Real Estate Tips and Support

Condo-Hotels - A New Second-Home Alternative to Time Shares



Condo-hotels have evolved as a better, more reliable second home alternative to time-shares. They are usually attractive, high-rise hotels on the ocean or in other prime locations, and range in price from the mid $200,000s to over 1 million, depending on the size, location, and amenities.

Many of the biggest names in the hotel industry have condo-hotel buildings, including Hilton, Four Seasons, Clarion, and Ritz-Carlton. Donald Trump has numerous condo- hotel facilities across the country, including a building in Fort Lauderdale and another in Sunny Isles, Florida.

In general, condo-hotel properties have been highly successful with all or nearly all units selling out within months of the first offering. For example, the Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne is a beachfront property with 188 condo-hotel units, all of which sold out a year before the building was even finished. Needless to say, the values of the condo-hotels in this building have gone up significantly.

There are several reasons for the popularity of condo-hotels. When you purchase a property, you purchase a condo unit in the hotel. Unlike a time share, you have access to the property whenever you want, and it is put into a rental pool when you are not in residence. Although developers can't guarantee the properties will rent, management by a well-known hospitality group will typically result in several weeks of rental income. This is one of the biggest appeals of condo-hotels because the rental income can offset some of the costs of owning a vacation property.

In addition, the management company takes care of renting the unit, using their connections and expertise. You don't have to worry about any of these details. Most rental agreements split the income 50/50 between the management company and the owner. However, some properties offer more favorable arrangements, and this is another aspect to consider when deciding which property to purchase.

Despite the fact that the property is in a hotel setting, a condo-hotel is considered a private residence, and owners are eligible for mortgage interest deductions and all the other tax advantages that come from owning a second home. However, most condo-hotels do not allow you to live in the unit year round. This is because the management company wants to rent out the unit when you are not there, so both you and they can profit from that rental income.

Each condo-hotel property has its own residence restrictions that indicate the maximum amount of time you can live in the property. This is an important piece of information to consider before purchasing a condo-hotel unit. Most owners do not intend to live in their condo year round, so this is not a concern in typical circumstances.

Why not just rent a hotel room? In addition to the investment aspect, condo-hotels usually offer more room than a standard hotel room. Most suites are one or two bedrooms, and larger units are available. Condo-hotels typically have cooking facilities and other homey features that hotel rooms do not. This makes it ideal to have family stay with you when they come to visit.

With the advantages they offer over time shares, it's easy to see why so many people looking for a vacation property investment they can also enjoy when they want are now looking at condo-hotels.

For more on finding and buying the right condo-hotel, check out Make Your Next Home a Resort, the 2005 Guide to Condo-Hotels, Fractional Shares and Resort Residences. You can download the Guide as a pdf file at http://www.InvestingIN.com/realestate/resorts/resort4u.htm

Leon Altman is the founder of the InvestingIN Real Estate Letter - http://www.InvestingIN.com/realestate/LtrSignup3.htm - and its parent website, http://www.InvestingIN.com - a website that provides articles and newsletters about opportunities in different areas.


MORE RESOURCES:

NEW!! Credit Repair Software, IT'S FREE!!  

Credit Repair is an amazing Credit Repair Solution. It was designed to help your fix your credit report. Clean up those "questionable" items.

The Credit Repair provides you with detailed information, step by step solutions and includes three separate databases for TransUnion, Experian and Equifax.
Download Now or Get a FREE Credit Report

 


Simpli Capatcha v6.0
Simpli Capatcha Validate Form is the perfect contact form to prevent those annoying bots from filling out your email form.

The Simpli Capatcha is a simple and easy to install form designed for beginner web designers and advanced enough for those wanting more.

Download Size: 7KB

 


 

Simpli Easy File Share v4.0
Simpli Easy File Share is a fantastic way to give a link to clients or friends to enable them to be able to download your software, scripts or any file types you want without them being able to see where the file link came from. The Simpli Easy File Share has features such as timed downloads enabling you to set how many days it's available to them and along with some other great features included are maximum file size allowed and more..!

Download Size: 72kb

 


Click to Encrypt PHP v7.0
Click to Encrypt PHP was designed to help secure your web page source code from prying eyes, providing you with a 64 bit Encryption!

Imagine now being able to secure your PHP and providing your customers with demos of your products(s), or just protecting your web site.


Download
Size: 1meg

 


Click to Encrypt HTML v8.0
Click to Encrypt HTML is a fantastic new encryption software to protect your HTML web pages and prevent others from viewing and reusing your webpage source code. The Click to Encrypt is easy enough for the beginner level web designer to use.

The Click to Encrypt HTML is an easy to use software providing you with a quick way to encrypt your HTML pages into an unreadable format for all browsers and even offline viewing. The encrypted code can easily be pasted into your web pages providing you with a means of protecting your hard work.

Download Size: 1meg

 


Simpli Easy Password Protector
Simpli Easy Password Protector was designed for the beginner web programmer. The design is very simple to impliment into any PHP webpage providing a FAST and SECURE way to prevent prying eyes.

The Simpli Easy Password Protector can be used for Member Only Areas and all types of PHP Applications.

Simpli Easy Password Protector, All that is needed is to change the username and password and paste the code right into your own PHP webpage. It's that simple! Works with all Browsers!

Download Size: 27kb

 


Image Mouseover Script v1.2
is a simple and easy to install script that you can add or edit as many images as you like. When a user places his/her mouse on the small image the large image will tailor to match.

What's nice about this script is that you can easily modify the pictures and add as many sections as you like providing you with the ability to arrange them on your webpage.

Includes three template designs to work from, Vertical, Horizontal and Surround. With the three templates you can design just about any layout you like.

Download Size: 320kb

 

 



home | site map

© 2006 - 2009