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Eastern BC's first real estate development was marketed to
non-residents in 1911. The Columbia Valley Irrigated Fruit Lands Company
offered homestead sites near Invermere to prospective immigrants. Their
brochure featured photos of cottages on model homestead sites with heavily
laden apple trees standing beside irrigation flumes. After selling all
they owned and making the trek from England to Invermere, the homesteaders
discovered that no water flowed in the flumes, and the apples in the
photos had been tied onto the branches with string.
Today there is a dizzying array of ski hill, golf course, and
lakeside developments stretching from Golden to Fernie. How does a
consumer ensure they will get what is promised? Fortunately, the risks of
yesterday are largely managed by BC's modern legislation regarding real
estate development. Today's laws ensure consumers get full, accurate, and
honest disclosure regarding the material facts of a development before
they make an offer. A buyer must obtain and read the disclosure
statement or prospectus with this information in it before
making an offer to buy. Also, it is a good idea to have a pre-closing
inspection of what you are buying.
With so many different recreational real estate products out there,
how does a consumer find one that best meets their personal needs?
First, define your objectives and budget. Consider what importance
you give to personal use, investment potential, and possible future use as
a retirement home. List the recreational amenities important to you. Those
available include skiing, water sports, golfing, paragliding, horseback
riding, tennis, hiking, and mountaineering. Establish your budget for down
payment and monthly carrying costs for mortgage, property tax, strata,
insurance, and other payments. If you are considering a strata (condo)
unit that is in a rental pool operated by the developer or a reservation
service, consider how the projected net rental income may reduce your
monthly ownership costs. But if rentals don't materialize, you still have
to pay the full mortgage and other costs each month.
Second, look at tangible examples of the kinds of products
available, and decide what is right for you. For those who want a pre-paid
vacation for a week or two each year, with the opportunity to exchange for
a similar unit in a foreign destination, then a time share might be the
answer. Examples are Bighorn Meadows Resort in Radium Hot Springs,
Riverside or Mountainside in Fairmont Hot Springs. Last summer I met a
Belgian couple staying at a timeshare at Panorama Mountain Village. They
own a number of time shares on the French Rivieria and exchanged a week
with a Panorama timeshare owner. Timeshare developments are generally
registered with an international exchange service. Make sure to research
the exchange provisions and history before you buy.
If you just want to get away a week every month to golf in the
summer or ski in the winter, then a rental pooled condo unit in a
development is a possibility. Examples are Intrawest's products at
Panorama Mountain Village and The Lodges at Kimberley Ridge. Both have
active rental programs to put guests into your unit (and money into your
pocket) when you are not using it. Another option new to eastern BC (but
well-established in more mature US markets and Whistler) is fractional
ownership. The Cabins of Pinecone Lane at Radium Hot Springs offer quarter
shares in cabins on or near the Springs golf course. With a quarter share,
you have one week occupancy per month. It is rumored that there will be a
fractional program announced soon for log cabins to be built on a wooded
site in Kimberley. Apparently the property is located a few hundred yards
from the ski lift and is across from the award-winning Trickle Creek golf
course.
If your plan is to buy a recreational property that gives you full
flexibility of use ( such as the potential to retire in it), but you don't
want the responsibilities of upkeep, then products like Schickedanz's
Riverstone Villas at Radium Hot Springs and The Cottages, a strata duplex
development at Lakeview Meadows on Lake Windermere may be of interest.
Have a yearning for a traditional cottage, cabin, or second home on
its own lot? The cost to be in a prime development may be less than you
think. Look carefully at the amenities, the developers building
requirements, and the experience and financial strength of the developer.
Lots sold well in Timber Landing in Fernie, where 75% of lots went quickly
at an average price of $150,000, up $50-60,000 from prices 3 years ago in
the adjacent Highline Estates subdivision. Apparently the Highline lots
have seen homes built on them that sell for as much as $925,000. Also of
note is Stage II of Lakeview Meadows in Windermere. Their stage I lots
sold out last year and a lot originally purchased for $120,000 last
October has re-sold for $180,000. With re-sales like that, their marketing
motto "Invest for your family's future" has some credibility. When you buy
into an upper scale development, the home you build will have to comply
with the developers architectural design guidelines -so be clear on
construction costs before buying your lot. On the positive side,
architectural controls (which require owners to adhere to certain design
and construction material guidelines) and building schemes (which prevent
owners from having unsightly premises, unlicensed vehicles parked on site,
and other nuisances and eyesores) are very important to ensure the future
value of your investment.
Deciding what to buy is the most difficult part. Plan your
objectives, set your budget, look carefully at what is offered in the
market place, and when you feel the planets are lining up for you, write
an offer. If you have done your homework, it should be all downhill from
there!
Randall Walford is a BC real estate lawyer who practices in
Calgary. His website at "http://www.resortlaw.com/" has lots
of free legal reports and information for buyers and owners of BC
recreational real estate.
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