where to work: every extra week let in July is worth around €1,000 of income, before commission and cedolare secca.

The real gain is the “mixed return”

A net return of around 1% looks small, and it is, if financial income is your only goal. But people who buy in Eraclea Mare rarely do so for that alone. The value of this investment also lies in three things the table does not measure.

The first is how well the value holds. According to OMI, quotations in Eraclea Mare for homes in normal condition are stable: from €1,750-1,950 per m² in the first half of 2025 to €1,700-2,000 per m² in the first half of 2026, with the midpoint unchanged. In excellent condition they moved from €2,300-2,900 to €2,400-3,100 per m².

The second is personal use. You let the home in the peak months and enjoy it with your family in June and September, when the sea is still lovely and prices have already come down. In the example I left some of exactly those weeks free.

The third is lower risk. In our experience Eraclea's family tourism, sheltered by the pine forest, pays little attention to fashions: that means guests who come back and payments made in advance. It is a peace of mind that does not fit in a table, but you feel it.

In many years of working here I have seen few regrets among those who bought well and budgeted the real numbers from the start. That is what I have tried to give you in these lines. If the investment interests you, the next step is to talk about your specific case.

Request a rental income estimate for your property, or for a flat you are considering in Eraclea Mare. We will redo this calculation together with the real figures, week by week.

To test these sums, look at the rentals in Eraclea Mare and, on the other side, at what it costs to buy among the homes for sale.