Do you like the idea of owning a luxury vacation home in San Diego, but don’t want the burden and cost of repairs and upkeep? Do you love the services of a luxury hotel but dislike living out of your suitcase? You’re not alone. 

A new breed of vacation home ownership, called “shared ownership,” (sometimes also known as vacation home partnership or fractional co-ownership) is becoming increasingly popular with busy families looking to maximize their family vacation time.

Although sometimes mistakenly compared to timeshare, shared real estate owners are actually deeded partial ownership. The arrangements usually divide the ownership into sixths, eighths or tenths, with each owner having an equal number of days a year to use their Villa.

Shared Ownership differs greatly from old-style timeshares.  The primary differences are that shared ownership offers:

• Deeded property, with the same rights as any other real estate purchase 
• Equity appreciation and second home tax deduction
• A longer amount of time on the property (6-8 weeks per year) 
• A luxury level of furnishings, services and amenities

Azure Villas Inc, the San Diego based leader in shared ownership, focuses on fractionalizing luxury vacation homes and assembles a small group of six to eight co-owners to own the property.

Azure Villas oversees the management company, which handles maintenance and scheduling everyone’s time.

Azure Villas offers an ultimate level of service. Residents arriving at their beach house will find the refrigerator stocked to their specifications, their favorite linens on the bed and fresh flower arrangements throughout. They may also have a tee time arranged or a day of deep-sea fishing, and 7:30 dinner reservations for any table in town. It’s the ultimate in luxury living.

To defray costs, some people who buy a shared ownership in a vacation home may rent it out for at least part of the time. It’s logical and practical to do it. You could buy 52 weeks, which is whole ownership, but you would be dependent on many weeks of rental to cover expenses. This way, you need fewer weeks of rental. The risks are really minimized.

Trading weeks is a great concept from the timeshare days that hasn’t been abandoned but instead greatly improved upon.  With five or more weeks to enjoy, owners can choose to spend part of their time at a different property in another part of the country – or world.

Most fractional properties participate in an exchange program that gives owners the ability to reserve time with other properties that have a similar level of luxury and service. Don’t feel like visiting your San Diego property in the summer? Trade it for a week in Hawaii instead. 

As one owner put it, “My vacation starts the moment I arrive. We head straight to the restaurant for a bite to eat. When we get back to our residence, our refrigerator is fully stocked, our clothes are unpacked and our surf boards have been pulled out of storage. There’s nothing left to do but have fun.”