Fractional Interest in Real Estate (Vacation Homes)
The recession changed the world for many of us and with it our financial goals and dreams. For those of you that still dream of owning a vacation home, there is a new way of owning a second home that is affordable, secure, and financially attainable – Fractional Real Estate Ownership!
Each year, vacations provide individuals, families, and friends an opportunity to relax, have fun, and create memories. For many, the possibility of owning a vacation home is not feasible due to the commitment of owning and maintaining 100% of the property. Unfortunately, the average vacation homeowner uses their vacation home only 30-39 days a year. Why pay for 100% of a vacation home when you will likely enjoy it for only a small percentage of the year?
Fractional ownership in real estate, unlike a Time Share, provides an alternative to full ownership, by allowing the amount of investment in a vacation home to be proportionate to the time you will actually spend at that property while still owning a true real estate interest in the home. As a fractional investor you are able to preserve your capital investment, share the costs of ownership, and enjoy your vacation home at all times of the year.
In her more than 29 years of practicing real estate law, Kendall Hill Page has helped clients realize and acquire an interest in a vacation home, whether at the beach, mountains, lake or other place of enjoyment. This concept may sound like a Time Share, but is significantly different in approach, as each owner owns and controls their investment. Many fractional interests in real estate are reserved for very high-end vacation destinations or high-end resorts, however, that is not where the most significant growth and opportunities are emerging. Single-family second home fractional ownership purchases are on the rise, which eliminates the cost of excessive management and property service fees charged by many third parties.
Existing owners of a vacation home can use fractionalizing to sell ownership interests in the property thereby sharing the investment and re-occurring costs with others. Sellers can keep an interest in their house and have the freedom to buy an interest in other vacation homes in the same manner, travel to other places, or merely find comfort in sharing the costs and use of the property they enjoy.
Kendall Page offers guidance to Buyers, Sellers, Developers, and Real Estate Agents, for themselves or their clients in the search for the proper fit, structure, and expectation in this kind of ownership. She has years of research, tools, and experience in helping people invest in the luxury of owning a vacation home and eliminating the need for paying out 25% or more to a sponsored management group. This type of real estate ownership is not for everyone, however, it makes great sense for certain individuals, couples or families considering a particular vacation home or lifestyle.
Buyers
If you have found your “dream” fractional vacation home either by bringing a group together to purchase a vacation home or purchasing a fractional interest in a home individually, Kendall can help you set up or review the structure of the relationship of owning the property. She has the experience, knowledge, and tool kit of documents and contracts that may guide a Buyer to fully understanding the equity asset in purchasing a fractional interest in a vacation home and the most effective calendar arrangements for enjoying it during each season of the year.
Sellers
If you currently own a vacation home and would like to fractionalize in order to share expenses as opposed to selling the property in total, Kendall Page can help you with the structure of your proposed division of ownership. This would allow you to maintain a percentage of ownership, share in the ownership interest and expenses and glean some equity out of the property you are unable to use 100% of the time.
Builder/Developers
Sales of fractional interests in vacation homes offer developers and builders opportunity for greater traffic into their developments and the opportunity to optimize the sales price of each individual property. The cost of high-end building can make a property harder to sell as a whole property, however fractional ownership can bring a greater return on a property sold in fractional interest verses a single owner sale and invites more people to invest in the purchase of a fractional interest in a vacation home when they would otherwise not consider such a high-end vacation home they could not use 100% of the time.
Real Estate Agents
The sale of fractional interest in a vacation home opens up a new niche for those agents who could sell interest in a vacation home to a client who would otherwise not purchase the full property. The individual investment would be far less than purchasing 100% of a vacation home, the re-occurring costs would be far less than the costs of full ownership and upkeep of a vacation home, and there would be a freedom of not being physically obligated to 100% use of the vacation home.
The total sale of a vacation home through fractionalizing brings a greater return both in the sale of each ownership interest and in giving those who would otherwise not own a vacation home a wonderful place to own and enjoy.
If you would like to learn more, give us a call at 919-942-4161 or email us at Kendall@kendallpage.com