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FRACTIONAL OWNERSHIP

Slice yourself a piece of the vacation home pie

By Myles Lawlor

Think you could never afford to own a vacation home or spend your holiday time at a luxurious resort? There's something new in the vacation real estate market that is bringing home a coveted vacation lifestyle to more people than ever before. It's called fractional ownership, and is, in essence, the shared ownership of a vacation property.

It's like several companies going together to purchase a private jet and then sharing its use. Or women pitching in to buy a glittering yet expensive necklace or ring that each will wear only a few times during the year.

With skyrocketing real estate prices, entering Ontario's vacation real estate market today as a sole owner is prohibitive for some people. Even many who can afford to buy outright choose not to, because they don't feel they can justify the financial outlay for something they use only a handful of the 52 weeks in a year. Sharing vacation properties through fractional ownership is the perfect alternative. You can own an equity-building portion of a fantastic vacation property at a fraction of the cost.

And when it comes to this hot trend, Ontario is leading the way in Canada. The province is home to an astounding number and variety of fractional ownership opportunities that span the gamut from million-dollar estates to traditional cottages, villas, resort homes clustered around a clubhouse and shared amenities and rustic cabins. You name it, and there's a fractional ownership property out there with your lifestyle written all over it. Want to holiday on a lake, near a ski hill or golf course, or in a secluded wooded spot? Again, you'll find a raft of choices in Ontario in everything from waterside areas to small towns. There are both pet-free and pet-friendly opportunities, family and adult lifestyle neighbourhoods - again, the choice is up to you.

And why would you choose fractional ownership? The trend is catching on with an eclectic assortment of people as fast as you can say no maintenance. As the pace of life increases to dizzying speeds, so do our concepts of home and vacation. The days of languidly lounging at a cottage or resort for weeks at a time are fading into the sunset along with sails on the horizon at dusk. The limited holiday time we do get is too precious to spend on the upkeep of a vacation property, which becomes more and more expensive to maintain when it's used so seldom.

Many active baby boomers are retiring earlier and giving up their cottages and resort time-shares to opt into the shared ownership vacation real estate market. It allows them to own equity in a vacation home that can be enjoyed by their children and grandchildren, and to pay only a fraction of the cost of owning outright. In other words, their financial investment matches the amount of time they can spend using the property.

Other fractional ownership purchasers are busy young professionals who wouldn't otherwise be able to buy into this vacation lifestyle. Still others are those with growing families who want to spend what little holiday time they have playing with the kids instead of cleaning, fixing and repairing. What they all have in common is an interest in more return-on-investment for their vacation property dollar - something fractional ownership offers.

In addition to maintenance-free vacationing, fractional owners have the freedom of not feeling they have to holiday the exact same way every year because of a huge financial outlay on a vacation home. Plus, those who love to travel can usually leverage their time by exchanging with other fractional owners around the world. Many shared-ownership vacation properties are associated with worldwide exchange companies that handle the particulars.

Imagine swapping your vacation share in Ontario with that of someone in Rome or London! A family from Switzerland may be itching for a wilderness experience in gorgeous Muskoka, and you may be dreaming of a ski holiday in the Alps. If you're both fractional owners of properties registered with an exchange company, voila! You'll be speeding down those snowy slopes in no time. And by spending less to own a share of your property rather than buying the entire thing, you'll be able to afford more exotic vacations.

Sharing ownership makes sense, whether it's a cottage on one of Ontario's pristine lakes, a lakeside resort, or even an individual luxury estate home. It costs less, involves no work eating into your leisure time, and invites you to truly relax on your vacation. And isn't that the point?

Myles Lawlor is a real estate marketing consultant. He can be reached at lawlor.com or fractions.ca