Fractional Ownership in Asheville

I have been conducting more research on fractional ownerships over the past few months. This is a relatively common form of ownership in many resort areas and is currently non-existent in the Asheville market. John (my boss) and I found ourselves asking the question, why? Over the past decade the Asheville market has moved into a resort and second home market. It has always been a popular vacation area. After doing some reading I have concluded that Asheville is ready for fractional ownership and I am looking forward to being the pioneer.

What is fractional ownership? “Simply stated, fractional ownership is the opportunity for buyers to own, by deed, and responsible for, the exact amount of time they would like to spend in their second home. Each owner gets an equal amount of time at the residence and they all share the carrying costs.” (Sherman D. Potvin; Fractionalize to Maximize). The most important aspect in my opinion is having a solid property management company. They will in turn implement a use plan which outlines which weeks and/or months each owner will have.

Why buy a fractional? Well there are many reasons. I think the best answer is that it allows someone to own an upscale property, through an undivided interest, and not break the bank while doing so. Many busy people who purchase vacation or second homes may only use the property 2-4 weeks out of the year. The remainder of the time the property is sitting vacant and the owner is still paying for it. The idea of owning the unit/home with other partners eliminates that stress and keeps money in your pocket.

For example, we are currently looking in to the possibility of fractionalizing some condominiums behind our office in Biltmore Village. These are extremely nice units that range from $535k-$850k. One idea is that we would offer 1/12th ownerships for around $90,000. For those that are only going to use the unit for vacation purposes a few times a year, this works great. They have someone looking over the property when they are gone and they only spent 90k for the use of unit with market value of over 800k. Did I mention that these are appreciating assets? Check out the condos that I’m referring to at http://www.biltmorevillagecondos.com/.

Please email me with any questions that you might have in regards to fractionals.

Until next time… check out my site www.brianbeasley.net