Tips for Buying a Villa

Buying a villa will give you a place to visit year after year, season after season. With this in mind, a villa may not be the best choice for someone who wants to travel the world. Of course, you can use your villa as a home base from which to explore.

Consider Your Options

Even if you have a favorite vacation spot, you might want to look at some other areas before settling on one villa. Look in different cities in the same area, or even look at similar areas in different parts of the world. Consider choices in tropical climates abound, for example, both domestic and internationally.

Be sure to spend time in as many different areas as possible, even if it's just for an evening or two. Try to rent a place near to the villas you are considering. That way, you will get a real feel for what it's like to live in the neighborhood you're thinking about. This will also help you from becoming too attached to any one property. If you become laser-focused on one area or one villa, you may look past some obvious defects. Have a short list of at least three different properties from which to choose.

Rental Income

Another reason to look around is that you'll see what areas are most attractive to potential renters. While you may be spending a lot of time in your villa, renting it out when you're not there is a great way to earn extra income to help you pay off the mortgage on your villa.

Buying a Second Home

When you're buying a villa, you're really buying a second home. This will be a property that you can pass down to your heirs, or resell when you're ready to settle down elsewhere. Give your villa the same scrutiny you would when buying a house. Have it inspected, and make sure the title is free and clear.

Do an on-site, visual inspection of the villa you're considering. Do not buy it based on photos or long-distance reassurances. If you can't afford the time or money to take a trip out to see the villa you're buying, then you can't afford to buy the villa. You might have the money, but you simply can take the risk. Too many scams have occurred where people turn over significant sums of money—sometimes their life savings—for property that's non-existent.

Buying a Timeshare

If purchasing a villa is just too much for you at this point (remember, they require upkeep), consider a timeshare. In doing so, you can get many of the perks of owning a vacation property, without the risk or hassle of buying a property by yourself.