Owning a vacation home in Los Sueños Resort, Costa Rica has benefits, not least of which is a luxurious base for your own vacations.
Here are our top five benefits of owning a vacation home:
Location
Vacation properties tend to retain their value because they’re at popular destinations, often in spectacular settings with great views along the coast, in the mountains, lakeside or forest. There is no guarantee a vacation home will realize a higher sales price, but it’s likely your real estate investment will appreciate over time.
Income Potential
If you’re planning to rent out your vacation home when you’re not in residence, you can offset mortgage and maintenance costs. You have the flexibility to decide how long and how often you want to book people into your second home. You can set aside times for your own vacations and generate income when you’re not using the property. Rental fees vary but during peak season weekly rental fees equal or exceed the monthly mortgage payment. You can break even with an annual occupancy of about 30% in terms of cash flow.
Tax Savings
Depending on personal usage (which includes relatives) versus rental, the tax benefits vary. If you rent out your property 14 days or less in a year, you can treat your mortgage the same as the mortgage on your primary residence. Tax implications depend on whether you occupied the property less than 10% of the time you rented it or less than two weeks, depending which timeframe is greater. Consult a tax profession or review IRS Publication 527 on vacation rentals for advice on your specific tax situation.
Convenience
Instead of packing everyone’s vacation paraphernalia every time you head for Costa Rica, you can store everything you need. Knowing you have what you’ll need on hand, spur-of-the-moment vacations become a lot easier to pull off.
Expat Retirement Preview
Many part or full time retirees choose Costa Rica to avoid the worst seasonal weather at home or to take advantage of the cheaper cost of living. A vacation home is an excellent opportunity to audition your retirement home before your actual retirement. You’ll have time to correct or even change your plans if the experience doesn’t match your expectation.
Los Sueños Resort & Marina, Costa Rica is a 1,100-acre master-planned resort community of luxury homes, villas and condominiums that includes a private 600-acre rainforest reserve. At Los Sueños, amenities include a full service 200-slip marina, an exclusive Beach Club, 18-hole championship golf course, tennis courts and pool. It’s the perfect combination of location, convenience, income potential, tax savings and a jump-start on an ex pat retirement lifestyle.