Buying a holiday flat or house is a dream for many. But is it worth it? If it’s only to spend three weeks of holiday per year, and if you count the costs of repaying the loan, maintaining the property and paying local taxes, unless you’re one of the richest people in the world, then it’s just a smoke screen that will cost you more than a seasonal rental. For example, if you are particularly fond of the mountains and skiing, please read our article on investing in a chalet. 

One solution may be to balance your budget by renting the property when it is not occupied. In this way, the new owner benefits from a guaranteed stay in the property, and from periodic income from renting out the property, which will make the purchase profitable, and contribute to the water, electricity and household equipment bills.

However, renting out a property has its constraints: you have to hand over the keys, make an inventory of fixtures, not leave too many personal objects on the premises, collect the rent, and satisfy the various occasional requests of the tenants (the fridge doesn’t close, the shower leaks, the mattress is too hard, etc). A job in its own right!

The solution may be to invest in a property that will be managed by professionals offering a catalogue of many similar tourist residences throughout France and even Europe (for example, Pierre et Vacances, Maeva, etc.). Your accommodation will be quite impersonal, but you will own it without the usual disadvantages of rental managers, as you will have delegated this task.

It’s not financially very attractive, and the weeks of owner occupation are considered rent in kind, but it’s an easy way to acquire a home, provided you are sure you will keep it for at least twenty years. Some developers offer the possibility of varying destinations for the purchaser between different flat tourist residences of the same company, which makes it possible to visit different places.