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I’ve always had this bizarre flirtation with Vacation properties that is forever-bound to go nowhere.

It kind of reminds me of this girl I met on a ski trip back in 2007, except I think in this analogy, I was the vacation property…

Or maybe it’s like that guy or girl at your office?  The one you like smiling at, occasionally telling a dirty joke to, and then there was that one time you went for a 75-minute lunch at TGI Friday’s without the rest of the department?  Oh boy!

I am almost positive that I will never purchase a vacation property, and yet every time I go away, I can’t help but look.

I’m up at Deerhurst Resort for a few days with my wife and child, in what can be called a “borderline vacation,” since it’s less than a week, and is 2.5 hours from the city in case I need to rush back.  I also have a backup laptop battery.  Who brings a backup laptop battery on vacation?!?!

I was having dinner with a group two months ago, and when the token question, “So, any vacation plans for you guys this summer?” came up, I calmly offered, “We’re going to Deerhurst in July.”

One chap at the table, who I think is an incredible snob, and who seems to like all the things that I do not in life, almost spit out his Zinfandel when he shouted, “Deerhurst fucking sucks!”

Yep.  That’s the way to respond in a social setting.

I asked why he felt that way, and he said, “There’s like no fine dining there!  Seriously!  And shopping?  There’s no shopping!”

Oh, how well they know me…

Fine dining and shopping.  Yep.  That’s soooo me!

Call me pathetic if you must, as I already know that I don’t fit into society’s definition of “classy,” but I don’t really need to buy a Cartier watch when I’m helping my 2 1/2 year old daughter make her first sand-castle.  I don’t need to eat dry-aged Wagyu in a restaurant that only seats 18 people and books nine months in advance.  I would rather help my daughter pull the pepperoni’s off her pizza.

What can I say?

I’m going on 39-years-old, I have a wife and one child, and that’s what’s important to me.  I will never be one of those people who keeps an infant up until 10:30pm just so “Mom and Dad can enjoy their trip too,” or be that family that brings two nannies on a family vacation.

This resort is interesting, and we had the “privilege” of being one of the first groups to stay at the new Lakeside Lodge which just opened last week.

So let’s see….

First, they were two hours late providing us with our room.  And as I explained to the young lady in my finest Mr. James Fleming demeanour, “If you’re not early, then you’re late.  And if you’re late, then you’re REALLY late.”  I mean, who doesn’t love a 6pm check-in?

Second, the crib we ordered wasn’t present, and again, I channelled my father in response to housekeeping saying, “We’ll see if we can find one.”  I was like Jerry Seinfeld in explaining that having booked this two months ago, there was plenty of time to have already “found” a crib, and now it was merely a matter of bringing it to the unit.

Third, our “fully stocked kitchen” didn’t have a single thing in it.

In the end, they were out of cribs, so we got a “pack and play” that the kind young man who delivered it didn’t know how to put together.  And our kitchen wasn’t “stocked” until the next day.

But you know what?

My daughter is loving this place, so none of that matters.

What I find interesting about this flashy, new “Lakeside Lodge” is that these are condo units, and the entire building was sold to investors.  It’s a great way to pay for something, if you’re a developer and/or resort owner who doesn’t want to spend his own money!  Why did into your own pockets to build a new hotel when you can just pre-sell the suites as condos, and use that money to finance the project?  Tell the buyers/investors that they can put their units in the “rental pool,” and you end up getting all these units back anyways!  Sure, you don’t own them, but for the 2-weeks per year when each of these owner/investors want to use their suites, it’s worth it.  Plus, you get to charge them fee, after fee, after fee – for booking, managing, cleaning, et al.

Now that is thinking outside the box!

While waiting two hours for our room on Tuesday, I happened upon a fantastic read in the Toronto Star:

“First Time Buyers Should Think Twice About Recreational Properties”
Ross Marowits
Canadian Press
Tuesday, July 2nd, 2019

This was seemingly an oxymoron, was it not?

To see “recreational properties” and “first-time buyers” in the same sentence?

You wouldn’t put “Casanova” and “virgin” together, would you?

Cart: meet horse.

Or at least it used to be.

Last year, my colleague told me that two friends of his from school were on the house hunt, as they had been renting here in Toronto for quite some time.  Five years, six years, maybe more?  Who could count.  Whether it’s the money you spent on rent, or the lost appreciation you might have had if you owned a property during that time period, either way, this couple knew it.  So they hit the ground running, and went hard at the search.

They didn’t end up buying in Leslieville, if that’s what you’re thinking.

Not in Danforth Village, or in The Junction.

Not in the Beach, not in Bloor West Village, and they didn’t “think outside the box” and buy in Mississauga and decide to commute.

Nope.

Do you know where they bought?

Prince Edward County.

And if you’re like me, you’re thinking, “Wow, that’s one HELL of a drive every morning!”

These opted to kick conventional wisdom in the junk, and instead, buy a vacation property, and continue renting in the city.

Now I’m sure if we broke down the costs associated with this, perhaps we could make an argument.  If they’re in a rent-controlled property here in Toronto, and if their property in Prince Edward County is prominently featured on AirBnB and VBRO, maybe, just maybe this makes sense?

But I’m not so certain it does.

And the logic here on their part was, “Toronto prices are expensive, so why not buy our vacation property first?  That way, we have someplace to go on weekends, and we can figure out what to do with the primary residence later.”

It makes perfect sense………………if you convince yourself that, in fact, it does.

To me, it’s bonkers.

And the Toronto Star article above seems to echo my thoughts.

From the article:

First-time home buyers eager to get into the housing market should think twice about buying a recreational property first, real estate experts say.

“It’s more of a lifestyle choice than it is a great investment choice,” says Brad Henderson, former president and CEO of Sotheby’s International Realty Canada.

Some hot locations such as the Muskoka Lakes, Georgian Bay or Collingwood north of Toronto are seeing prices soar because of short supply — and properties there may now be as unaffordable as Toronto. That’s prompted potential buyers to look eastward in Ontario, at real estate in Prince Edward County, or westward to the shores of Lake Erie.

These types of purchases could be good for someone planning to use it as a weekend getaway or summer retreat, but the properties typically need to be within a three-hour drive of the city.

While more affordable than urban housing, recreational homes typically appreciate at a slower pace than city homes, Henderson said.

“So if not on a lake or close to mountains, those properties follow the market versus lead it, whereas well-located properties in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal will tend to appreciate at a faster rate.”

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