Canadians are ranked as the top foreign property buyers of U.S. real estate for the past three years, as they take advantage of low prices and buy condos and other properties in cities around the United States.
According to the National Association of Realtors®, Canadians accounted for 24 percent of foreign property buyers from April 2007 to April 2008, up from 11 percent the year before, and those numbers have remained relatively steady. Our northern neighbors made up 23 percent of foreign buyers between April 2009 and April 2010. According to the NAR's report entitled. "2010 Profile of International Home Buying Activity,” that trend is continuing.
The Canadians are followed by investors from Mexico, the United Kingdom, China, Germany/France, India and Argentina/Brazil, according to the NAR. International buyers from 53 countries were reported in 39 states, although more than 53 percent of sales were concentrated in Florida, California, Arizona and Texas. They bought a total of $66 billion in property (7 percent of the total), according to the NAR report. Foreign buyers include those with residency outside the U.S. as well as recent immigrants and temporary visa holders.
This trend is noticeable in places like Maricopa County, Ariz., which includes Phoenix. Californians were once the biggest group of “outside” homebuyers there, but a recent report has found that Canadians have assumed that spot. According to Irvine, Calif.-based John Burns Real Estate Consulting, Canadians supplanted Californians as the biggest buyers in the county in 2010 NAR officials also note that Canadian buyers tend to make different types of purchases than investors in other countries. Most foreign investors typically seek pricier homes, Canadian buyers focus on reasonable vacation condos and other properties in the $200,000 range.
Of course, the fact that Canadians are the biggest foreign property buyers in Arizona and elsewhere is not simply because prices are low. In the current economic climate, it no longer makes as much sense for California residents to buy property in Arizona, when they can get similar property in their own state. But Canadians still find even luxury condos in Arizona to be a great investment, either as winter getaways or rental properties.
With winter approaching, it is no wonder that residents of Chicago, New York and other northern cities start making plans to escape the cold weather, even for a few days, to places like Miami, Las Vegas and other hotspots. Finding a place to stay is the first task for anyone seeking to a break from the cold weather, and vacation condos are a great option when trying to get the most “bang for your buck.”
These vacation condos, often found in upscale high rises in prime tourist destinations, are ideal because of their location and relatively low cost. By renting a condo, for the price of a nice hotel room, and sometimes even less, you will get the opportunity to say in a much more spacious condo, and enjoy access to hotel amenities such as state-of-the-art pools and fitness centers.
The owners of the vacation condos, especially those in resort communities in Florida and elsewhere, are often snowbirds themselves. They buy condos with the intention of renting them out for long periods of the year when they will not be using them. Of course anyone who owns a condo or house can make their property available to vacationers, but it is harder to get the word out as an individual. In condo high-rises, however, the rental process is handled by the condo management. All the owner has to do is provide a schedule when the condo will be available to rent. The income can go toward the mortgage.
Many people who find themselves renting condos for regular vacations in Florida or Las Vegas end up buying one of their own, especially if they are attracted to a certain location, and go back there often. Some people buy them as investment properties with the intent to eventually retire there. In the meantime, they are used as second homes or vacation condos. Of course, vacation condos can be found in Chicago and other cities too, so the travel goes both ways
Due to continuing low interest rates, together with the high volume of real estate available for sale, especially in places such as South Florida, Las Vegas, and California, now is as good a time as any to buy a vacation condo. Florida, especially in areas around Miami and Fort Lauderdale, now has some of the most affordable real estate in the country. The Las Vegas area, and Phoenix too, is equally good.
For these reasons, buying a vacation condo now could definitely work out to your advantage economically. In addition to the benefits of renting it out when you are not using it, the property values are sure to increase in the foreseeable future, so investing in condos is still a profitable venture.
Condo swapping by vacationers is becoming more popular and easier to do with websites such as Craigslist and others with notice boards that can easily put people in different states or countries together.
People who want to save money by avoiding hotels on vacation, but still stay somewhere comfortable, are some of those most interested in condo swapping. They can now search online for people in their target city who want to swap vacation condos, or homes of any kind, for a week or a month, or however long they decide together. These types of condos can be found in cities around the United States, and indeed the world. The two parties can find each other online, make the initial contact online and then call each other and arrange particulars.
In addition to the vacation aspect of the agreement, some people who advertise themselves as willing to swap homes want to do it on a permanent, or at least semi-permanent, basis. For instance, due to the soft real estate market, some people moving to other cities would rather , thinking they would rather hold off until the market improves.
Condo swapping is less costly than renting condos, since depending on whatever agreement is struck, no money might change hands at all. If two people are taking their vacations at the same time, they might just agree to switch houses for an allotted period of time.
Of course, the condo swapping can be done between vacation homes, or primarily residences. Some people with second homes, or vacation homes in areas popular with tourists regularly offer to rent their homes. Rental condos are often found in luxury condo developments, where owners can put their condos on a list that can be used as rental condos while they are not
Besides the cost savings, another advantage of condo swapping is the fact that it can bring people together from places as diverse as Guatemala to Grand Junction, Colo. And you can experience living in a real residential area, instead of just in a downtown tourist center where most hotels are. While the condos available for swapping are often are located in popular, they can be found in out-of-the-way places too, where hotels are few and far between.
Condo swapping is more personal than using rental condos, or “condotels,” which are condos, often in luxury high-rise complexes, that are made available to rent as hotel suites when the owner is not living there. But unlike with condo-swapping, the owners and renters have no contact.
