Colombia Time Sharing

Sounds like a business opportunity to me, probably for a Colombian national - offer timeshares to gringos, sort of like AirBNB but with a fixed contractual arrangement of occupancy in a nice home or finca for no longer than 6 months.  It could be like a true timeshare where the contract was for life or a fixed period of years, or just a long-term rental to whomever books first.

In the right location the rental charge per month could be as much as twice the mortgage payment, and "rich" expats would still think of it as a bargain - and it would be, with no hassles of ownership such as maintenance, taxes and legal matters.

The two-party timeshare concept in 2020 is valid for part-time and half-time Expats only in theory.

Here are just a few of the dozens of reasons I could post for why not to do this....

1.  One of the parties is bound to drop out or try to back out after a while, creating potentially costly and long-distance legal scenarios and vacancy.  Property management issues are often not easy to solve from far away.  Avoiding the "hassles of ownership" that Brother Archer stressed is key.

2.  Water damage, flooding and other unexpected problems can occur -- I've been there with my Quito condo -- and can be hard to deal with, especially when the unit might be unoccupied temporarily.  I came back from two hours of grocery shopping to find my place 75 percent under water (due to a busted water heater) and shudder to think what would have happened if the mess wasn't addressed promptly.

3.  Trying to unload a no-longer-desired timeshare or partial timeshare is famously difficult in one's home country, let alone for a foreign timeshare in a period where international travel is problematic.  As some of our members are aware, most international air travel to and from Colombia is currently prohibited and has been so for months.

4.  In the covid era, almost everything is more complicated .. and who knows how long our complicated life will persist....

It's a bad time to acquire property in Colombia, especially for foreigners .. and timeshares are not an exception.  Do not invite nightmare scenarios into your life to save a few bucks or make a risky 'investment'.  Drop your subscription to Live and Invest Overseas.  Read with skepticism any puff pieces in International Living (consider such to be for-entertainment-only).  Do not fall for the real estate lema to buy when there is "blood in the streets."

Think AirBNB or other simpler solutions to solve your part-time lodging needs.

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