Investor's Guide to Condotels Ebook

Investor's Guide to Condotels

Investor's Manual to Condotels and Fractionals Properties

Your guide to making a smart investment in a Condo Hotel or Fractional Unit, and how to save yourself from YEARS of Frustration and Agony.

"What every Investor should know about Condo Hotel Real Estate!"
"Vacation Property that generates Revenue"

I love Condo-Hotels. They provide a revenue stream when I am not using the units, and also give me a great place to stay when I am on vacation or travelling on business. I currently own, or have owned units in Canada, Florida and Las Vegas.

Now, I want to be straight up with you here. Condo Hotel Investments aren't for everyone . They are most suitable for people that vacation, or, travel to the same destination over and over again. That said, if you do fall into either of those categories, Condotels (the other term for a Condo-Hotel) may present the opportunity you have been looking for.

However, like any investment, you need to do careful planning and research before making a commitment.

Here is a little story about a mistake I made....

I was looking for a new Condo Hotel investment in Florida, and evaluating my options. At the time I owned a Condo-Hotel Residence in a Ski Resort in British Columbia, Canada, and overall the experience with this property had been really good.

With this property, the company responsible for managing the condo hotel had lots of experience, there was an excellent marketing program in place to insure that the hotel was always busy, checks from the rental management program came every month and covered many of my costs , and the property was appreciating in value. I had chosen the right location, and the right type of investment. What more could I ask for!

To start the process of looking for my new condo hotel investment, I did some initial research online, and located a realtor in the area in Florida I was most interested in.

One of the condotel properties we discussed shined above the others. I was told that the condo hotel was going to have a great rental management program to offset some of my costs. I was also shown number and figures about the type of return I could expect .

I knew that I was really going to enjoy this location when I had to travel to Florida on business, and after the property appreciated I would sell it for a profit.

I quickly reviewed the rental management agreement (RMA), arranged for financing, and purchased the unit.

It was soon after I took possession that I realized maybe this wasn't going to be what I expected.

Unlike my original investment, there was very little revenue generated and this property was costing me a tremendous amount of money every month to keep up.

So, why did this happen, and what mistakes did I make?

The bottom line was:

I hadn't asked the right questions that would have given me the best information before purchasing!

Seems simple doesn't it? Ask the right questions...determine if this will be a good investment.

For example, a critical question I should have asked was: "What kind of experience does the company managing the hotel have"?

If I had asked that question, I would have found out that this was the first Condo-Hotel managed by this particular company. That should have been enough to make me reconsider what I was getting into.

But there was more.....

I next decided to take a closer look at the rental management agreements provided by each Condo Hotel.

Now, the truth is, I hadn't paid a lot of attention to the details of the rental management agreement at first.After all, it was a "Legal Contract", and a lot of the hotel terms didn't really make sense to me. My regular lawyer was able to give me a pretty good overview, however, his area of expertise is not related to hotels.

For example, terms like "Rack Rate", "Net Rental Revenue", and "Allocation of Reservations" were prevalent througout the agreements, and he was unsure of the exact definitions.

I figured the next step was to see a lawyer that specialized in Property Management Agreements for Condo Hotels and get the details straight from an expert , and WOW, did that ever open up my eyes.

I spent 8 hours with that lawyer at a cost of $400 per hour (total cost $3200) to pick his brain and understand the details.

Now, I am not going to go into the exact details of how the agreement was structured (that information is in the Manual available at the bottom of this page), but I will give you an example of another really important consideration towards your investment decision, and that has to do with something called Room Reservation Rotation.


The process of Room Rotation is very important in a Condotel. What this means, is that the Hotel Managers should try to rent similar units on a fair and equitable basis throughout the Condotel to try to "equalize" the revenue amongst owners. For example, all 1 bedrooms are expected to receive the same overall revenue distributions to the different owners. The goal is to not favor a specific owner or unit over the other. The process is usually handled through the Reservation System, or third party rental rotation system like ownerrelations.com.

This process is easier said then done because there are a lot of demand factors that can skew which unit a hotel guest may be assigned to. The reality is, people staying in a hotel ask for certain types of units more often then others, and the hotel will honor those requests.

For example, rooms in greater demand may include:

• Rooms on higher floors
• Rooms with a scenic view
• The Type of room (1 bedroom, studio, 2 bedroom)
• Rooms away from noisy amenities like elevators, candy machines, swimming pools and exercise rooms, etc
• The types of amenities that may be available in different rooms
• Previous stay expectations
• and more

All these reasons can result in higher rental renvenue for some units then others.

Condotel Investor Buying Tip: When looking at a potential unit, think about what you would want as a guest. The units in highest demand will provide you with the greatest revenue opportunity.

Sure, the location of the condo hotel is important, however, the location of the room you purchase is also very important!

The truth is, I like Condo Hotels. I think that if you are looking for a good investment with revenue potential, have the means, and do your homework, a Condo-Hotel may be for you. For me and my family, they have worked out really well.

But, you need to be INFORMED AND KNOWLEDGEABLE and make sure you ask the right questions before buying.

"The Investor's Manual to Condo Hotels" will walk you through this process, and educate you on the questions you must ask before making an investment.

For example, here is what you will learn in the Investor's Guide to Condo Hotels.

• An overview of Condo Hotels and the different types of Condotel Investments available (including Fractional property investments) .
• 17 Key questions you MUST to determine whether or not the property will be a good investment.
• and most importantly, easy to read and simplified definitions of a Detailed Rental Management Contract including terms, clauses to look for, and tips to use when negotiating.
  

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