By: DebraSavage dsavage@railey.com 301-616-4085 June 11th, 2009 Category: Deep Creek Lake Buyer Info, Deep Creek Lake Real Estate, Fractional Ownership, Garrett County Real Estate, Wisp Real Estate

People seem to be tightening their belts and looking for the best, most reasonable and smart way to enjoy second home ownership - especially here at Deep Creek Lake. This new economy does not require complete sacrifice, but it may require smarter spending and use of our resources.

This is where Fractional Home Ownership comes into play. Typical Deep Creek Lake vacation homes are often vacant for weeks or months on end while racking up the expenses such as: electric, heat, mortgage, home insurance; all the while gathering dust and needing maintenance. And even if you rent them out you probably are experiencing the frustrations that sometimes exist with maintenance issues of accelerated wear and tear on the home and furnishings.

With Fractional Home Ownership your expenses are shared with other home owners who care about the property just the way you care for your own home. The home is fully occupied by owners and maintained each week upon the exit of the current owner.

You receive an undivided deeded interest in the property. These Fractional Homes are top of the line. So instead of paying 1.2 million to 1.5 million for a gorgeous lakefront home, that you will probably only use a very few times a year, you still get your use at a Fraction of the cost while sharing the home with other owners who care and respect their ownership. Second Homes at Deep Creek Lake currently offer a 5 Bedroom Lakefront Fractional Ownership for just $349,000.

Second Homes at Deep Creek Lake also offers that top of the mountain feel with their Fractional Overlook Villas home for 269,900. This property sits atop Wisp Ski Resort mountain with stunning water views of Deep Creek Lake Maryland.

So in these challenging economic times, having a premier Deep Creek lakefront home with Fractional Home Ownership, offers you the right to “Have Your Dream Home at a Fraction of the Cost”. Isn’t it great when you can have your cake and eat it too!!!!!!

Give us a call or drop us an e-mail if you are interested in learning about the only fractional ownership opportunities in western Maryland’s four season resort - Deep Creek Lake and Garrett County.

By: JonBell jbell@railey.com 301-501-0735 October 21st, 2008 Category: Deep Creek Lake Real Estate, Fractional Ownership, Wisp Real Estate

Fractional ownership homes at Deep Creek Lake are growing in popularity. The concept of multiple families joining together to purchase a vacation home is not new to the Deep Creek Lake area, but having a management company/developer to design and manage the project is.

Second Homes at Deep Creek Lake is the Deep Creek Lake area’s primary fractional home developer, and according to owner/operator Pam Scott, was the first company to bring fractional ownerships to Maryland. Pam was recently quoted in the Cumberland Times Newspaper explaining the difference between fractional ownership homes and time shares. “With a time share you are getting time,” Pam stated. “But with this [Fractional Ownership] you get a deed. Each of the six owners has a deeded interest. It’s very much legally owned by each of them.” Pam also clarified, “The other differences include the average size of a timeshare versus a fractional property, with the fractional property tending to be much larger and more conducive to entertaining family and friends, as well as the exclusivity of the property, with far fewer owners of each fractional property than for timeshares. In fact, Second Homes properties have a maximum of six owners with a minimum of eight weeks usage of the home per year.”

Second Homes at Deep Creek Lake’s first fractional ownership project was a town home in the Overlook Mountain Villas community of the Wisp Resort. This home was decorated and furnished far beyond anyone’s expectations. The developer included a fully stocked kitchen with top of the line appliances, custom painted rooms, and even a fully equipped home movie theater. Most Deep Creek Lake area realtors will agree with me when I say that this is one of the most outstanding properties at Deep Creek.

The Overlook Villa property was built in 2005 by Don Nemith Builders, Inc. and was purchased by Second Homes at Deep Creek Lake just after completion. Once Pam and her group took ownership of the property, they started the renovations to create their first masterpiece. According to MRIS, the Deep Creek Lake area’s MLS provider, the first fraction was listed for sale Dec 18th, 2006. It did not take long for the news of this unique product to spread. This new fractional ownership concept offered an upscale quality of life product to two different categories of Deep Creek Lake vacation home buyers. The first group consisted of those who could not have afforded this luxury in the past, while the second consisted of busy folks who could have well-afforded whole ownership, but felt they just did not have time to use their home more than 8-10 weeks per year.

After the first two sales of The Overlook property, the fractional market seemed to slow. However, Pam forged ahead to purchase La Maison de Montagne, located at 316 Moonrise Dr. in the Waterfront Greens community of Deep Creek Lake. La Maison de Montagne is a single family, 4,400 square foot, lakefront home that was purchased and upgraded to Pam’s lavish taste and divided into six fractional ownership units.

The end of summer 2008 brought new life into the fractional ownership market at Deep Creek Lake. Not only did the Overlook Villa property sell out in Oct 2008, but three of the six interests at La Maison de Montagne have been purchased.

I was fortunate enough to represent the buyers of Fraction 2 at La Maison de Montagne. The buyers and their family have been renting properties and vacationing in the Deep Creek Lake area for years. Pam Scott sent a follow up email to the buyers after their first stay in the property and forwarded their response to me. Their description of the experience is better stated in the few paragraphs below than any advertisement that could be written.

Hello Pam

First off - we would like to thank you once again for the very nice “Welcome Basket”. It was much appreciated and enjoyed by many.

Second - our first stay “exceeded all expectations”. We had several of Cathy’s family up on Sunday for a Cookout and your name came up repetitively for all of the amenities that “La Maison” has to offer. From using the baby swing for our cousins 3 month old baby, to the bikes that were ridden by several, the Kayak’s, the Croquet, the game room, the hot tub with CD & speakers, etc, etc. Everyone just had a wonderful time because of the Love and Detail that you put into the home.

As far as Cathy & my daughter - they loved cooking in your kitchen. From your selection of the dishes to all of the appliances (we did have great waffles on Monday), they could not think of a single thing they would have done differently. Our friends could not get over how beautifully decorated the home was. By now, I’m probably boring you - I could go on and on.

Please also extend our thanks to Lisa for the grand tour on Friday. We also followed her suggestion and stopped by the Fireside Deli for some wine and great sandwiches.

The nicest thing about our first stay was that the home just “feels right” for us at this point in time. We immediately took to home owners from watering the flowers to making sure the sap from the pine tree was not tracked inside. As we left our 2nd home this morning, we put to rest any questions we once may have had if this was the right decision. We are thrilled to be part owners and look forward to the new memories awaiting us at La Maison.

Thanks so very much . . . .

Bill & Cathy

Read Jon Bell’s Deep Creek Lake Real Estate Blog

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By: Mike Kennedy mkennedy@railey.com 301-616-6106 June 6th, 2008 Category: Deep Creek Lake Real Estate, Fractional Ownership

If you are thinking about purchasing a vacation home at Deep Creek Lake, you may first want to learn more about the hottest trend in real estate and second home ownership. The very wealthy have been doing fractional ownership for years and while it’s a newer trend at Deep Creek Lake, owners in places like Aspen, Colorado and Jackson Hole, Wyoming have been enjoying the benefits of fractional second homes since the mid 1990’s.

What is Fractional Ownership?

It’s a vacation ownership option that allows deeded ownership in a luxury vacation property with the costs shared among owners, and a defined number of weeks for use spread throughout the year. In our market, the most common ownership percentage is 1/6, allowing 8 weeks of use per year, but 1/5 is also available with 10 weeks use per year.

Benefits

Who would benefit from the fractional ownership experience? Our owners tell us they were drawn to fractional ownership for the following reasons:

• They spend their vacation time with family friends - they don’t spend any time doing maintenance on their second home.
• They’re busy people and want the ability to enjoy a luxury vacation home and own what they have the ability to use.
• It’s the perfect getaway for those special family occasions. A place they can return to year-after-year and leave as a legacy for children and grandchildren.

If you want to learn more about this innovative ownership model, please join Railey Realty and Second Homes at Deep Creek Lake for a brief presentation on fractional home ownership and property tours every Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. from June 25th thru August 20, 2008. Seating is limited, so please make advance reservations at www.dclseminar.com or contact Terry Boggs at (800) 544-2425 ext. 3021.

By: Mike Kennedy mkennedy@railey.com 301-616-6106 February 19th, 2008 Category: Deep Creek Lake Real Estate, Fractional Ownership

One of the newer trends in our real estate market here at Deep Creek Lake has been the introduction of fractional ownership. The first fractional offering was developed by a company called Second Homes at DCL. This concept has been a little slow to catch on in this market  - there have only been a handful of fractional sales in the past year or so. But fractionals are huge in other resort markets - like Park City Utah, Steamboat Colorado, and Vail to name just a few. It’s only a matter of time until the fractional concept catches on here at Deep Creek Lake and Garrett County. 

What is fractional ownership? In a nutshell, it’s owning a fee simple ownership percentage in a property - the most common in our market being a 1/6th ownership. For your share you get the ability to use that property 1/6th of the year - or in other words 8 weeks out of the year - (52 week less 4 weeks reserved for maintenance divided by 6 fractions). And then the 8 weeks you can use it usually get broken down by the season - you can use the house for 2 weeks in the summer, 2 weeks in the fall, 2 weeks in the winter, and 2 weeks in the spring.

Pros & Cons - It’s important to note these are NOT Timeshares or Residence Clubs. These properties are fully furnished, fully decorated and ready to go when you arrive at it - all the way down to having a full roll of toilet paper hanging in the bathrooms. Other than buying groceries you will spend no time maintaining the property….no cutting grass, no changing light bulbs, painting, etc. 

While this fractional concept isn’t for everyone looking to buy a vacation or second home - it does open up a unique opportunity for those looking to purchase something they may have not had the means to do on their own. Basically, it makes these types of properties more affordable. For a little over $329,000 you can buy part of and enjoy all the benefits of a lakefront home that would normally cost well over $1,000,000 by itself. And you can split the ongoing costs and maintenance expenses - like real estate taxes, HOA dues, and utilities - six different ways now. On the flip side though, you do only get to use the property 8 weeks out of the year…..but most survey’s show that vacation home owners only use their properties 8-10 weeks each year anyways. And if you decide your deeded interest can be sold, willed, or gifted at a later date.

Current Offerings - If you are still interested please contact us about the current fractional ownership opportunities in this market. We are the only real estate company in the area right now offering fractionals. Below are some of our offerings - it’s a nice mix of the different types of properties you can find at Deep Creek Lake;

• 1/6th of a lakefront home in Waterfront Green for sale for $329,000
• 1/6th of a lakefront townhome at the brand new Creekside condominiums for $259,900
• 1/6th of a lake view townhome at Overlook Villas for $259,900
• 1/6th of a lake access home with indoor pool at Cedar Shores for $299,000
• 1/6th of a lake area duplex style townhome at Northlake Village for $119,900

In future posts about this topic, we’ll work through some of the math and show you how all the numbers work - and we’ll also try to better explain how the usage rotation works as well - but until then please use this post as a starting point to better understand this unique concept in property ownership.