Owning a 1/4 condo in Canmore

[Laner99]

I'm looking at buying a 1/4 share in a condo in canmore, you get it for one week every month. But I have mixed feelings on this so I thought I would check and see if any other CP members own or have owned a 1/4 share like this and what their thoughts are on it?

To me it seems like a great set up for my family as you only have it a week a month so it is nice to have but you dont get overwhelmed by having to be there ever week, it's close to Calgary and Banff. Downside is the monthly fee associated with ownership.

Any opinions on owning one of these?

[troutman]

Canmore was hit hard by flooding, so consider that too.

[bossy22]

It's a pain too. One of the perks of owning something on your own is that you can leave stuff there, and when you go there you don't have to pack. Friday comes, you just take off. With this you just can't leave a closet with clothes in it, or a bathroom with cosmetics, or your skis in the closet, etc. Plus you can't really personalize it. It's no different than renting the same suite somewhere.

[Northendzone]

while i don't own such a condo, i'd suggest thinking of how often would you use this condo? Can you rent out weeks you aren't using.

to me the other downside to these condos are, what do you do during the shoulder spring/fall seasons when there is no skiing or it is too cold/wet to golf/bike.

I love Canmore, but would never want a share set up.

[Locke]

From an accounting perspective I've never seen one of these that makes money. These things hemorrhage red ink in the hopes of making up the losses on the profits of the eventual sale.

They can be hard to sell, especially when you're in a partnership with 3 other people, sometimes you can only sell your share if not all of the other partners want to sell, and that can be a hard share to sell.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Personally would never buy a 1/4 share anywhere, or timeshare in general.

Defeats the benefits of owning IMO. As already mentioned, leaving your stuff there, going any weekend you want without competing for the time etc.

[GP_Matt]

From what I hear it is a lot cheaper to just rent a place whenever you want to go to Canmore.

[Reaper]

Nolo Timeshare-o

[onetwo_threefour]

YOLO - but no timeshares!

As with other legal, real estate and accounting pros in the thread, I've yet to see one of these that isn't a pain in the a$$ at the end of the day.

[ranchlandsselling]

Also from a financing perspective it would be very hard to borrow against the asset. Not that you'd necessarily want to, but if you got in a pinch and can't sell or didn't want to, you also couldn't borrow against it as easily as something you'd own 100% of. Personally as a lender and broker I wouldn't touch anything like that. We do it for REITs and Pension funds, but not for individuals.

Probably better off putting the cash into a high yield ETF or REIT ETF in your TFSA and take out the yield every year to pay for when you actually want to go to Canmore. You'd probably make money that way and be able to cash out easily when you wanted to.

For that matter buy Boardwalk REIT. It's yields 3.5% lets say you were going to spend $100,000 (no idea) then you're getting $3,500 annually in yield not to mention any capital appreciation over 5-years. If you're buying this type of real estate then you've got to be bullish on real estate in general or it's a terrible idea. If that's true (bullish on RE) then owning boardwalk is also a good idea and you benefit from better management, experience and they have access to DIRT cheap money. So with your yield I'm pretty sure $3,500 plus whatever crappy fees you'd pay a month x12 and the headache you'd at least break even for going to Canmore when you feel like you "really want to". You can benefit from capital gains (already mentioned) and exit at a whim with VERY little cost at all. Or any of the other well managed REITs.

Owning something like this on your own can very often not work out at all but at least you own it outright. 1/4th is just asking for problems.

All IMO

[Derek Sutton]

Also I wouldn't do this with a friend or family as part of the other 3/4. It is best that you barely know them or not at all. That way if something goes sideways you or not out any friends or fighting with family, and something will happen eventually.

[Laner99]

Thanks for all the opinions on this. I know a lot of the comments are directed towards this being an investment opportunity or an income property but that is not my end goal. I am not looking at it from that angle at all. I am just looking for something that my family can use as a holiday place that doesn’t involve us having to be there every single week (for us one week a month is perfect).

I had the fifth wheel and truck for a while but found that we could not use it nearly enough to justify having 65 K sitting there for 8 the 12 months out of the year when it is too cold to use and the cost of the maintenance of a diesel truck, storage for the trailer, and depreciation of everything was a real losing venture.

At least with a condo it can be used in the winter and not just sit in a rental storage facility. I would love to be able to own a 100% stake in a condo but I don’t have 325 plus thousand to drop on a holiday property.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Laner99

Thanks for all the opinions on this. I know a lot of the comments are directed towards this being an investment opportunity or an income property but that is not my end goal. I am not looking at it from that angle at all. I am just looking for something that my family can use as a holiday place that doesn’t involve us having to be there every single week (for us one week a month is perfect).

I had the fifth wheel and truck for a while but found that we could not use it nearly enough to justify having 65 K sitting there for 8 the 12 months out of the year when it is too cold to use and the cost of the maintenance of a diesel truck, storage for the trailer, and depreciation of everything was a real losing venture.

At least with a condo it can be used in the winter and not just sit in a rental storage facility. I would love to be able to own a 100% stake in a condo but I don’t have 325 plus thousand to drop on a holiday property.

But you can vacation anywhere you want right now, without a giant financial liability. You don't have to worry about insurance, taxes, condo fees, upkeep, upgrading, etc. You also don't need to worry when you're paying to use something you're not using. Just rent a hotel room/condo whenever you want to vacation. I can't think of a single compelling reason to partially own one of these places over just renting them when you need. Can you?

[kevman]

That and Canmore doesn't have a lake making it objectively less desirable to vacation there than anywhere else.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by kevman

That and Canmore doesn't have a lake making it objectively less desirable to vacation there than anywhere else.

I know you are kidding, but you're also right. That is a very large drawback of Canmore versus, say, Radium or Invermere. Although Canmore's close proximity to Calgary and the ski hills is awesome.

[undercoverbrother]

OP do not buy.


The best vacation property is the one you rent.

[Flamenspiel]

Originally Posted by Laner99

I had the fifth wheel and truck for a while but found that we could not use it nearly enough to justify having 65 K sitting there for 8 the 12 months out of the year when it is too cold to use and the cost of the maintenance of a diesel truck, storage for the trailer, and depreciation of everything was a real losing venture.

Its a mistake to think that fractional ownership or timeshares are real estate, they are very hard to resell and are usually resold at a loss so it will be just like owning a fifth wheel or truck with a whole new set of costs(condo fees and assessments).

I suggest you save your money until you can buy your own property and then look for one which can have capital appreciation and revenue. The idea is to get something that pays for itself and your holiday. You will find that the US is far more affordable in terms of recreational real estate.

[Locke]

If its strictly for personal/family entertainment use then yeah, just rent a cabin or whatever when you want to. Sure, you'll have to pack up your stuff, but its way, way, way less hassle.

[cam_wmh]

The convenience of having the same place, are nullified when you can't leave your personal belongings there.

OP, explain why this is the better conclusion, vs renting when you want.

[GP_Matt]

I would never do it financially, but lack of flexibility is huge too.
You have 12 weeks booked a year in advance in Canmore.
If you want to go anywhere else you are paying for a week that you are not using.
If only half the family comes you are paying for space that you are not using.
If extra family comes there is no room or you are cramped.
If you want to go on a different week you have to pay extra or spend time negotiating.
If you only stay for four days you have paid for 3 unused days.

I can't really think of any reasons that this is better than booking hotels or using a service like VRBO. Unless the salesman has low balled the costs to such an extreme that it looks like a great deal on paper.