Investing in Marrakech: the 12 questions to ask

We manage villas and riads in Marrakech, and the owners who call us almost always call after the deed is signed. They then run into the same lines: the ones no listing ever quantifies, and that they had no reason to quantify before buying.

These are the twelve questions we put to a property before taking on its management. They hold before a purchase and after it, since nine of them concern the running of the house rather than the transaction. Under each one sits a figure, its named source and the date it was recorded. Where the figure does not exist, it says so: we estimate none of them. This article is written for an owner or a future owner, never for a traveller.

What should you ask before buying a riad or a villa in Marrakech?

Twelve questions, and they come in a deliberate order: first what is settled at signature and cannot be revisited, then what runs every year afterwards. The first three concern figures you will be quoted — what you pay on top of the advertised amount, the floor area the calculation rests on, the yield you are promised. The next four concern what the property consumes: real occupancy, medina logistics, repair of the fabric, staff. Three more belong to law and tax, and two of those are settled before signature or never. The last two concern operation: who holds the house, on what base, and who opens the door on the days you are not there.

None of these twelve questions calls for any particular financial expertise. They ask only that whoever puts a figure forward agrees to open it up.

1. What is added to the advertised amount at signature?

Two figures circulate, and they do not measure the same thing. The first, 6 to 8% of the purchase amount, covers the signing alone: registration duties of around 4%, land registry 1 to 1.5%, notary fees 1 to 1.5%, according to masaken.ma, recorded on 25/08/2026. The second, “15 to 18% of the net vendor amount”, adds agency commission and furnishing: marrakechexpert.com, page updated in May 2026 and recorded on 08/09/2026. Both are accurate; their scopes differ. On a riad bought for 3,000,000 MAD, that means 180,000 to 240,000 DH for the signing alone, up to 300,000 DH once agency commission is counted, and an order of magnitude of 450,000 to 540,000 DH on the wider scope. The useful question is therefore not the percentage but which of the two you were quoted. The line-by-line detail is in our article on what a riad in Marrakech costs.

2. That square metre — which floor area does it refer to?

A riad has two floor areas, and the gap between them runs from 1.6 to 2.75 times. Listings publish both without always saying so: “94 m² on the ground, roughly 250 m² liveable”, “around 80 m² on the ground and 220 m² liveable”, “42 m² on the ground for roughly 100 m² liveable” — three listings read on Mubawab, recorded on 25/08/2026. A per-square-metre figure quoted without its base therefore means nothing, and the mistake is paid for twice: on purchase, then on resale. Our own calculation across the nine riads for sale at Côté Médina, the same day, gives a median of 24,250 DH per liveable square metre, with extremes of 14,091 and 36,571. A citywide average across all property types does not compare with it: it mixes the Guéliz flat and the medina house. Ask for the ground area, the liveable area, and which of the two produced the figure.

3. That yield I am being quoted — what is divided by what?

This is the question that separates a useful figure from a sales argument. Eight public rates circulate on the profitability of a Marrakech riad, from 6% to 20%, and only two say what they relate to: we set them side by side in our analysis of published yields of 4 September 2026. Riad Invest writes that “a well-managed riad can generate close to 20% profitability, with a return on investment in four to six years”, recorded on 08/09/2026. The same day, marrakechexpert.com publishes the opposite: a result after costs and tax of 4.8% to 7.2% depending on the owner’s tax band — 6.6 to 7.2% for a band of 0 to 11%, and 4.8 to 5.5% for a band of 41%. A ratio of one to four, depending on where the calculation stops. We publish no in-house rate: we have no operating series wide enough for an average to mean anything.

4. What occupancy rate may I build my calculation on?

The measured one, not the promised one. The Observatoire du Tourisme publishes 72% occupancy for the year to end May 2026 in Marrakech’s classified tourist accommodation, flat year on year, with 78% for the month of May alone and 68% to end March; nationally, 56%. AirDNA, which measures short-term letting rather than classified hotel stock, publishes 49% on June 2026 data. Both readings were recorded on 4 September 2026. Two scopes, two values, and none above 80%. The seven-point gap between March and May says the rest: the Marrakech year is not flat, and a budget built on an annual average gets it wrong twice over. The qualification cuts both ways: these rates cover establishments classified under law no. 80-14, which riads and kasbahs fall within, so not a property let without classification — and a citywide average forbids nobody from exceeding it. It places the assumption you are building on; it does not replace it.

5. How far is the door from the nearest vehicle access point?

This is the most underrated question on the list, and the one whose answer comes back every single day. In the medina, everything comes in and goes out on someone’s back or by handcart: linen, shopping, materials, refuse, furniture, and the mattress that has to go up two flights of stairs. The extra cost shows in routine maintenance quotes. A day of cleaning in a medina riad is billed at 400 to 750 DH where a standard full day runs 300 to 450 DH, and the hourly rate on a regular contract runs 25 to 42 DH against 42 to 60 DH one-off — Allo Maison rate card, recorded on 25/08/2026. A full changeover comes to 400-700 DH for a small riad and 700-1,200 DH for a mid-sized one, according to bclik.ma, recorded on 18/08/2026. A good answer holds two data points: the distance in metres from where a vehicle can stop, and a cleaning quote obtained for that address.

6. What does repairing tadelakt or zellige cost?

The published ranges exist, and they are precise. Tadelakt: 200 to 500 DH per square metre. Zellige: 400 to 1,200 DH. Carved plaster and joinery: 800 to 3,000 DH. A full renovation of a 150 m² riad runs from 400,000 to 1,500,000 MAD, or 2,667 to 10,000 DH per square metre, with a recommended contingency of 20 to 30% of the budget — Bricolat guide published on 16/05/2026, recorded on 18/08/2026. Two pieces of context explain the rhythm of those repairs: 63% of Marrakech’s annual rainfall falls between November and March, on the 1991-2020 normals for station 60230, and medina mains water runs at 332 mg/L of calcium carbonate, or 33.2 French degrees, per El-Fadeli et al. (2015). Very hard water, and it attacks mineral surfaces. We set out the maintenance cycle that follows in our article on tadelakt, zellige and damp.

7. Who will legally be the employer of the staff?

The owner, until he or she decides otherwise — and that is rarely what people believe they signed. A riad in operation employs people: a caretaker, cleaning, kitchen, sometimes a gardener. The non-agricultural minimum wage was set at 17.92 DH an hour on 1 January 2026, or 3,422.72 DH gross a month over 191 hours, and the employer’s share of CNSS contributions comes to 19.49% — Humantal pages of 08/01/2026 and 15/01/2026, recorded on 25/08/2026. One post at minimum wage therefore costs 49,078 DH a year including employer contributions, and four posts 16,359 DH a month. The cross-check holds: one market guide gives four people for five bedrooms and 16,000 to 20,000 DH a month, immords, recorded on 25/08/2026. Two methods, two sources, the same order of magnitude. A good answer says who signs the contracts, who declares them to the CNSS, and what becomes of those contracts the day you change manager.

8. What taxes fall due while the property sits empty?

Housing tax and municipal services tax, both payable every year whether the house is occupied or not. The housing tax scale is progressive: exempt up to 5,000 DH of rateable value, 10% from 5,001 to 20,000, 20% from 20,001 to 40,000, and 30% above. Municipal services tax stands at 10.50% within urban perimeters, defined centres and tourist resorts, and 6.50% on the outskirts. Two points decide the real amount for a non-resident: the 75% allowance is reserved for a main residence, and the five-year exemption applies only to a newly built main home. The person liable remains the owner, even when the property is let. Payment falls due on 31 May, with a 10% penalty and then a surcharge of 5% for the first month and 0.5% per month thereafter — Wafir.ma and KNA Immobilier, recorded on 25/08/2026. It is the line acquisition budgets most often forget, because it runs even when nothing is happening.

9. Where is my rental income taxed, and at what rate?

In Morocco first, and the domestic rules are set out in black and white. The General Tax Code provides an exemption up to 40,000 MAD of gross annual property income (art. 160 bis), a rate of 10% below 120,000 MAD (art. 73-II-B-5°) and 15% from that threshold (art. 73-II-C-4°), with a flat-rate option at 20% (art. 73-II-F-12°, 2025 Finance Act); the 40% allowance is reserved for taxation on the progressive scale (art. 64-II). An activity that becomes habitual moves into business income — Upsilon Consulting note of 15/05/2026, recorded on 25/08/2026. On the French side, the Franco-Moroccan tax treaty of 29 May 1970 applies through exemption with progression: Moroccan rents are not taxed a second time, but they enter the calculation of the rate applied to your other income, marrakechexpert.com, recorded on 08/09/2026. We are neither notaries nor tax advisers: these references are here to be checked at source.

10. Will I be able to take the capital out on resale?

Yes, with no ceiling, on three conditions — and they are settled at purchase, not at resale. Repatriation of sale proceeds is presented as a right provided the acquisition was financed in foreign currency, by traceable transfer, and tax clearance has been obtained; the basis is the general instruction on foreign exchange operations issued by the Office des Changes, marrakechexpert.com, recorded on 08/09/2026. It is the one question on this list whose answer is decided entirely before signature: a purchase financed any other way cannot be put right ten years later. It is also one of the questions on which we hear the most received wisdom, including from owners settled here for years, convinced that Morocco forbids taking funds out. A good answer cites the text and the transfer reference, not an impression. Have your notary confirm all three conditions before the preliminary contract; they cost nothing at that stage.

11. Who operates the property, on what base, and at what rate?

A rate says nothing until its base is known. Our survey of 31 August 2026 identifies 24 Marrakech concierge companies with a verifiable existence; twenty of them publish a rate on their own website, recorded on 1 September 2026, and those rates run from 10% to 35%. More to the point, five calculation bases coexist: the platform payout, so after the platform’s own commission; accommodation turnover before any commission; the gross nightly rate; income excluding cleaning fees; income with cleaning rebilled at cost. Between the first and the second, the gap reaches the order of magnitude of a whole commission. On the riad segment, Miraj Collection placed management between 30% and 40% in an article dated April 2026. The company-by-company detail is in our comparison of Marrakech concierge companies, and our own commission, with its base, on our pricing page.

12. Who opens the door on the days I am not there?

This is the line nobody quantifies, and it is the one that runs whether the property is occupied or not. Water, electricity, internet and upkeep account for 60,000 to 150,000 DH a year across the whole heading, according to immords, including electricity billed at up to 1.5958 DH including tax per kilowatt-hour above 500 kWh a month on the ONEE domestic scale of June 2026. Insurance runs from €600 to €1,200 a year, on the Koliving page of 14/01/2026, and Bricolat advises keeping 20 to 30% of the works budget in reserve. Four readings recorded on 25 August 2026. To that add what cannot be budgeted in advance: the leak on a Sunday, the caretaker who resigns, the inspection that never happened because nobody went. That is the work described on our Marrakech concierge and property management pages, and the only line on this list settled by a presence rather than a calculation.

What is left once all twelve are answered?

Three limits, and they decide what this list can be used for. We publish no in-house yield: without a verified operating series, a thirteenth percentage would only add to the noise that questions 3 and 4 teach you to read. Questions 8, 9 and 10 belong to a notary, a lawyer and an accountant; the texts are cited so that they can be checked at source, with the Office des Changes and the tax authority, not to stand in for advice. And a figure is no substitute for a visit: none of the twelve questions is settled without having seen the property, walked the lane that leads to it and turned on the taps. If your purchase is signed or in progress, we prepare a management quotation from the liveable area, the number of bedrooms, the district and the distance to the vehicle access point: write to us.

Would you like to know what these twelve lines amount to for your own property, once costed at its address? We provide a free, no-obligation assessment within 48 hours.