The Pacaso blog

When people ask what's included in a Pacaso home, they're usually asking two different questions at once: What's physically in the house, and what am I paying for every month? Both answers come from the same place. Pacaso monthly management fees fund the professional management behind the scenes, and that management is what keeps a home stocked with everything from kitchen essentials to fresh linens. Every Pacaso is fully furnished and Pacaso budgets each home's operating expenses annually, then divides that total into 12 equal monthly payments. Owners pay only their pro rata share, based on the size of the ownership stake they hold, and those payments go directly into the property's dedicated LLC account. To Pacaso fees typically cover: Every quarter, actual expenses are reconciled against the budget. If a home runs under budget, owners receive credits back, which is part of why Pacaso monthly management fees tend to feel predictable rather than open-ended. Each home gets its own annual Home Operating Estimate, built from the property's actual costs rather than a generic formula applied across the whole portfolio. Pacaso Accounting builds that estimate from the prior year's actuals, then factors in market and macroeconomic changes along with planned maintenance and capital projects, so the number reflects what it genuinely costs to run that specific home in that specific market.  A few factors shape how much any given home's fees will run: Because Pacaso Accounting reviews the Home Operating Estimate quarterly and communicates any change in advance with backup documentation, owners are rarely caught off guard. Owners looking at the bigger financial picture, including how share pricing and resale factor into total cost of ownership, can Whether the plan is a multicourse dinner party or takeout by the pool, Pacaso kitchens are stocked with the essentials and then some: high-end pots and pans, pizza stones, mixing and measuring sets, German cutlery, and a full run of bakeware. Countertop appliances like multicookers, stand mixers, and blenders make quick work of everyday cooking. For entertaining, owners have white porcelain china and Portuguese flatware on hand, along with a barware collection built for nearly any occasion, from a casual glass of wine to a full cocktail setup. Coffee and tea drinkers get their choice of Nespresso, standard brew, or an electric kettle. Beds are fitted with quality linens, duvets, and a range of pillow options. Bathrooms come stocked with plenty of towels, hair dryers, a scale, a magnifying mirror, and basic toiletries like shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and soap, the same conveniences an owner would expect at home. Outdoors, homes with entertaining space typically include a gas barbecue, fire pit, outdoor drinkware and dinnerware, and patio furniture. Homes with a pool are stocked with floaties, and beachfront homes come with beach chairs for easy access to the sand. Every Pacaso comes with high-speed internet, a charging station, and in many homes a dedicated workspace, so a stay doesn't have to mean falling behind. When it's time to log off, owners can pull out one of the provided games, from Jenga to backgammon to a deck of cards, or settle in with the smart TV and streaming services for a show or the big game. Family-Friendly Second Homes™ go a step further with kid-friendly dinnerware and cutlery, a high chair, a booster seat, and a Pack 'n Play, plus the same beach chairs and pool floaties for warm-climate and beachfront properties. Beyond the visible design details, every home is prepared for the ordinary parts of daily life. Mops, brooms, cleaning supplies, extra light bulbs and batteries, an iron and steamer, and a mini toolkit are all on hand, so a spilled drink or a burnt-out bulb never turns into a scramble. For a full accounting of what's stocked, owners can reference the complete list of 200+ home amenities and the restocked inventory of home goods that Pacaso maintains ahead of every stay. People buy a second home for the specifics: coffee on the patio, the one holiday where everyone finally fits under one roof, and the destinations they return to year after year instead of researching from scratch. The friction is usually everything underneath that picture: who restocks the pantry, who calls the pool guy, who pays the insurance bill on time. Pacaso monthly management fees are what dissolve that friction. The same budget that covers taxes, insurance, and maintenance is what keeps the kitchen stocked, the linens fresh, and the Wi-Fi working before an owner ever walks through the door. Nothing about the amenities is separate from the fee; the fee is what makes the amenities possible without an owner lifting a finger. Pacaso allows buyers to purchase a share (1/8 to 1/2) of a Owners considering the long-term picture, including what happens if they eventually want to sell, can

Pacaso home sharing is one of the core benefits of The idea grew out of owner demand. Early on, owners asked for an easy way to exchange dates with their co-owners or with friends who owned a different Pacaso. Swap now runs across Swap works two ways. Owners can trade stays with their own co-owners inside the home they share, or with owners of other Pacaso homes across the collection. The same four steps apply to both. Swapping a stay follows four steps: Dates and length of stay do not need to match. A one-week stay in July can trade for a week in March, or a longer stay for a shorter one, as long as both owners agree. You can browse and manage all of this directly through Not every swap requires a trade. Credits are earned on the other side of a swap. When you mark a stay open to swap and another owner redeems a credit on it, you receive a credit in return — one you can spend without waiting for a specific match. That credit books any swap stay within your share value range instantly, with no request and no three-day review. Swap credits expire 12 months after they're earned. You don't need to travel within that window, only to book before the credit expires, and an unused credit transfers with your share if you resell. This gives owners more flexibility to plan ahead without holding up their calendar while they wait for the right destination to open up. A trade only works if both owners come out whole. Four things make sure of it:: Swap and Infinity by Pacaso are two sides of the same exchange.  Swap is included with standard Pacaso co-ownership and let’s co-owners trade stays across the portfolio. Members pay a one-time initiation fee that covers five years of access, offer their home for a minimum of two stays per year, and browse a rolling 24-month calendar of exchange homes around the world. For the full breakdown of how that program works and who qualifies, read our guide to Home sharing through Swap is often compared to a Pacaso allows buyers to purchase a share (1/8 to 1/2) of a fully managed second home through a property-specific LLC, giving them a true real estate asset without the full cost of ownership. That real ownership is what makes Swap possible in the first place: owners are trading stays in homes they and their fellow owners actually hold title to, not points or contractual usage rights. Timeshare exchange programs, by contrast, typically run on points systems or resort affiliations, with fees that are not tied to the specific costs of running any one property. Availability in the most desirable weeks can be limited, and owners are usually locked into the exchange network tied to their original purchase. For a full side-by-side look at the differences, see our guide on Most families who consider a second home are drawn to one destination they love. What often surprises them is how much more they end up seeing once they own it. A family who buys into a mountain home one winter can spend the following August on a coast three time zones away, at no cost beyond what they already pay as an owner. A place to return to, without being fixed to one horizon. Swap is how those two things hold together: real ownership in the home you chose, and open doors across the rest of the collection. You get a fully managed second home, plus access to a See

You've booked your flight or mapped out the road trip. The dates are set. Now comes one of the biggest decisions of any trip: where you'll actually stay. Travel accommodations can make or break a vacation, and the best option depends on your destination, your group, and how you like to travel. Here's a look at the most common types of accommodations, plus how to decide which one fits your next trip. Most travelers choose from six main categories of travel accommodations, each with a different balance of cost, service, and privacy. Hotels are the default choice for most trips. You'll find hotel accommodations in nearly every city and vacation destination, spanning a wide range of price points and amenities: Resorts and all-inclusive properties are built for a full vacation experience in one location, often with pools, spas, golf courses, and on-site activities. All-inclusive pricing covers food, drinks, and activities in a single flat rate. Bed and breakfasts are small, independently owned inns, often with the owner living on-site, offering a more personal alternative to a hotel stay. Vacation rentals cover everything from a single room in a shared apartment to a full private villa, typically booked through platforms like Airbnb, Vrbo, or Vacasa. They can be a good fit when you need more room than a hotel provides or you're traveling with a group. If a specific rental platform has left you wanting something more consistent, it's worth reviewing a few A timeshare gives you ongoing access to a specific resort or hotel group, with a set number of nights available each year. This is different from every other option above, since you're purchasing repeat access rather than booking a one-off stay. For more on the mechanics, see Co-ownership is a newer category among vacation accommodations, sitting between renting and buying a second home outright. Rather than booking a stay or purchasing repeat access to a resort unit, a group of owners holds a Hotels win on consistency and service: you know roughly what you're getting no matter which property you book. Vacation rentals win on space and privacy, since you typically get a full kitchen, multiple bedrooms, and a more residential feel. The tradeoff is unpredictability.  A rental's quality depends entirely on how well the last host or property manager kept it up, which is one reason more travelers who return to the same destination repeatedly look at Co-ownership and timeshares both split the cost of a property among multiple people, but the similarities end there. With co-ownership, each owner holds a deeded share in an LLC that owns the actual home, meaning the asset can appreciate, be financed, and be resold like any other piece of real estate.  With a timeshare, you're purchasing the right to use a unit for a set period, not an ownership stake in the property itself, so there's no equity to build or sell. For a full breakdown of how the ownership structure works, see Once you're weighing more than a single trip, three of the accommodation types above become real long-term options: renting a vacation home each time you travel, buying a whole second home outright, or co-owning a second home with a small group of owners. Each comes with a different cost structure, level of commitment, and amount of hassle. We've laid out the full comparison, including a cost breakdown and a set of questions to ask yourself, in A few questions can help narrow down the best type of travel accommodations for your situation: For a lot of travelers, the destinations that come up again and again, the mountain town you ski every winter, the coastal spot your whole family keeps returning to, start to feel less like a series of trips and more like a place you belong. The friction is that booking a new hotel room or rental every time rarely matches that feeling, and buying a whole second home outright can mean carrying costs and upkeep for a property that sits empty most of the year. Pacaso allows buyers to purchase a share (1/8 to 1/2) of a Many Pacaso homes are also eligible for

Your second home should be a place to relax and unwind, not a source of nagging Here's a closer look at what vacation home management typically involves, and how Pacaso's approach goes above and beyond traditional solutions. Vacation home management matters because a second home doesn't take care of itself between visits. Left unmanaged, small maintenance issues can turn into costly repairs, bills can pile up, and the home may not be ready when owners want to use it. A property manager handles these tasks on an ongoing basis, so the home stays protected and the owner's time there stays about relaxing, not managing.  Here's what professional vacation home management companies typically offer: Routine maintenance is at the heart of vacation home management. This includes landscaping, inspections, and repairs that keep the property in top condition year-round. Consistent upkeep preserves the home's value and ensures it's always ready for a relaxing stay. Many companies are also responsible for seasonal work like leaf removal and snow clearing. Between stays, homes need thorough cleaning and preparation. Turnover services make sure every visit feels relaxed and welcoming: fresh linens, spotless kitchens, and clean bathrooms. Managing a vacation home involves more than upkeep. The best property managers handle utilities, taxes, HOA fees, and insurance, freeing owners from the administrative side of ownership. Booking stays, managing keys or smart locks, and coordinating arrivals is a core piece of Professional vacation home management also typically includes monitoring the property to guard against issues while it's unoccupied, from smart home alerts to routine inspections, so owners have peace of mind no matter where they are. Even with professional management, many homeowners run into challenges that make second home ownership more stressful than it should be. When you Outfitting a second home can be time-consuming and costly. Pacaso's in-house design team gives every home a thorough makeover, selecting custom furnishings, artwork, and accessories that complement its architectural style, balancing modern design with comfort so owners feel just as at home as they do in their primary residence.  Every Pacaso home is part of the Maintaining a second home from afar is a challenge, and once owners arrive, the goal is to relax, not to manage cleaning, upkeep, or a Co-owning a home requires a fair, centralized way to handle billing. For each home, Pacaso creates an annual The relationship doesn't end at purchase. Every owner has a dedicated Home Manager for support before, during, and after each stay, backed by a 24/7 Central Support team for anything that comes up in between, so owners never have to worry about finding service providers or scheduling repairs themselves. Pacaso also checks in with owners regularly to confirm their needs are being met, aiming to make every visit a delightful experience. Pacaso's home management costs depend on your share size and the home's annual Home Operating Estimate. Because the estimate is built once a year and split into monthly, pro rata payments, owners always know what to expect: there are no surprise onboarding fees, no per-visit cleaning charges, and no separate contract to negotiate with an outside property manager. Picture arriving at your second home and walking straight in: fresh linens, the kitchen stocked with everything but the groceries, and no maintenance list waiting for you. That's the experience fully managed co-ownership is built to deliver. The Pacaso property management team Meet one of Pacaso's Home Managers and get an inside look at their day-to-day work as a vacation home property manager. Aaron Olthoff (Colorado) If you’re an owner in Colorado, you’ll get to know Aaron Olthoff. He shares how he keeps every Pacaso home in the iconic Rocky Mountain towns in top condition all year long. Pacaso allows buyers to purchase a share (1/8 to 1/2) of a fully managed luxury home through a property-specific LLC, giving them a true real estate asset without the full cost of ownership. Because management is included rather than something owners have to research, hire, and oversee on their own, co-owning with Pacaso removes an entire layer of second home ownership that traditional buyers have to solve for themselves. Ready to see it for yourself? Explore

MYNE is a Berlin-based, managed co-ownership platform that allows two to eight buyers to jointly own a premium holiday home in Europe. The platform describes itself as "the smartest way to your own dream holiday home" and positions co-ownership as a more accessible alternative to buying a whole property outright. MYNE handles property sourcing, legal structuring, furnishing, management, and scheduling, so co-owners simply arrive and enjoy their stays. MYNE sells ownership in 1/8 increments, with each share granting at least 6.5 weeks of use per year. Shares are priced from approximately €120,000 to €1 million depending on the property. Each co-owner holds a real legal stake in the property, recorded in the relevant country's land and commercial registers. MYNE launched in Germany in 2021, expanded across Europe, and most recently entered the UK market in 2025. The platform now covers more than 25 destinations across nine countries, including Spain, Austria, Italy, Portugal, France, Croatia, Sweden, Germany, and the UK. Yes. MYNE launched its UK operations in 2025, making it available to British buyers for the first time. The expansion was driven in part by post-Brexit complexity: buying holiday property in European countries has become more difficult for UK citizens since 2020, with some countries restricting ownership in popular resort areas for non-EU nationals entirely. MYNE positions its platform as a legal, compliance-managed route back into European holiday home ownership for British buyers. MYNE offers English-speaking support teams and guides UK buyers through local regulations, tax implications, and property management for each European country in its portfolio. Shares in MYNE UK properties start from £99,000. That said, MYNE's UK presence is still in its early stages. Pacaso, by contrast, has been active in international co-ownership markets including Europe for several years and offers a well-established model for UK buyers who want to Both platforms offer Pacaso holds each home in a For UK buyers, Pacaso's team provides local expertise to navigate any country-specific legal and tax requirements, including MYNE structures ownership as a managed co-ownership share deal, with each co-owner's stake recorded in the commercial and land registers of the country where the property is located. This confirms real property ownership under local law.  MYNE also manages all legal and tax setup on behalf of buyers, including compliance with local regulations in each European country. For UK buyers purchasing European properties through MYNE post-Brexit, MYNE's team handles the additional regulatory complexity that British nationals now face in certain European markets. Both platforms allocate roughly the same amount of annual use for a 1/8 share. For buyers who want more time in their home, Pacaso's flexibility stands out: it offers share sizes from 1/8 up to 1/2, meaning a buyer who purchases a 1/4 share gets roughly double the amount of time in the same property. Pacaso uses MYNE's app-based reservation system takes a different approach, pairing co-owners with compatible usage preferences at the point of purchase to reduce scheduling conflicts. The system applies transparent rules to high-demand periods like school holidays, which is particularly relevant for UK buyers whose holiday windows are often tied to school terms. MYNE also offers a Holiday Exchange program that lets co-owners swap their allocated time for stays at other MYNE properties across Europe. The two platforms occupy broadly similar price ranges at the entry level, but differ in how pricing scales at the top end and in how buyers can finance their purchase. MYNE 1/8 shares start from £99,000 in the UK market and from approximately €120,000 across its European portfolio, rising to around €1 million for premium properties. The share price includes purchase costs and furnishings. Ongoing co-owner costs cover management fees, maintenance, utilities, and cleaning, shared proportionally among all owners. Pacaso 1/8 shares typically start from around $200,000 and can reach $2 million or more for top-tier luxury homes. Because Pacaso offers share sizes from 1/8 to 1/2, a buyer with a larger budget who wants more time in a single home has options that MYNE's fixed 1/8 structure does not provide. The biggest pricing-related differentiator for UK buyers is financing. Both platforms support resale of co-ownership shares, but the mechanics differ in ways that matter for long-term planning. With Pacaso, owners set their own asking price and can list their share for resale at any time. MYNE supports resale after a 12-month minimum holding period and maintains a waiting list of interested buyers to help facilitate transactions. MYNE's involvement in the resale process reduces the administrative burden for sellers, but the 12-month lock-in is worth factoring into plans for buyers who may need early liquidity. For UK buyers, geography is often the most important decision factor. MYNE is exclusively focused on Europe, with more than 25 destinations across Germany, Austria, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Croatia, France, Sweden, and the UK. Popular locations include Mallorca, the Austrian Alps and Kitzbühel, Tuscany, the Algarve, the French Riviera, the German North Sea and Baltic coasts, and Croatia.  MYNE's portfolio is well-matched to UK buyers who dream of a European holiday home — the destinations are familiar, the travel times are short, and the platform is specifically designed to help British buyers navigate post-Brexit ownership restrictions. The honest answer is that it depends on what you are looking for. Here is a practical breakdown. Pacaso allows buyers to purchase a share (1/8 to 1/2) of a Explore what makes

August Collections is a European co-ownership platform founded in 2018 by Mélie Dunod and Nicolai Johan. Rather than owning a single vacation home, August owners buy an equity share in a curated "collection" of four to five fully managed, renovated properties across Europe's most sought-after destinations, including the South of France, Tuscany, Mallorca, the French Alps, Paris, London, Rome, Barcelona, and the Cotswolds. The model is built on a simple premise: the average vacation homeowner uses their property for only about 35 days a year, leaving it empty for the remaining 11 months. By pooling ownership across multiple households, each collection stays occupied year-round while individual owners enjoy access to several homes for a fraction of the cost of purchasing any one of them outright. August handles the entire ownership experience, from property sourcing, renovation, and design to furnishing, maintenance, and management. Owners simply book time across their properties using a points-based scheduling system and arrive to find homes that are ready to use. When you buy into an August Collection, you are purchasing an equity share in a real estate company that owns four to five properties. Depending on the collection tier, you co-own those homes alongside up to 20 other owners, each holding a 1/21 share (or 1/16 in the Prime tier). Ownership is structured as a real estate company purchase, not a timeshare or club membership, meaning you hold actual property equity that can appreciate in value. Scheduling is managed through a points-based system. High-demand weeks (summer peaks, school holidays) require more points, while off-peak periods cost fewer. Last-minute bookings of vacant properties are available at no points cost. Each co-owner can expect to use their homes an average of 8 to 12 weeks per year across the collection. August emphasizes community among co-owners, curating groups of like-minded homeowners who share a similar lifestyle orientation. The company also manages all resales, with a secondary market already established and over 15 completed resales recorded, most of which were owners upgrading to a higher collection tier. August Collections pricing varies by tier, with share prices currently ranging from approximately €340,000 for a Pied à Terre entry-level share to €1.8 million for the Prime collection. Annual fees covering taxes, insurance, maintenance, and management are charged separately and range from roughly €8,600 to €19,800 per year depending on the collection. After each stay, owners also receive an invoice for end-of-stay cleaning and linen service, which typically runs €150 to €350 per visit. There is no mention of integrated financing on August's public-facing materials, meaning most buyers are expected to purchase shares with cash or arrange independent financing. August currently offers five collection tiers, each defined by property size, destination mix, and entry price: Each tier is launched in individual collections. Once a collection sells out, buyers can either join a waitlist for new collections or purchase a resale share on the secondary market. August notes that demand for resale shares often commands a premium over new shares, since resale buyers can access the homes immediately upon purchase. At a high level, both Pacaso and August Collections offer genuine co-ownership of luxury vacation homes, with real equity ownership, full-service management, and structured scheduling systems. The key differences come down to ownership model, geography, co-owner density, and flexibility. The table below compares the two models across major categories: The most fundamental difference between Pacaso and August Collections is what you actually own. With Pacaso, you own a share of one specific home in one destination, with up to seven other co-owners. That home is yours to use, and it tends to develop a real sense of place — a second home you return to, know intimately, and can eventually sell as an appreciating real estate asset. August Collections flips that model. You own a fraction of five homes spread across multiple European destinations. The appeal is variety: instead of returning to the same Tuscan farmhouse every summer, you can alternate between Mallorca, the French Alps, and the Cotswolds across different trips. The tradeoff is that your individual ownership stake in any single property is thinner, typically 1/21 of each home rather than 1/8. Co-owner density matters a lot for scheduling availability and the overall quality of the ownership experience. Pacaso homes have a maximum of eight co-owners, which means each owner gets roughly six weeks of use per year in a single home. August Collections can have up to 21 co-owners across five homes, which averages out to 8 to 12 weeks of access per year spread across the collection. On paper, those ranges overlap. In practice, however, more co-owners per property means more competition for peak weeks. With If your ideal second home is in Europe, specifically France, Italy, Spain, or the UK, August Collections offers an unusually compelling proposition: one purchase price, five destinations. For buyers already drawn to European travel and who want a base across multiple regions, the collection model is genuinely differentiated. Pacaso's edge is global breadth. With 40+ markets including For buyers specifically wanting to Pacaso offers August Collections does not publicly offer integrated financing. Buyers are generally expected to fund their share purchase independently. At share prices starting above €400,000, this is a meaningful consideration for buyers evaluating total capital requirements. Both models are legitimate, well-managed co-ownership platforms. The right choice depends on your priorities. August Collections may be the better fit if you: Pacaso may be the better fit if you: If you want the simplest path to owning a luxury second home, whether it’s in Europe or elsewhere, Pacaso allows buyers to purchase a share (1/8 to 1/2) of a fully managed luxury home through a

Let's say you have $400,000 to $1,000,000 to spend on a holiday home. During your research, you probably came across Equity Estates vs. Pacaso as top contenders. One setup puts your cash into a fund that buys a basket of properties, while the other side buys you a piece of one specific house. When you are Pacaso overview To understand By handling all the property management, cleaning and bill paying, many owners find that Here is a quick look at the advantages and trade-offs of this single-home approach:  Equity Estates overview Equity Estates takes a different path by operating as a private equity real estate fund. You pool your money with other investors to buy into a whole collection of luxury vacation homes. Equity Estates minimum investment ranges from $145,000 to over $1 million, depending on the specific fund tier.  A professional team handles acquiring and managing the entire portfolio so you can travel to various spots without dealing with landlord headaches.  Buyers who want access to a large portfolio instead of one specific house often consider high-end travel clubs as an alternative. Weighing Here is a summary of the clear benefits and potential drawbacks of this fund-based vacation strategy. Key differences between Equity Estates and Pacaso While both models cater to luxury buyers, they differ in terms of daily operations and long-term value. Looking closely at these operational contrasts helps you see how each choice shapes your future vacations and financial commitments.  Ownership structure and legal framework With Pacaso, you buy a specific share of a private limited liability company that holds the actual deed to the house. You and your co-owners hold real property equity, which sets the model apart from standard Equity Estates uses a private equity fund framework. Your money buys a share in the fund itself, and the corporate entity holds the deeds to all the homes in the collection. Fund managers make all the buying, selling and management decisions without needing owner input.  Usage, scheduling and flexibility Pacaso owners can only schedule stays at their specific home. Booking is handled through an app-based system called Equity Estates members book stays across a global portfolio of properties rather than returning to the same house. The fund uses a portfolio reservation system where availability is determined by the specific tier of your initial investment fund. Because you do not own a deed to one specific address, it can be harder to settle in. Fees and total cost of ownership Pacaso charges an upfront property markup fee when you buy your share to cover the initial platform costs. After that purchase, your ongoing expenses include a 1% annual management fee alongside your fractional share of LLC operating costs like taxes, insurance and maintenance. These regular bills are bundled into an ongoing monthly payment so you can track your exact carrying costs clearly. Equity Estates requires a higher initial capital buy-in to join the fund portfolio. Your long-term expenses include fund management fees, annual dues and portfolio operating costs. Because your money is pooled into a managed real estate fund, these annual costs fund the high-end concierge services across every single home in the network. Exit options and liquidity Pacaso runs an active resale marketplace where you can list your share whenever you want to move on. You set your asking price based on real property value, and new buyers can take over your exact stake. Selling a fractional share this way gives you a lot of flexibility since you do not have to wait for a corporate entity to liquidate the whole house. Equity Estates operates on a strict fund lifecycle that typically lasts 10 to 12 years. Your cash stays tied up for the entire duration because you cannot simply sell your share on an open market whenever you want. Once the timeline ends, the managers sell all the properties in the portfolio and return the capital, along with any gains, to the investors. Service and property quality Pacaso focuses on professional property management to maintain standalone luxury homes. Local property managers handle interior design, routine upkeep and property repairs so the home stays in peak condition. These properties feature upscale amenities like private pools, modern kitchens and expansive outdoor spaces built for a single-family retreat. Equity Estates features a curated collection of multi-million dollar residences located in elite resort communities and major global cities. Your stay comes with a personal travel concierge who stocks the fridge, arranges private chefs and plans local excursions before you arrive. Anyone reading an Equity Estates review will notice consistent praise for the high-touch hospitality workers who manage every detail of the trip.  Which ownership model is right for you? Choosing between these two setups hinges on how you want to experience your vacation days and manage your capital.  Explore co-ownership with Pacaso Deciding between Equity Estates vs. Pacaso depends entirely on what type of holiday home you are looking for. If you prefer owning a real piece of a specific luxury property that you can return to year after year, exploring Pacaso co-ownership helps you take the next step.  You can browse active listings in your favorite holiday destinations right now to find a property that fits your family's needs. To see the current inventory and find a home that matches your travel goals, take a look at the available

You're thinking of buying a second property and three main platforms have come up in your search. But weighing Pacaso vs. Ember vs. Ark7 isn't quite an apples-to-apples comparison. Each of these three companies serves different goals.  Pacaso offers luxury second home co-ownership for personal use. Ember is similar, but on a smaller scale. Ark7 is designed for passive-income real estate investing – you don't actually get to enjoy the homes you invest in.  Below, let's dive deeper to cover the key features, costs, listings and pros and cons of each platform. We'll guide you through picking the perfect platform for your specific goals.  How does Pacaso work? Pacaso offers professionally managed LLC co-ownership in luxurious second home destinations. Pacaso handles all the furnishing, maintenance, scheduling and fees so that co-owners get the benefits of owning a vacation home without having to manage it full-time. Its seamless property management and scheduling technology via the in-app SmartStay™ system makes Pacaso one of the Key features   Here are some of Pacaso's standout features: Estimated costs  Here are a few estimated costs that come with owning a share of a Pacaso home: Listing availability Pacaso offers listings all over the U.S. and in select international locations. Featured Pacaso pros and cons  Pacaso is best suited for those looking for This platform may not be the best option for first-time homebuyers, those who want to use their home year-round or those looking to generate passive income from an investment. Co-ownership with Pacaso is for luxurious personal stays in breathtaking homes and locations. How does Ember work? Ember offers co-ownership of vacation homes (typically ski, beach or mountain properties) with a tech-enabled booking and management layer. Like Pacaso, you can choose ⅛ to ½ real ownership share, setting it apart from a timeshare.  When weighing Pacaso vs. Ember, the major differences are listing availability and passive income opportunity. Ember offers a luxurious vacation home experience with relatively low entry requirements, but its listings are far fewer than those of an option like Pacaso. On the passive income side, Ember offers an Ember Flex program to offset costs by renting out unused time.  Key features  Ember's key features include: Estimated costs  Ember sits between Pacaso and Ark7 in cost.  Acquisition fees and ongoing costs are not publicly disclosed by Ember. Like Pacaso, there are also monthly maintenance and management expenses shared between co-owners. Listing availability  Ember has listings in fewer destinations than Pacaso and tends to focus on mountains, ski markets and beaches. Currently, it only operates in a handful of U.S. states, including Florida, Utah and California. Ember pros and cons  Ember is a good option for those who want fully-managed luxury vacation homes and may also want to rent out their unused time to help offset costs. However, due to their more limited listings, it's not the best for those looking for second homes in international locations.  How does Ark7 work? When comparing Ark 7 to Ember and Pacaso, it's somewhat of an odd one out — a completely different type of platform than the previous two.  Ark7 positions itself as an accessible platform for fractional real estate investing. Unlike Pacaso and Ember, Ark7's platform doesn't let you enjoy the vacation home experience. Instead, Ark7 investors purchase fractional shares in rental properties and may earn passive income.  Ark7 sources the properties and handles tenant management and operations. Investors receive a portion of the property's rental income and potential appreciation. Key features  Here are several of Ark7's key features: Estimated costs  Ark7's estimated costs include: Listing availability  Ark7 offers fractional ownership in single-family rental homes and small multifamily properties across the U.S. It operates in 10 markets nationwide, including Dallas, Indianapolis, Fort Worth and Atlanta. However, their listings can also change frequently because some properties can fully fund quickly.  Ark7 pros and cons  Ark7 targets those who want to get into accessible real estate investing. However, it isn't the market for customers who want a vacation property that they can actually use.  How do you choose the right platform for your goals? Use these three questions to guide your choice between these three platforms. 1. Do you want to personally use the property?  This is the first question to ask yourself. It will help you determine if you want a lifestyle purchase or a purely financial investment. Consider your goals: Do you want to host family vacations several times a year and enjoy the property's amenities?  If your answer is yes, Pacaso or Ember will be the most relevant options. These two are focused on second home co-ownership rather than passive investing. Instead of investing solely for financial returns, you're gaining access to a shared vacation home that you can personally enjoy.  2. Are you focused on a specific destination or property type? Some buyers already know exactly where they want to own a second home and that's completely understandable, considering how much the destination shapes the experience. Popular choices are ski towns, wine country and beachfronts around the world. If you have a specific destination in mind, Pacaso may be the strongest fit. With listings across national and international destinations, you're more likely to find co-ownership in the exact place you want. Ember has a smaller selection, mostly focused on ski and resort destinations in the U.S., so your destination may not be available. 3. Are you purely interested in real estate investment returns without personal use?  Maybe a vacation home lifestyle isn't your goal. Perhaps you are more interested in generating passive income, diversifying your portfolio or gaining exposure to real estate investing without directly owning a home.  If that's you, Ark7 may be worth exploring. Instead of vacation home access, Ark7 lets investors buy fractional shares in rental properties and potentially earn monthly income with lower minimum investments.  Why should I choose Pacaso for co-ownership? The right platform comes down to what you want from the purchase. If you're after passive income without ever using the property, Ark7 lets you invest in rental real estate for as little as $20 a share. If you want a managed second home with the option to rent out unused time, Ember is worth a look, though its listings are limited to the U.S. But if your goal is a luxury second home you'll actually enjoy, with

Timbers Resorts, operated by Timbers Company, was founded in 1999 as a developer and operator of luxury private residence clubs, boutique resorts, and whole-ownership homes in approximately 16 of the world's most sought-after destinations. Rather than a traditional hotel chain, Timbers positions itself around the idea of "effortless ownership": buyers purchase real estate within a resort community and gain access to a full complement of resort-style services, amenities, and travel benefits. Timbers offers several distinct ownership paths: The Timbers model is designed for buyers who want to feel at home in a world-class resort, with tuned skis waiting, pantries stocked, and concierge services ready on arrival. It differs fundamentally from a timeshare in that owners hold a deeded real estate interest, not simply a right to use a unit for a fixed period. Timbers Resorts locations span a range of ski, beach, golf, and leisure destinations across North America, Europe, and the Caribbean. Known properties in the portfolio include: The Timbers portfolio currently spans over 16 destinations globally, a more concentrated footprint compared to Pacaso's 40+ markets, but each property is deeply embedded in its resort environment rather than distributed across standalone residential neighborhoods. The most common Timbers ownership structure is the Private Residence Club (PRC), which functions as deeded fractional real estate. Here's how it works in practice: For buyers seeking whole ownership, Timbers offers full-title private residences at most resort locations, with the same resort services and reciprocity benefits available to PRC owners. Whole owners can deposit up to six weeks annually into the Timbers Reciprocity Program to trade time across the broader portfolio. Timbers Resorts ownership costs vary significantly by property, share size, and market.  Pricing is not consistently published on their website, which makes direct comparison challenging. Based on publicly available data from resale listings and third-party sources: In addition to the purchase price, buyers should budget for: Timbers does not offer integrated financing. Buyers fund purchases through personal capital, private wealth financing, or third-party lenders, without a built-in lending program from the developer. The Timbers Reciprocity Program (TRP) is one of the most-cited features of Timbers ownership. It allows owners at any Timbers Collection property to trade their planned vacation weeks for time at other properties across the Timbers portfolio, spanning destinations like Tuscany, Kaua'i, Aspen, Vail, Cabo, Napa, and more. Here's how the mechanics work: The TRP is a meaningful benefit for owners who want variety across the Timbers portfolio. However, availability depends on other owners depositing their weeks, and the system caps the number of owners who can deposit per week (typically 9 per week at some properties), which may limit flexibility during peak periods. Buyer reviews of Timbers Resorts properties generally highlight the quality of the destinations, the resort-level amenities, and the hospitality experience as genuine strengths. Commonly cited positives include: Common concerns and complaints that prospective buyers raise include: Yes, Timbers PRC fractional interests are deeded real estate, which means they can be sold on the secondary market. Unlike timeshares, which can be extremely difficult to exit, Timbers ownership interests do have a resale market and can be transferred or bequeathed to heirs. That said, the Timbers resale market has some practical limitations buyers should understand: For buyers who prioritize long-term asset appreciation, the resale dynamics of resort fractionals differ from those of private residential real estate. This is a key distinction compared to Pacaso's model, where each share is tied to a single-family home whose value tracks the surrounding residential market. Both Pacaso and Timbers Resorts offer genuine, deeded real estate ownership in luxury vacation destinations, but the two models are designed around fundamentally different experiences. Here's a direct comparison across the dimensions that matter most to buyers: The deepest difference between Pacaso and Timbers Resorts is the ownership philosophy. Timbers is designed for buyers who love the resort experience — arriving to a fully staffed, amenity-rich environment where every detail is handled by hospitality professionals. The property is embedded in a larger resort community with shared amenities, restaurants, and services that rival a five-star hotel. Pacaso, by contrast, offers a private residential experience. You own a share of a standalone luxury home, not a unit in a resort building. There are no shared lobbies, resort restaurants, or golf clubs (unless the home has them). What you get instead is the privacy, space, and character of a real home: your own kitchen, backyard, living room, and neighborhood. For buyers who want to feel like a local rather than a guest, this distinction is significant. Timbers' scheduling system generally involves pre-assigned vacation windows and a lottery or priority-based process for reserving stays. This works well for owners who plan vacations far in advance and prefer fixed annual windows. For buyers who travel on shorter notice or need more calendar flexibility, the pre-planned structure can feel restrictive. Pacaso's Timbers does not offer integrated financing, which means buyers typically need to fund their purchase from personal capital or arrange separate private lending. For luxury resort fractionals with entry points often starting above $500,000, this can be a meaningful barrier. Pacaso offers Both models offer deeded real estate that can be resold, but the market dynamics differ. Pacaso shares are priced relative to the value of the underlying single-family home, which tracks the surrounding residential real estate market. As home values in places like Napa, Aspen, or the Hamptons appreciate, share values follow. Timbers fractional interests are more closely tied to the desirability and operational health of a specific resort. While high-demand properties like Timbers Kaua'i or The Sebastian Vail hold appeal, the resale market for resort fractionals can be less liquid, and secondary market prices have historically reflected discounts to developer pricing at many properties. Buyers should factor resale liquidity and long-term value trajectory into their comparison. Neither Pacaso nor Timbers Resorts is the right choice for every buyer, but they serve distinct buyer profiles clearly: For buyers who've been researching Timbers Resorts and are wondering whether a private home co-ownership model might serve them better, Pacaso is worth exploring directly. With homes in Pacaso allows buyers to purchase a share (1/8 to 1/2) of a fully managed luxury home through a property-specific LLC, giving them a true real estate asset. With integrated financing, SmartStay™ scheduling, a dedicated Home Manager, and a global home swap network, Pacaso is built for buyers who want the benefits of a second home without the full price tag or the complexity of managing it alone. Ready to explore what ownership looks like?

Paris Perfect is a well-established luxury vacation rental company with nearly two decades of experience managing high-end apartments in Paris, London, and Italy. In 2018, the company launched Paris Perfect Shared, its fractional co-ownership program, in response to a growing number of guests who dreamed of owning their own Parisian pied-à-terre but found full ownership either too expensive, too time-consuming, or too complicated to manage from abroad. The concept is simple: rather than purchasing an entire apartment, buyers acquire a deeded fractional share of a specific, fully renovated luxury apartment. Each share grants the owner four weeks of use per year. The apartment is professionally managed by the Paris Perfect team, with all costs like utilities, housekeeping, insurance, taxes, and a reserve fund covered through an annual, all-inclusive fee. Shares can be sold or passed on to family members, and the ownership vehicle handles all French tax obligations on behalf of owners, eliminating the need for a French bank account. Since its first property, the Cairanne, sold out within weeks in 2018, Paris Perfect Shared has expanded its portfolio steadily. Its apartments are concentrated in the 7th arrondissement, one of the most sought-after neighborhoods in Paris, steps from the Eiffel Tower, Rue Cler, and the Champ de Mars. While Paris is the core focus, the program has also expanded to Florence through sister site Italy Perfect Shared. Understanding the mechanics of Paris Perfect co-ownership is essential for prospective buyers. Here is how the program is structured: For buyers specifically focused on Paris, the model has real appeal. The apartments are renovated to a high standard, the management is handled by a team with deep local expertise, and the all-inclusive fee structure simplifies the ongoing ownership experience. However, the program's geographic concentration and limited scheduling flexibility are meaningful constraints for buyers who want more from their co-ownership investment. Paris Perfect has earned a strong overall reputation, particularly among guests who rent its apartments for vacation stays. Reviews consistently praise the quality of the apartments, their prime Left Bank locations, Eiffel Tower views, and the responsiveness of the management team.  Properties like Cabernet and Cognac receive high marks for cleanliness, thoughtful furnishings, and the personal touches that make a short-term apartment rental feel like a true home away from home. For co-ownership buyers specifically, the program's strongest reviews center on the quality of renovations, the straightforward annual fee structure, and the peace of mind that comes from having an experienced local team handle all maintenance and administration. Paris Perfect points to the quick sell-out of its earliest properties, with waiting lists forming even before launch, as evidence of strong owner satisfaction. That said, some Paris Perfect complaints and concerns do surface in public forums. The most common friction points relate to the rental side of the business rather than the co-ownership program directly: disputes over cancellation policies and refund timelines have appeared in older reviews, particularly during the disruptions caused by COVID-era travel restrictions. On the co-ownership side, prospective buyers should be aware of a few structural limitations: For the right buyer — one who loves Paris deeply and wants a permanent, beautifully managed home base in the city — Paris Perfect Shared delivers on its promise. The question is whether Paris alone is enough, and whether four weeks per share satisfies the lifestyle they envision. Pacaso and Paris Perfect both offer a path to genuine co-ownership of luxury real estate abroad, but they represent fundamentally different models built for different buyer profiles. The table below summarizes the key distinctions: Both models offer real property ownership unlike timeshares. Paris Perfect Shared provides a deeded fractional share of a single, specific Parisian apartment. Pacaso provides co-ownership shares held through a This is one of the most significant differences between the two programs. Paris Perfect Shared is essentially a one-city offering. Its portfolio is centered almost entirely in Paris, with a small expansion into Florence. For buyers who want Paris and only Paris, that focus is a feature. For buyers who also want a beach home in Both programs deliver high-quality, fully managed homes. Paris Perfect renovates classic Haussmann-style apartments with elegant, French-inflected interiors, many featuring Eiffel Tower views, parquet floors, and antique details. Pacaso homes are professionally designed to a luxury standard across all markets, with each property receiving a Scheduling is one of the most practically important dimensions of any co-ownership model, and it is where Pacaso and Paris Perfect diverge most noticeably. Paris Perfect allocates owner weeks through an annual rotation draft. Each owner selects two weeks per round, with draft order rotating each year to ensure fairness. This system is transparent and predictable, but it requires owners to plan their Paris visits far in advance and limits the ability to make spontaneous bookings or adjust dates as travel plans evolve. Owners with a 1/8 share receive approximately 44 nights per year and can purchase up to a 1/2 share for extended access. The app-based system means Beyond the scheduling mechanism, Pacaso also offers the Understanding the full cost of co-ownership — both the entry price and the ongoing carrying costs — is essential before committing to either model. Paris Perfect Shared share prices vary by property. Recent listings have ranged from approximately €116,000 for a studio or junior one-bedroom share to €225,000 or more for a larger one-bedroom share in a prime location. These prices represent a fraction of the full apartment value, which can run well into the millions for prime 7th arrondissement properties. Pacaso's entry pricing depends on the destination and property. Globally, 1/8 shares start from around $200,000. In Paris specifically, Pacaso's current inventory in the 6th and 7th arrondissements has 1/8 shares starting at approximately $500,000, reflecting the premium nature of the city's luxury real estate market. Paris Perfect charges an all-inclusive annual fee per owner that covers all operating costs: building charges, utilities, property taxes, insurance, professional cleaning, supplies, management, and a reserve fund for long-term maintenance. Dues are tied to actual expenses and do not automatically increase year over year, giving owners reasonable predictability. Owners also benefit from the simplicity of a single annual payment with no French bank account required. Pacaso charges ongoing management fees that cover One notable gap between the two programs is financing availability. Choosing between Paris Perfect and Pacaso ultimately comes down to what you want from a second home and how single-minded your love of Paris really is. For buyers who want the best of Paris and the freedom to explore the world, Pacaso's model offers a more scalable path to luxury second home ownership. It brings the same premium Paris real estate, in the same prestigious arrondissements, with a broader infrastructure of scheduling technology, global reach, and financial accessibility built around the modern second-home owner. If you are exploring what it means to own a luxury second home in Paris or beyond,

Airbnb isn't the only way to book a place to stay, and depending on what a trip calls for, it might not be the best one. Most people researching Airbnb alternatives are looking to solve one of a few problems: inconsistent listing quality, rising service fees, a lack of good options for a month-long stay, or the sense that booking a new rental in a favorite destination every time means both spending money that could be going toward something more permanent and starting over with a different host, listing, and experience each stay. The right pick depends on the trip: The sections below cover each category in more depth, followed by direct comparisons against three of Airbnb's closest competitors and a look at when to book for the best price. Travelers looking for luxury Airbnb alternatives are usually after one of two things: a more rigorously vetted rental, or a way to stop renting altogether. For travelers prioritizing price over amenities, a few platforms consistently undercut Airbnb on fees or inventory breadth: Airbnb's fee structure and nightly-rate model aren't built for stays measured in months rather than nights. A few alternatives are: None of these change the arithmetic for someone who returns to the same destination three, four or more times a year: each visit is booked and paid for on its own terms. That's the gap co-ownership is built to close, covered further down. Vrbo (Vacation Rentals by Owner) is Airbnb's closest peer-to-peer competitor, but the two platforms differ in a few ways that matter depending on the trip. Vrbo lists only whole properties, so there are no shared rooms or shared spaces, which makes it a stronger fit for families and groups who want privacy. Airbnb's selection is roughly triple Vrbo's, since it also includes shared and private-room listings, so it tends to win on last-minute availability and price flexibility. Fee structures differ too: Vrbo charges guests 6% to 12% of the reservation, while Airbnb is consolidating all hosts onto a single host-only fee of about 15.5%, with no separate guest service fee on those bookings. Airbnb's final migration waves land Sept 15, 2026 outside the EU and Oct 13, 2026 in the EU, so the host/guest split described here will be gone at publish. For the full side-by-side on rental types, pricing, reviews and safety, see the This comparison serves a different audience than the rest of this list: it's for someone who already owns a second home and is deciding how to rent it out, not someone booking a stay. Vacasa, acquired by Casago in 2025 and now run largely through local franchisees, is a full-service property manager that lists a home across Airbnb, Vrbo and Booking.com, then handles pricing, cleaning and guest communication. Rates are quoted market by market rather than published, and have historically landed in the 25% to 35% range of rental revenue, with add-ons on top. Self-hosting directly on Airbnb keeps more of the revenue (Airbnb's host-only fee runs around 15.5%) but costs an owner 14 to 20 hours a week running what amounts to a small hospitality business. Both options also run into local rules: Aspen caps short-term rental permits by zone and keeps waitlists in the tightest ones, and South Lake Tahoe reinstated permitted rentals in residential neighborhoods in April 2026 under a capped program with no guarantee a permit is available. For owners who'd rather skip the rental business entirely and simply use a second home themselves, that's a different question than Vacasa vs. Airbnb; see the Homes & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy lists only professionally managed properties rather than individual host listings, so standards are set by the management companies Marriott has vetted rather than by individual hosts. The catalog runs to more than 180,000 homes across 10,000 destinations in 80 countries, a fraction of Airbnb's inventory, but consistent the way a hotel group is consistent. Stays earn and redeem Bonvoy points, carrying the same rewards across a hotel stay and a home rental. Airbnb wins on breadth and last-minute availability; Homes & Villas wins on predictability and rewards that carry across the rest of a trip. Booking timing affects price and availability across nearly every platform on this list, not just Airbnb. As a general rule, 3 to 6 months ahead is the sweet spot for a standard trip, balancing selection against price. Holiday periods and major events push that window out to 6 to 8 months, and the most in-demand properties in popular destinations can book up 9 to 12 months in advance. Last-minute bookings (about four weeks out) can occasionally turn up a deal, but the most unique or sought-after listings are rarely still available that close to a trip. Cancellation policies also vary widely by platform and by individual listing, so it's worth checking those terms before locking in a date. For a full breakdown of pricing factors and cancellation policy types, see For the destinations that keep pulling a family back, year after year, the pull rarely fades. What usually changes is the decision still waiting to be made: another booking, or something truly theirs. You've already earned the life built around that place. Pacaso is the decision that turns it into something lived in, not just visited. Pacaso allows buyers to own a share (1/8 to 1/2) of a home, held through a Because it's never rented out, it also sits outside the short-term rental permit caps that limit Airbnb and Vrbo in markets like Lake Tahoe or Aspen, and because it's real estate, the equity in it can appreciate and

The cost to build a luxury home depends on several factors such as lot size, home dimensions, finish quality and regional labor rates. On average, building an entry-level luxury residence costs between $200 and $500 per square foot. This means that an average 5,000 sq ft luxury home costs between $1 million and $2.5 million to build. For a more detailed understanding of how much you'll spend when you When calculating the cost of a luxury home, consider primary factors such as your home's size and desired features to get a ballpark estimate. The cost of specific features depends on whether you seek entry-level, premium or bespoke options. Building custom luxury homes isn't a one-size-fits-all process.There are more cost variables compared to a standard new build. Therefore, understanding the most common cost drivers can help you form a more accurate budget. The location of your luxury home build plays a large role in its overall cost. This is because median home prices vary widely across the country. One of the first expenses in building a luxury home is the cost of your homesite. According to the National Association of Home Builders, For example, a fully wooded lot will require tree removal, rocky soil will cost more to excavate for a foundation and land with a steep grade might need extra engineering to make it suitable for building. Plan for 3-8% of your budget to go toward site prep alone (excluding the cost of the land itself). Luxury home building is all about customization, and there are a few options when it comes to creating blueprints for your new home. The least expensive is to work with a developer and choose from pre-existing floor plans, with some customization options.  For a fully custom home, you'll need to hire professionals to put your vision on paper, including an architect and engineer, and possibly an interior designer. These are often considered "soft costs", meaning they're not direct construction costs, and they vary greatly. According to Ralston Architects, According to the National Association of Home Builders, This is where you get to have the most fun and implement your favorite The cost to build a luxury home also includes essentials like roofing and siding, and the materials you choose will impact your budget. Some of the Approximately 17% of your budget will go toward paying your contractor and covering miscellaneous expenses, such as site waste removal and building permits, so be sure to factor those costs in. You may also run into building issues, authorize overtime hours for laborers or select additional upgrades that further add to the luxury home build cost. Choosing to build luxury homes is an ambitious endeavor, but it's not the only option. If a luxury second home is in your future, but the time or cost to build a luxury home feels out of reach, Pacaso might be the perfect fit. Pacaso's co-ownership model offers all the comfort of a fully furnished, professionally decorated luxury home in a stunning location. Plus, you'll get the

Home maintenance is the routine care a property needs to keep functioning safely and efficiently: things like checking smoke detector batteries, servicing an HVAC system, resealing a deck or flushing a water heater. It's preventive by design. Rather than waiting for something to break, a maintenance routine catches small problems, a loose gutter, a slow leak or a worn seal while they're still cheap and easy to fix. This is different from a home improvement checklist, which covers projects that add value or change how a space looks and functions, like a kitchen remodel or a new deck. Maintenance protects what you already have. Improvement adds to it. Most homeowners need both, but a maintenance checklist is the one that prevents the improvement budget from getting eaten up by avoidable repairs. A checklist turns maintenance from a vague intention into a routine you actually follow. Without one, tasks get remembered only when something fails, which is usually the most expensive time to notice a problem. A few reasons a routine home maintenance checklist pays for itself: For homes with a A basic home maintenance checklist starts with the tasks that need attention most often. These are the routine checks that catch problems early, whether you're at the property every day or checking in periodically. Some tasks only need attention when the weather shifts. A seasonal home maintenance checklist is one of the most effective ways to stay ahead of weather-related wear, since each season puts different stress on a home's systems. Once a year, usually at a season change, it's worth stepping back for a deeper inspection. An annual home maintenance checklist should cover the systems and structural elements that don't need constant attention but do need a thorough once-over. A second home that sits empty for weeks or months at a time needs a different kind of preparation than a primary residence. Before an extended absence: Once you're away, monitoring the home remotely closes the gap between visits: smart leak sensors, security camera alerts and recurring service visits from a trusted provider all help catch problems before they compound. This is the work Maintenance tips for homeowners are easier to apply when they're organized by system rather than by calendar. Here's a preventive maintenance checklist broken out by area, with a general sense of how often each one needs attention. Every Pacaso home comes with a dedicated Home Manager who handles this checklist directly: routine upkeep, seasonal preparation, vendor coordination and the kind of remote monitoring that catches issues before they become expensive. Owners get a text or a call when something needs a decision, not a maintenance log to manage themselves. For homes in higher-touch markets or with premium finishes, this looks like Pacaso allows buyers to purchase a share (1/8 to 1/2) of a fully managed home through a property-specific LLC, giving them a true real estate asset without the cost of whole home ownership. Maintenance, cleaning, vendor payments and seasonal prep are already built into the home's operating plan, so there's no checklist to hand off and no property manager to research and hire on your own. To see what fully managed ownership looks like in a destination you love, explore

Real estate investment returns describe the profit a property produces measured against what an investor put in to acquire and hold it. There isn't one single number that captures this. Instead, investors lean on a handful of metrics depending on what they're trying to understand: Each metric answers a slightly different question, so the "right" one depends on whether you're screening a deal quickly, comparing financed properties, or evaluating a multi-year hold. Most real estate agents and investors treat 8% to 12% cash-on-cash ROI as a reasonable benchmark for a rental property, though the right number shifts with local market conditions and the specific property type. A useful sanity check is to compare that figure against a widely available alternative: the S&P 500 has averaged roughly 10% annually over the long run.  If a real estate investment can't match or beat that on a risk-adjusted basis, it's worth asking whether the illiquidity and hands-on effort of owning property are worth it for that particular deal. For value-add commercial deals, where an investor is actively improving a property to boost income before selling or refinancing, a good IRR typically runs 15% to 20%, reflecting the added risk and work involved. Average returns vary widely by asset type, holding period, and how the return is measured: Location does most of the work in explaining why any individual property lands above or below these averages. Federal Housing Finance Agency data consistently shows appreciation varying dramatically by region within the same reporting period, with some metro areas gaining close to 9% while others lose value over the same stretch. Job growth, housing supply, and local demand drive most of that spread. This is the part of the returns conversation that's changed the most in the past couple of years, and it's worth updating if you last looked at it during the 2022 to 2023 rate-hiking cycle. Back then, the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark rate quickly, and both mortgage rates and cash yields climbed together. For a stretch, top high-yield savings accounts and CDs paid north of 5%, close to or even above what many investors were paying on a mortgage. That created a real, if temporary, arbitrage: park cash in a high-yield account, let it earn more than the mortgage cost, and pocket the spread. The math looks different in 2026. The Fed has held its benchmark rate at 3.50% to 3.75% through the year after cutting through 2024 and 2025, and deposit rates have cooled in step. Today's best high-yield savings accounts and CDs pay roughly 4% to 4.2% APY, down from the 5%-plus peak. Mortgage rates, meanwhile, haven't fallen nearly as far. Freddie Mac's 30-year fixed average sat at 6.69% in early August 2026, still elevated relative to the sub-4% rates common a few years earlier. In practical terms, the cash-parking strategy that made sense when savings yields were nearly matching mortgage rates doesn't pencil out the same way today. Cash reserves still earn a respectable return, but they no longer offset a mortgage's cost the way they did at the 2023 peak. At the same time, borrowing itself costs more than it did a few years ago, so heavily leveraged purchases face a higher return hurdle before they generate a meaningful profit. That combination is pushing more investors to focus less on timing a rate spread and more on total return: appreciation, income, and tax benefits weighed against a clear benchmark, alongside ownership structures that reduce how much capital and leverage each dollar of real estate exposure requires. "Best" depends on your goals, but a few categories tend to show up when investors are chasing high return real estate investments today: Whichever category fits your goals, the deals that tend to hold up best share one trait: they don't depend on a favorable interest rate spread to work. They generate a return from the property itself. A few levers matter more than others once you've settled on a property type and market: For many buyers, the goal isn't purely financial. It's owning a place that brings family together, whether that's a beach house for summers or a ski chalet for winter weekends, while still building equity in a real asset. The tension is that a full-price purchase at today's mortgage rates ties up a large amount of capital in one property, in one location, financed at a rate that's still meaningfully higher than a few years ago. Pacaso allows buyers to purchase a share (1/8 to 1/2) of a That appreciation potential isn't hypothetical. An RCLCO analysis of second home resale data from 2021 through 2024 found Pacaso shares outperformed their broader luxury markets in several destinations, including Napa-Sonoma, CA (12.4% versus the market's 0.4%) and Malibu, CA (9.6% versus the market's 2.2%). Past performance doesn't guarantee future results, but it illustrates the kind of asset-level upside that a well-chosen second home can offer alongside personal use. Pacaso owners can also use If you're weighing whether to buy a whole second home or explore

Yes. Italy places no blanket restrictions on foreign buyers, and there is no national quota limiting how much property non-Italians can own. Ownership rests on a legal principle called the condition of reciprocity, set out in Article 16 of the Disposizioni sulla legge in generale, the general provisions that precede the Italian Civil Code: a foreign national can buy real estate in Italy if their home country allows Italian citizens to buy property there under similar terms. For buying property in Italy as an American, this works in your favor. The United States permits Italian citizens to purchase real estate freely, so American buyers pass Italy's reciprocity test without complication. The same is true for British, Australian and most other non-EU buyers. EU and EEA citizens face no reciprocity check at all and are treated exactly like Italian nationals. A few practical points apply to every foreign buyer, regardless of nationality: If you are weighing Italy against other European markets, our guide to The Italy notary process is the backbone of every property purchase, and it works differently than in the United States. Here is how a typical transaction unfolds: The notary, or notaio, is a public official appointed by the state rather than a representative for either the buyer or the seller. They draft the deed, verify legal title, collect the required taxes on the state's behalf and are personally liable for the accuracy of the transaction. If you cannot attend the closing in person, you can grant power of attorney to a lawyer or trusted representative to sign on your behalf. This centralized, notary-led model has a close cousin in France, where a notaire plays a similar role. If you are also considering the French market, our guide to Are there property taxes in Italy at the time of purchase? Yes, and they are the largest one-time cost of the transaction. The specific taxes depend on whether you are buying from a private seller or a developer. On top of these, budget for legal fees (roughly 1% to 2%) and, if you used an agent, a commission of 2% to 4% plus VAT. Altogether, total closing costs on a second home purchased from a private seller typically run 9% to 15% of the purchase price. Once you own the home, two recurring taxes apply: Tuscany property taxes tend to sit toward the higher end of the national range in the most sought-after areas. Florence applies close to the maximum 1.06% rate, and the "Chiantishire" belt of countryside between Florence and Siena, popular with foreign buyers for its farmhouses and vineyard estates, tends to price similarly.  Because IMU is calculated on the cadastral value rather than market value, the annual bill is usually far smaller than the purchase price might suggest. A modest Tuscan farmhouse with a cadastral value in the low thousands of euros might generate an annual IMU bill of only a few hundred to around €1,000, while a high-value historic property in central Florence can run into several thousand euros a year. It depends on how long you have owned the property. If you sell within five years of the purchase date, any gain is subject to a 26% substitute tax, calculated on the difference between the sale price and the original purchase price plus documented costs. This tax is settled directly through the notary at closing. After five years of ownership, the capital gain is exempt from tax entirely for individual, non-business sellers, including non-residents. There is also an exemption if the property served as your primary residence for most of your ownership period, though non-resident owners rarely qualify for this since primary residence status generally requires Italian tax residency. Americans who sell Italian property should keep in mind that Italian capital gains tax does not eliminate U.S. reporting obligations. Any gain typically still needs to be reported on a U.S. tax return, and a foreign tax credit may be available for tax paid to Italy. This isn't tax advice, so it's worth confirming your specific situation with a cross-border tax professional before you sell. Prices vary enormously by region. Nationally, asking prices for existing homes average somewhere in the €2,000 to €2,500 per square meter range, but that figure masks wide swings between Italy's most in-demand cities and its quieter provinces. In Florence, prices have been climbing steadily and now sit around €4,600 to €4,700 per square meter on average, with prime central neighborhoods like the historic center and Oltrarno commanding considerably more. Across the wider Tuscany region, the average drops closer to €2,500 to €2,650 per square meter, though this ranges from roughly €3,600 per square meter in Lucca province down to around €1,500 in Arezzo province. Rural farmhouses needing renovation can be found well below the regional average, while restored villas in Chianti or coastal Versilia often clear €1 million. If you're browsing properties for sale in Italy more broadly, expect the widest price range of any major European second-home market: from modest inland apartments under €150,000 to multimillion-euro estates in Tuscany's most prestigious pockets. For buyers drawn to rolling countryside, historic hill towns and a slower pace of life without giving up world-class art and food, Tuscany remains one of Italy's strongest second-home markets. Florence anchors the region with an established international community, direct flights, and English widely spoken in the city center, while the surrounding countryside, from the vineyards of Chianti to the medieval towers of Siena, offers a different but equally compelling lifestyle. If you are still deciding where in Italy to put down roots, our guide to the There's a particular kind of pull that draws people back to Tuscany year after year: long dinners under a pergola, the light on the hills at golden hour, a place that feels like it's yours even if you only visit a few weeks a year. The catch is that navigating a foreign legal system, a notary-led closing process and a tax structure built around cadastral values can feel overwhelming from thousands of miles away, especially when you only need the home part of the year. Pacaso allows buyers to purchase a share (1/8 to 1/2) of a

Buying property abroad lets you immerse yourself in a different culture and may offer a lower cost of living than the U.S. However, the complexities of making this kind of purchase can feel intimidating. From navigating legal regulations and language barriers to working with local vendors and securing financing, buying a home abroad requires careful consideration and expert guidance.  Keep reading to learn more about what you need to consider when buying property abroad. Tip 1: Define your goals for the property Ask yourself how you plan to use your vacation home. Knowing your intended use upfront will shape every decision that follows, from where you buy to how you structure ownership. Tip 2: Think about where you want to buy If you’re unsure where you want to purchase a second home abroad, ask yourself the following questions: These questions can help you determine where you would like to purchase property. Even if you already have a dream destination in mind, evaluate the market before committing. When weighing locations, consider a few key factors. Tip 3: Understand foreign ownership laws Most countries allow Americans to buy property freely, but the rules vary enough by market that it’s worth a quick check before you get too far into your search. Two exceptions worth knowing:  Beyond the rules themselves, it’s important to know that legal representation is separate from your real estate agent. An agent helps you find and negotiate a property. An attorney or notary handles the transaction. In France, a notaire is legally required for every sale. Spain requires a notario. For buyers managing this across languages and time zones, Tip 4: Find a local agent and attorney  Learning how to buy property abroad is much easier with the right people in your corner, and those are two distinct roles. A local agent brings market knowledge and helps you search and negotiate when buying. An attorney handles the legal side: title review, contract drafting, and compliance with local regulations.  Tip 5: Understand your financing options Here’s a breakdown of the most common paths to financing a home abroad: Tip 6: Know your U.S. tax obligations If you’re buying property overseas, U.S. tax obligations don’t stop at the border. Here are the key tax obligations to know: You’ll want a tax expert in both the U.S. and your destination country, along with a local legal expert, to help you navigate these requirements before closing. Tip 7: Review residency and visa requirements If you plan to spend extended time or Other countries may restrict your length of stay without a visa or have separate requirements for property owners. Research the options available in your destination country or ask your local attorney to walk you through what applies to your situation. Tip 8: Plan for ongoing property management While away from your property, someone still needs to take care of the home’s security, cleaning and maintenance. And when something goes wrong, you need someone local who can respond quickly. When evaluating overseas For buyers who want this handled from day one, Pacaso’s co-ownership model includes a dedicated local property manager in each of its international markets. Security, cleaning, maintenance and vendor coordination are all managed on your behalf, so your home is ready when you arrive and looked after when you’re not there. What are the benefits of buying property abroad? Buying property abroad opens up advantages that go well beyond what a vacation rental or hotel can offer. Confidently buy a vacation property abroad with Pacaso Pacaso was built specifically for buyers who want the experience of owning a luxury home in a world-class destination without the full complexity of a solo cross-border purchase. Through Pacaso's Ready to find your home abroad? Explore our

Dreaming of buying a second home? Despite market shifts, it’s still within reach. Whether you’re seeking a mountain escape, a beach retreat or a cozy getaway, understanding the realities of purchasing a vacation property is key. Buying a second home can feel overwhelming between higher costs, financing nuances, ongoing upkeep and limited time to enjoy the home. That’s why Let’s start with the seven steps of how to buy a second home: 1. Determining your second home budget involves assessing your current and future finances. Consider income, expenses and additional costs like taxes and maintenance, especially if you will be assuming a second mortgage. A It’s also important to think long-term. Will this home primarily serve as a personal getaway, a future retirement retreat, or a potential investment? Aligning your second home goals with your broader financial plan helps ensure the purchase supports your lifestyle, not strains it. Evaluate financing options and consult a financial advisor for insights into tax implications and investment alignment. This thorough analysis ensures that your second home purchase aligns with your financial goals. Second home expenses In addition to the purchase price, be sure to factor in these expenses when budgeting for a second home: Although second homes come with added expenses, they can also offer tax advantages that help offset costs. As you’re crunching the numbers, remember your second home can also be a source of rental income and tax breaks. Depending on how your second home is classified and used, you may be able to: These are great ways to make owning a second home more feasible. However, 2. Consider your financing options Lenders often see second homes as being at higher risk for loan repayment. For this reason, Here are some things to consider when financing a second home: It’s important to note that Buying a second home doesn’t have to be a solo endeavor. The standard minimum What are the no- and low-down-payment options? VA loans are available to eligible veterans, active-duty service members, surviving spouses, and those receiving VA disability benefits. They offer zero-down financing and are one of the few truly no-money-down paths available. Because VA loans are government-backed, they tend to carry more favorable terms than conventional second home loans. Note that VA loan eligibility for a second home depends on how the property is used and your remaining entitlement. If the seller's existing mortgage is assumable, you may be able to take over their loan terms, including a lower interest rate, without a new down payment. This option is relatively rare but can be a meaningful cost saver in a high-rate environment. If you have equity built up in your primary residence, a home equity loan or For homeowners 62 and older, a reverse mortgage allows you to access existing home equity without monthly mortgage payments. The funds can be directed toward a second home purchase. The loan is repaid when the borrower sells the home, moves out, or passes away. This option comes with high fees and significant complexity; consult a financial advisor before pursuing it. A gift of equity occurs when a family member or close contact sells you a property below market value. If the gift amount equals 20% or more of the property's fair market value, you can avoid a traditional down payment. Tax implications apply, so consult a tax professional before proceeding. A lease-option agreement lets you rent a property with the right to purchase it later. A portion of your rent payments may be credited toward the purchase price, reducing the down payment you need at closing. Negotiate these terms upfront with the help of a real estate attorney. In a seller-financed deal, the seller acts as the lender and you negotiate terms directly, potentially including a reduced or no down payment. Seller financing does not include standard mortgage protections, so the legal safeguards of a traditional loan may not apply. Proceed carefully with legal counsel. Adding a co-borrower who can contribute the down payment is another path. Shared financing reduces the burden on either party, though it also means shared ownership and responsibility. A formal co-ownership agreement is strongly recommended. What are the key considerations before going no-money-down? Reducing or eliminating your down payment does not eliminate costs entirely. Before pursuing a no-down-payment strategy, factor in the following: 3. Compare lenders When comparing second home lenders, it's essential to conduct a thorough evaluation to secure the best financing option tailored to your specific needs. Consider the following factors and use them as a basis for comparison: By comparing these factors among different lenders, you can make an informed decision that aligns with your financial goals and secures the most favorable mortgage terms. 4. Get pre-approved Getting pre-approved for a second home gives you a clear picture of what you can afford and strengthens your position when making an offer. Lenders will review your income, assets and debts to determine an approved loan amount. Consult multiple lenders to compare interest rates and terms. Keep in mind that because lenders may see 5. Find a location and a local agent Once you decide how to use your second home, you can hone in on the best second home locations. Ask yourself: Confirming your reason for owning a second home can help you decide on the perfect destination for your new vacation spot. Choosing the right agent Finding a knowledgeable agent in your target market can significantly decrease your workload in your second home search. You can use their local knowledge to help you with logistics and make an informed decision. Research local agents online, cross-reference reviews and ask for recommendations from your friends and family when possible. 6. Make an offer Buying a second home will be a familiar process if you’re already a homeowner: You make an offer, negotiate, come to an agreement and prepare for closing. Prior to closing, you will: Once your offer is accepted, it’s time to begin the closing process for your new second home. 7. Begin closing After the seller accepts your offer, the second home closing process begins. This process involves several crucial steps: Although closing on your second home may appear overwhelming, a smooth closing is key to turning your house purchase into a dreamy second home getaway.  How does a second home differ from a primary residence? A second home and a primary residence aren't interchangeable in the eyes of the IRS or your lender. A primary residence is the property you live in most of the year and qualifies for benefits like the capital gains exclusion on sale, while a second home doesn't qualify for that exclusion or for homestead tax exemptions, even though mortgage interest deductions can still apply to both. If you're weighing whether your second home could eventually become your primary residence, see our full breakdown of What changes if I buy a second home in another state? Buying a second home doesn't mean staying close to home, but an out-of-state purchase adds a few extra wrinkles: remote tours, paperwork you can't always handle in person, and state-specific tax and closing requirements. Our guide to What should I know about buying property abroad? An international second home comes with its own set of considerations: foreign ownership laws, financing options, U.S. tax obligations, and visa or residency rules all vary by country. Our guide to What about buying a second home in Europe? Europe remains one of the most popular international destinations for second home buyers, thanks to deep, established real estate markets in cities like Paris and London and easy access to the surrounding region. Our guide to What are the current second home market trends? Second home demand shifts with interest rates, remote work patterns, and buyer priorities like sustainability and destination affordability, so it helps to know what's happening in the broader market before you buy. Check out the latest How do you know if you’re ready for a second home? When considering purchasing a second home, you'll want to evaluate your finances, lifestyle, and market conditions to determine whether it's the right time to purchase, but those factors are just the tip of the iceberg. Here are some of our team's top considerations for those considering a second place of residence. Down payments, interest rates and debt Assess your current financial situation to see if you can comfortably afford a If additional debt strains your financial resources, it may not be quite the Location and lifestyle fit The ideal second home also aligns seamlessly with your lifestyle. Prioritize locations that support your hobbies and desired activities, guaranteeing a frequent and enjoyable retreat. If you like to ski, for example, a Investment or personal escape? When deciding on the main goal for your second home, it's crucial to determine if you're primarily interested in generating rental income, building long-term investment appreciation, or creating a personal retreat. Each of these objectives will significantly affect your approach to buying, managing, financing, and handling taxes for the property. Time investment Owning a second home comes with significant responsibilities. Are you prepared to manage the upkeep of two properties? This includes regular maintenance, potential repairs and the time and financial commitment of traveling between both homes. If not, are you willing and able to hire a property management company or other professionals to handle these tasks?  Remember that delegating these responsibilities will add to the overall cost of owning a second home. Market timing Finally, when looking to take a big step forward in your second home journey, you'll want to look at the home market conditions. Many properties are available in a buyer's market, and buyers have more negotiating power. In a seller's market, high demand and low inventory give sellers the upper hand.  Understanding the current market conditions will help you set realistic expectations, develop an effective negotiation strategy and help you determine if now is the right time to buy.  How do I buy a second home with Pacaso? Now that you know how to buy a second home, it’s time to explore your options. If turnkey luxury and simplicity appeal to you, co-ownership with Pacaso offers a modern alternative to traditional second home ownership. If you’re unfamiliar with Here are 11 steps to follow if you’re wondering how to buy a second home with Pacaso.  1. Find a second home you love From there, you can explore each destination and the homes available within it, picturing what life could look like in every location. Each destination page brings the area to life, showcasing Pacaso homes through rich photography, detailed descriptions, and a true sense of how it feels to live there. Every Pacaso home is hand-selected and 2. Talk to us We’re excited to share all the details about our homes. If you’re not sure which one is best for your needs, we’ll go through each home’s unique attributes and location to help you decide.  You can easily schedule a time to talk with one of our Crew members from any listing details page, or if you have general questions about co-ownership, you’re welcome to get in touch via our 3. Take a tour  Touring is an important step in buying a vacation home. We’ll give you all the information we have about the home, but seeing is believing. While you’re on the call with our Crew member, they can arrange a time for you to tour the home. Buyers can schedule a virtual tour, an in-person tour, or 4. Say yes!       You talked, you toured, you fell in love, and you’ve decided on owning a vacation home! We’ll walk you through the purchase process and paperwork, and our Crew will make sure you understand all the terminology related to co-ownership, such as: We want you to feel confident in the process, so ask as many questions as you’d like. Once you’re ready to proceed, you’ll reserve your share with a 10% deposit. 5. Secure second home financing  If you’re interested in The approval process is straightforward and fast. Once all documents are provided, typically your most recent pay stub, bank statement and tax return, approval takes just a few days. You also have the option to pay all cash or take out a HELOC or personal line of credit through a lender of your choice. 6. Close on your new second home Your journey begins by reserving your share and signing the residential purchase agreement. You’ll submit a deposit equal to 10% of the share price, officially kicking off the closing process.  From there, you’ll receive two sets of documents to review and sign. These include familiar items, such as the inspection report and seller disclosures, as well as Pacaso-specific agreements that outline how the home is managed and owned through our property LLC structure. If you choose to finance a portion of your purchase, our team will work with you to collect the required financial information and keep things moving smoothly. As closing approaches, we’ll schedule a check-in call to review your final closing statement, confirm wire instructions for the remaining funds, and verify that everything is in place, including your first stay date. Once the transaction is complete, congratulations are in order: you’re officially a Pacaso owner. After closing, you’ll transition into onboarding, where you’ll meet your Home Manager, download the Pacaso app, and start booking stays. From there, all that’s left to do is settle in and enjoy your new second home. 7. Get ready for vacation home bliss Congratulations on owning a vacation home with Pacaso! Our commitment to owners doesn’t end at closing. We assign a 8. Book your stays You can begin scheduling stays after completion, and the property will be ready for your enjoyment as soon as all upgrades to the property are completed. As an owner, you have ongoing access to the property, and you can quickly and easily book multiple stays with the Pacaso app, powered by our 9. Experience the ease of fully managed ownership One of the best things about buying a vacation home? It’s all yours! One of the worst things? It’s all your responsibility. The hassles of vacation home ownership can take a lot of joy out of the experience.  Pacaso’s fully managed co-ownership model gives you the benefits of vacation home ownership without all the headaches. We take care of maintenance, repairs and cleaning; manage payments for utilities, insurance and taxes; oversee 10. Flex your ownership muscles Pacaso’s management services are designed to make your ownership experience easier, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have a voice. In fact, you and your property’s co-owners have 100% ownership of the property once all shares are sold, which means your co-ownership group has decision-making authority.   Here’s how this works in practice: Owners can bring major issues about their property to a vote of the co-ownership group, and every share owned holds one vote. A major issue might be a costly property upgrade, like the installation of a hot tub.  To call for a vote, you would get in touch with your home management team. Routine maintenance and necessary repairs (such as replacing a broken dishwasher) are handled by Pacaso and do not require a vote. 11. Feel confident if it’s time to move on We think you’ll love your Pacaso for years to come, but life evolves, and your ownership can evolve with it. If your needs change, you’re free to Why is buying a second home with Pacaso the smart choice? For buyers who want to reduce upfront costs without the complexity of no-down-payment strategies, You can From luxury homes in premier destinations to professional property management, Pacaso provides everything you need to make ownership simpler and more enjoyable. Whether you're just beginning to explore or ready to take the next step,

When buyers ask what a turnkey home entails, they’re usually trying to understand whether a house truly requires zero renovation work before it’s livable. While typical turnkey properties aren’t automatically furnished, many homes in luxury and second-home markets do include curated furnishings, décor and smart-home features to create a genuinely ready-to-use experience. How do turnkey homes work for second-home buyers? Turnkey homes offer unique value for second-home buyers, especially those For second-home owners, time is precious. A turnkey home lets you focus on making memories, not managing permits, interviewing contractors or coordinating deliveries. Whether your second home is a beach retreat or a And because everything is finished before closing, you experience faster access to the lifestyle you’re working toward, like meaningful time with family, stress-free travel and comfortable stays throughout the year. What’s included in a turnkey home? While every property is different, most turnkey homes share a set of core qualities. These features give buyers confidence that they won't need to make immediate repairs or updates. Here's what's usually included in a turnkey home: In Together, these features make it possible to start living in the home right away, with little to no prep work on your part. What are the pros of buying a turnkey home? Turnkey homes are appealing for many reasons. They offer an experience built on convenience, comfort, and clarity. Here are some of the benefits of buying a turnkey home: For second-home buyers, the ability to enjoy your home immediately without stress or delays is often the biggest advantage. What are the cons of buying a turnkey home? Turnkey homes also have a few trade-offs, especially if customization or cost savings are top priorities. Here’s what you’ll need to look out for when buying turnkey properties: A turnkey property should offer genuine readiness. The proper documentation will help you confirm that. Who is a turnkey home right for? Turnkey homes are an excellent fit for buyers who want to spend less time coordinating projects and more time actually enjoying their home. They’re especially appealing to people with full schedules who prefer a space that’s fully prepared from day one. Out-of-state and On the other hand, buyers who love hands-on customization or who enjoy shaping a property to their exact preferences may feel limited by a home that’s already completed. Those who thrive on renovation projects often find a fixer-upper more satisfying. These buyers typically prioritize the control and potential transformation that come with renovating, while turnkey buyers prioritize convenience, predictability and immediate comfort. What should you consider before buying a turnkey home? Before buying a turnkey home, it’s important to take a thoughtful look at the property’s quality, history and documentation so you know exactly what “move-in ready” truly means. Even when a home is labeled turnkey property or turnkey home in real estate listings, the level of work completed can vary widely, so due diligence is essential. Questions to ask the builder or seller When evaluating what is included in a turnkey home, ask the builder or seller detailed questions to better understand the scope and quality of updates. Confirm whether improvements were cosmetic or structural, how recently they were completed and whether licensed contractors performed the work.  Here are some questions to ask during the walkthrough: How do you verify a listing is truly move-in ready? To verify that a listing is genuinely turnkey, request documentation that reflects the quality of the work. This may include inspection reports, permits for structural changes, receipts from contractors or proof of recent servicing for major systems.  A true turnkey property will have consistent updates across the home, modern mechanical systems and completed spaces with no unfinished rooms or outdated features. When inspecting the home, pay attention to common signs that the home isn’t fully turnkey, such as mismatched finishes, older electrical panels, aging HVAC units or partially updated kitchens and bathrooms. What are the cost expectations for turnkey homes? Turnkey homes often come with a higher upfront purchase price because the improvements, design work and system updates have already been completed for you. However, buyers typically save money and time by avoiding renovation expenses, travel for project oversight and the unpredictable costs that come with fixer-uppers.  Turnkey home vs. fixer-upper: what’s the difference? A turnkey home is all about readiness. It’s complete, polished and requires no immediate work. A fixer-upper, on the other hand, is a property that needs renovation, repair or modernization before it feels complete. Turnkey homes streamline the experience from day one, allowing buyers to arrive and enjoy their vacation home with peace of mind. Fixer-uppers appeal to those who want the creative freedom to customize deeply and are comfortable navigating updates, delays and long-term projects. As you compare your options, weigh the immediate convenience and clarity of a turnkey home against the potentially lower upfront cost of a home that requires additional work. For many second-home buyers looking for ease, speed and comfort, the turnkey route offers a smoother path into ownership. How do you find a turnkey home?  Turnkey homes are especially common in second-home markets and desirable vacation destinations. When browsing listings, look for descriptions like “move-in ready” or “recently renovated.” Also, verify that the features align with your expectations for readiness, as not every home labeled “turnkey” meets the same standard of quality. Pacaso offers How can Pacaso help you find your turnkey home? Pacaso simplifies second home ownership by offering Whether you’re right-sizing your time away or exploring new destinations, Pacaso makes second-home living more seamless, ensuring your turnkey home is ready from the moment you walk in the door.

A second home down payment is more manageable than most buyers expect, as long as the funding source actually fits your financial picture. Most articles on the topic list ten options and leave you to figure out which one applies. This guide does the opposite: it shows you how much you actually need by loan type and price point, then walks through the smartest down payment options for four common buyer profiles. It also shows where co-ownership fits, because for many would-be buyers it solves the down payment problem before you ever fill out a mortgage application. For a conventional loan on a single-family second home, expect to put down at least 10% if your credit, debt-to-income ratio, and cash reserves are strong. In practice, most lenders push that closer to 15% to 20%, and jumbo loans on higher-priced vacation homes typically require 20% to 25% down.  The reason is risk: lenders assume that if a borrower runs into financial trouble, they will keep paying the mortgage on their primary residence before their vacation home, so they offset that risk with a larger second home down payment, a higher credit score floor, and stricter cash reserve requirements. Beyond the down payment itself, you should be ready to document two to six months of cash reserves on top of closing costs, hold a credit score of at least 640 (700+ is ideal), keep your total debt-to-income ratio at or below 43%, and confirm the home meets Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac second home occupancy rules, typically a one-unit, year-round property located at least 50 to 100 miles from your primary residence. Not every loan product is on the table when you are The percentage is only half the picture. The other half is the dollar figure you actually need at the closing table. Here is what a down payment on a vacation home looks like across common second home price points. For most buyers shopping in the $750,000 to $1.5 million range that defines today's second home market, that means $75,000 on the low end and $375,000 on the high end, before closing costs, furnishings, and reserves. The size of that check is exactly why The table above uses standard percentages, but your own numbers depend on your target price, loan type, and closing costs. Use the home down payment calculator below to enter your own inputs and see your results instantly, no manual math required. The calculator takes the guesswork out of affordability by breaking the math into a few simple steps. The more accurate your inputs, the more helpful your results will be. Here is a quick example: say your target home price is $1,000,000 and your lender requires 20% down. Multiply $1,000,000 by 0.20 and your down payment comes to $200,000. The same formula works at any price point or percentage, which is useful for a fast gut check before you open the calculator above. If you’re wondering how to buy a second home with a low down payment, co-ownership rewrites the math because the second home down payment is calculated against the share you actually buy, not the full value of the home. Pacaso allows buyers to purchase a share (1/8 to 1/2) of a fully managed luxury home through a For a deeper walk-through of how co-ownership works alongside conventional financing, see Pacaso's The right down payment options for second home purchases depend on where most of your wealth sits today. Four profiles cover the majority of real-world buyers. If your primary residence has appreciated and you have at least 30% to 40% equity, a HELOC or cash-out refinance is usually the cheapest and fastest source of down payment cash. You access the equity without selling, deduct mortgage interest where eligible, and avoid liquidating investments. Pacaso has a focused walk-through on using High earners often run into a timing problem rather than a wealth problem. The best down payment options here are a conventional loan with 10% down (accepting PMI), gift funds from family (documented per Fannie Mae guidelines), seller financing for part of the down payment, or co-ownership, which reduces the cash hurdle by an order of magnitude. If your wealth is concentrated in retirement accounts, taxable brokerage, or your existing home, asset-depletion mortgages and securities-backed lines of credit let you qualify and fund a second home down payment without selling appreciated positions or triggering big tax bills. Co-ownership is also a natural fit at this life stage, since you get the home you want without tying up retirement liquidity in a single illiquid asset. Expect to put at least 10% to 15% down, and budget for closing costs of 2% to 5% on top. If you are unsure whether to go full ownership or test the waters first, co-ownership is the lower-risk on-ramp: a deeded share, fully managed, with a clear resale path. Pacaso's Across the buyer profiles above, six funding sources do most of the work. The smartest choice is the one that fits your balance sheet, not the one with the lowest headline rate. For a side-by-side cost comparison of these paths, the Pacaso shrinks the second home down payment problem in three concrete ways.  The result is a true real estate asset, with a deeded LLC interest, in a luxury market you might otherwise be priced out of. To see what is available in your preferred destination,

If your dream is to We’ll share the top seven financing differences between investment properties and second homes to better understand both options. Plus, we’ll cover the tax considerations that may affect the type of second home you choose. What is a second home? A second home is a dwelling you own in addition to your Note that the way lenders classify second homes, vacation homes and investment properties can vary. What is an investment property? An investment property is an asset you buy with the intention of generating income through rent or value appreciation. A What are the 7 financial differences between a second home and an investment property? When it comes to financing, investment property and second home requirements can differ greatly. Investment properties tend to have stricter requirements, such as higher mortgage rates, a more substantial down payment and a higher credit score requirement. However, investment properties may result in substantial income or qualify for more desirable tax breaks.  Here’s an overview of how each To better understand how to begin financing investment property and 1. Mortgage interest rates Even with the same amount of money down and the same home loan length, a mortgage for an investment property will almost always carry a higher mortgage interest rate than a loan for a second home.  This is more than just a percentage; it results in a higher monthly payment, which can add tens or hundreds of dollars to the overall cost over a 15- or 30-year period. For example, a 1% increase in a mortgage rate (say, from 6% to 7%) on a $ 3 million home can add $700,000 in interest over the course of a 30-year loan. 2. Down payments According to the 3. Debt-to-income (DTI) ratio According to You should also aim for a DTI of 45% or less to increase your chances of securing an investment property or a second home mortgage. Keeping your debt ratio below 45% shows lenders that you’re financially stable and in control of your debt, which increases the chances of approval. This is because borrowers have more of a financial cushion, which lowers the perceived risk of non-payment to lenders. 4. Closing costs Lenders often charge higher origination fees (or closing costs) for investment properties than for second homes, often at a rate of 2% to 5% in comparison to the traditional 0.5% or 1% charged on a second home mortgage. 5. Income reporting Because an investment property can earn you additional income through rental or resale, mortgage lenders will often include potential future profits when calculating your DTI for a rental property. This, in turn, may mean that lenders will offer you a larger loan with more certainty that you can repay with rental proceeds. You won’t have that perk with 6. Number of units For a second home, you are only allowed a mortgage on a single-unit property. For an investment property or rental property, you can get a mortgage on a property of up to four units. This lets you scale your earnings and build a rental portfolio much quicker than buying separate accommodations. 7. Cash reserves Cash reserves are necessary for a second home or vacation home, which refers to an amount of liquid cash on hand for any home expenses. A mortgage for a second home will require you to have a minimum of two months of cash reserves on hand. For an investment property, you will need a minimum of six months’ cash reserves. Aside from having a firm grasp on investment property and second home mortgage rules, it’s important to understand the tax implications of both options. It’s also smart to consult with your tax adviser. Let’s break down the tax considerations and take a look at how the IRS handles second homes vs investment properties. 1. Mortgage interest While mortgage interest on a second home is often deductible for personal use, it can also be claimed as a business expense for an investment property, potentially providing 2. Property taxes You can potentially deduct the property 3. Rental income Income you earn from your 4. Home equity loan interest Interest on a home equity loan for a second home may be deductible. In contrast, interest on a home equity loan for an investment property is generally deductible as a business expense. Now that you’re aware of the major differences between a second home vs. an investment property, it’s time to decide which option best suits your needs. If you decide that With

For Nina and Kristian Giordano, owning a beach home in Years ago, during the pandemic, they were staying in a rental near the water. One afternoon, sitting quietly on a balcony, Kristian noticed the beautiful home next door. At that moment, something clicked. Kristian recalls thinking to himself, “Somehow, some way, we’re going to make this happen.” At the time, it felt unrealistic. The home was listed for millions, far outside what they imagined was possible. Still, the idea stayed with them. It became part of their story — a shared dream they carried forward. Years later, Nina stumbled upon the same house while browsing listings. This time, the price looked different. As they researched further, they discovered Pacaso and learned about co-ownership. Suddenly, what once felt impossible felt achievable. “This was our dream house,” Nina says. “And it’s been a dream of ours forever.” A home that fits real life Living just 15 minutes away in La Mesa, Nina and Kristian didn’t want a vacation home that pulled them away from their everyday responsibilities. With four kids, school schedules, sports practices, and family routines were always part of their lives. What they wanted was balance. And with their Pacaso home, they found it. They can spend the night by the beach, wake up to ocean air, and still make it back in time for school drop-offs and afternoon practices. There’s no pressure to “make the most” of every trip, no long drives, no complicated planning. “We love staycations, and I feel like that’s what our Pacaso home feels like. But it also feels like home.” It’s a place where vacation and real life blend together naturally. Every time Nina walks through the front door, she feels it. “The first thing I do is open those doors and just kind of a relief, a sigh.” The view, the light, and the quiet immediately shift her mindset. “You feel like you’re miles away. In reality, we’re 15 minutes from home.” Watch the video to hear what else Nina and Kristian love about their San Diego beach second home. Where family always finds its way back Family has always been the foundation of Nina and Kristian’s lives. “Family is the main reason I exist,” Kristian says. With four children and now a grandchild, their Pacaso home has naturally become the place everyone gravitates toward. It’s where birthdays are celebrated, holidays unfold, and spontaneous weekends turn into cherished memories. Cousins arrive together. Kids bring friends. Aunts and uncles drop by. The house fills with voices, laughter, and shared meals. Big dinners stretch late into the evening. Barbecues turn into all-day gatherings. Beach walks become group adventures. No one feels rushed. No one feels like a guest. “It really, truly feels like home,” Nina says. What they treasure most is the quality of time they spend together. “It’s different here. Quality time with your family is what’s most important. This is creating everlasting memories.” Everyday moments that become traditions Some of the Giordanos’ favorite memories are built around simple rituals. On warm afternoons, Kristian fires up the grill, and kids run in and out of the house while music plays in the background. As evening comes, everyone gathers around the fire pit to roast marshmallows and tell stories. During the summer, nights often end on the rooftop. From there, they can see fireworks from SeaWorld San Diego lighting up the sky across the bay. “We set timers and race upstairs,” Nina says. “Watching fireworks from your own house is pretty magical.” Inside, the home offers just as much comfort. After long days filled with activity, everyone finds their own way to relax. Some curl up with a book on the balcony, while others head to their rooms. Nina often retreats to the primary bathroom for a quiet bubble bath. “After a long, busy day, everybody has a place to relax and unwind.” The home is designed for both connection and privacy — large enough to gather, yet intimate enough to feel personal. A sense of calm you can feel Their primary home is where life happens: early mornings, packed lunches, work calls, homework, and responsibilities. Their Pacaso home is where life slows. “At home, you’re in your routine,” Nina explains. “Here, you walk in and feel like you’re on vacation.” The calm here feels intentional. It’s built into the layout, the light, the view, and the atmosphere. It invites them to pause. “The sense of calm is very different than walking into a house with kids running around.” Even arrival feels effortless. They don’t worry about restocking supplies, cleaning, or repairs. Everything is prepared when they arrive. “I literally bring clothes and that’s it,” Kristian says. “You show up and you’re home.” That simplicity allows them to focus entirely on being present. Opening the door to new experiences with Pacaso Global Swap What started as a beach retreat soon became something more. Through Pacaso’s Global Swap feature, Nina and Kristian began traveling in ways they never expected. In just one year, they stayed in Pacaso homes in Paris, Jackson Hole, Lake Arrowhead, and Newport Beach. Each destination brought new perspectives, and these experiences have reshaped how they think about the future. .“It’s like owning 10 homes instead of one,” Kristian says. “Paris really opened our eyes,” he adds. “It showed us what the next 10, 20, 30 years could look like.” As Kristian steps into semi-retirement and their children become more independent, the access they get with Pacaso Global Swap has become a meaningful way for them to reconnect as a couple. “Family time. Family memories. Forever.” For the Giordanos, Pacaso isn’t just about owning a beautiful property. It’s about how that property fits seamlessly into and enriches their lives. It’s about arriving without stress, gathering everyone in one place, slowing down together, and making space for what matters. When asked to describe their experience, their answer comes easily. “Family time. Family memories. Forever.” From a dream sparked on a balcony to a home filled with generations of laughter, Nina and Kristian’s Pacaso story is about building a legacy of connection — one weekend, one trip, and one memory at a time.

Owner Alison Davis shares how Pacaso helps her family building memories near and far Austin Allison, CEO of Pacaso, sits down with Alison Davis — a Pacaso board member and owner of two beautiful vacation homes — to discuss how co-ownership has enriched her family’s life. Joined by her adult children Tallulah and Felix, Alison shares how her Pacaso homes in Tahoe and London have enabled special place for her busy family to reconnect, host friends and gather with extended loved ones. This intimate fireside chat also highlights prioritizing experiences, create lasting memories, and find meaningful moments together amidst life’s hectic pace. Key takeaways:

Lake Tahoe has always been a special place for Christianne and John. When finances made it difficult for them to continue owning there, they made the heartbreaking decision to sell their home. When the couple discovered Pacaso co-ownership, however, they realized they didn’t have to say goodbye to their dream after all. "The first time we came in and stayed at our Pacaso, I just couldn’t believe the dream had come true for us, in a way that we could’ve never imagined," said Christianne shared. Watch to see Christianne and John’s favorite things about their Tahoe home, plus Pacaso’s due diligence in the community response to co-ownership. Pacaso makes a second home possible and enjoyable for more people.

Jim and Jun wanted to own a second home in Palm Springs, a place they’ve been visiting for years. Jim hadn’t used his previous vacation homes as much as he had hoped, so co-owning made sense to him. Pacaso enabled the couple to make their budget go further and purchase a beautiful home that fits their schedule, supplies all the amenities they need, and offers them true ownership. “This is my property, and I want to take care of it,” said Jim. “We would absolutely [buy] another interest in a Pacaso. It’s a great setup, everything is taken care of for you, and it really fills a niche in the market.” Watch the video to hear what else Jim and Jun love about their Palm Springs second home.

Mike and Rita wanted nothing more than to have a place for everyone in their family to enjoy. From the moment they stepped into their new home, the two grandparents knew immediately they had made the right choice. A Pacaso in Newport Beach was everything they desired in a second home. From the amenities and location to Pacaso’s ongoing support, every detail has made it “feel like home.” Mike and Rita’s calendar is packed with upcoming celebrations, get-togethers and special occasions. “There’s going to be amazing memories made,” said Rita. “As a grandmother, that is my main job. And I think it’s going to be quite easy.” Watch the video to hear what else Mike and Rita love about their Newport Beach second home.

Will and Julia live in the Bay Area, just south of San Francisco in the communities of Redwood City and Menlo Park, respectively. They each have two teenage children, and they enjoy spending time with their combined family in the quieter, more verdant Napa Valley.  “We both have a love of Napa, and we were going up there five or six times a year,” said Will. Over time, we started talking about getting a place there — we were spending a fortune on hotels.”  Even though hotels weren’t cheap, a second home in the Working through the details Julia had some initial concerns and questions about the Will said that Pacaso’s level of service was an important factor in their purchase, giving him and Julia the confidence to move forward. “From the start to today, working with Pacaso at all levels, everyone has been fantastic. If there’s been an issue, they’ve consistently worked through it and found equitable solutions.”  The joy of shared home ownership From their first stay, Will and Julia knew they’d made the right decision. “It was a ‘pinch me’ moment,” said Julia. “I remember thinking, ‘Is this real? Did we really do this?’ And then I said, ‘We’re home!’” Since trading up hotel stays for time at their Pacaso, they can attest to the difference that ownership brings. “Having a piece of something, somewhere, that you can come to and call your own is a wonderful feeling. It’s easy to fall in love with the home and the community,” said Will. And, unlike a hotel, it’s a special gathering place for their loved ones, said Julia. “Being able to come together and make memories with family and friends is one of my favorite parts of owning our Pacaso.” Plus, said Julia, it’s always ready for them when they arrive. “It’s such a benefit being able to come in and have our home be clean and set up with everything we need, and then not having to worry about doing a bunch of cleaning before we leave.” Life at their Pacaso Whether they’re spending time at their second home with family, friends or just each other, the experience is one of ease, pleasure and joy. “We live differently when we’re there,” said Will. “We’ll walk downtown to get croissants, then come back and open up the doors to the backyard and the sun will be streaming in — it’s something else.” Julia added, “Whenever we arrive, Will always says, ‘I can feel my blood pressure drop.’ It’s such a good feeling.”  They like to walk around the neighborhood, strolling through the forest to enjoy the magnificent redwoods, or walking downtown to have dinner or pick up groceries. “The neighborhood is really friendly. Everyone says hello and good morning — it’s a nice, small-town feel.” And if they’re not up for a walk? “Sometimes we just stay at the pool all weekend to relax and rejuvenate,” said Julia. It was during one of those poolside moments that Will realized how fortunate he and Julia were to have this experience of owning a second home: “I brought a lawn chair down to the pool, put the umbrella up, and was reading an Agatha Christie book, drink in hand — it was beautifully sunny, and Julia was next to me, and I was thinking to myself, ‘If this ain’t why we’re living, I don’t know what is.’ It was just a wonderful moment.” Find your second home in California wine country Ready to enrich your life with a second home in Napa Valley? Explore

Before becoming Pacaso owners, frequent travelers Byron and Elizabeth hadn't thought much about buying a second home — at the time, they didn't own their primary residence, and they enjoyed seeing new places. While they liked exploring different towns along the Northern California coast, it took planning. "We were spending a lot of time and energy finding places to stay," said Elizabeth.  They had several friends in St. Helena, a Napa Valley town within an easy drive of their Bay Area home, and they visited the area fairly often. They had toyed with the idea of buying property there, but it didn't seem like a realistic option. "It's really hard to find properties in St. Helena, and a full-time second home wasn't in the cards," said Byron. But then an interesting opportunity presented itself: Some friends of theirs, Jay and Michael, had decided to "sell down" part of their St. Helena home to Pacaso. The home, known as the Poolhouse, was Pacaso's first property, and Byron and Elizabeth had fond memories of the times they'd spent there in the past.  Seizing the opportunity  Being able to buy a share of the Poolhouse seemed like a stroke of good fortune. "Owning a whole second home was a barrier financially, and it didn't make sense for us when we considered the maintenance and upkeep for a place where we wouldn't spend that much time," said Byron.  Co-ownership with Pacaso seemed like an ideal option — they already knew and loved the home and the area, they wouldn't have to worry about any maintenance headaches, and the ability to right-size their ownership provided the flexibility they craved. "We like to travel a lot and didn't want to have to spend all of our vacation time at a second home."  Most importantly, it was financially attainable, with the help of Pacaso's financing option. "Financing made it possible and kept costs down to a reasonable amount. It balanced out to about what we pay for the average weekend a month we spend on a short family trip, or less than what we would spend on a vacation rental." Still, it was a new model, and they needed to feel assured that it worked for their needs. " "Once we understood the transaction and how everything worked, we felt comfortable and it was really a no-brainer at that point,"said Byron. Time in their Napa home Having young children — 3-year-old twins — hasn't dampened Byron and Elizabeth's interest in travel, but it has changed their perspective on second home ownership. "We really like the feeling of ownership over a vacation rental because we get to spend time in a place where we can make memories together. The kids look forward to coming here, and they understand that it's our Napa house and they get to play in the pool and see friends who live up here," said Elizabeth.  And that sense of connection and consistency is unique to ownership, said Elizabeth. "We feel like we're part of the community even though we're part time. You don't get that familiarity and memories at a rental or a hotel. You have a nice time, but there's nothing sentimental or special."  Sometimes those memories are part of the flow of daily life, like meeting up with local friends to watch their son's Little League game at Crane Park. Other times they are moments to cherish, like celebrating the twins' birthday at their Pacaso with both sets of grandparents who they hadn't been able to see in over a year.  And best of all, creating memories doesn't come with any added stress. "Owning our Pacaso is effortless," said Elizabeth. "We don't have to do any extra planning or work, and we know the house will be the same as when we left it. It's turnkey ownership, and we just show up and enjoy ourselves — we don't have to worry about the details."

Pacaso is more than just a place to stay — it's a gathering place where your extended family can create memories made possible only in a vacation home. This is true for Derick and Karen Ball, who found Pacaso's luxury amenities, dedicated property management and exceptional financing to be the perfect fit for their needs. "The memories that we make here, with family and friends — these are experiences that you can’t buy and you can’t get at a hotel,” said Derick. "It’s quantity time, but also the quality time within it." Watch below to learn more about the Ball family and how they create extended family moments in their Pacaso home. Pacaso makes a second home possible and enjoyable for more people.

Chris and Julie previously owned a second home in South Lake Tahoe, using it for family vacations and as a rental. “We love the idea of having a home, but we didn’t need it full time. The workload that went into renting it out — there was a lot,” Chris said. “We did great with it, but it was a lot of work.” They sold the property in 2020 and started looking for a more manageable home on the north end of Lake Tahoe. During their search, they came across Pacaso’s co-ownership program. Chris and Julie were won over by Pacaso’s price, flexibility and amenities, and the true ownership experience stood out. New, comfortable and impressive The couple loved the idea of owning new construction at a price within their budget. “We figured, the new home aspect would be less wear and tear in the long term,” Julie shared. In addition, since Julie and Chris consider themselves as more “summer people,” a new home in a different area of Tahoe would provide more options for enjoyment.  But it’s not just the newness of the property — the couple is amazed by the home’s design and feel. “I think the most difficult part is having to come home to our main home,” said Julie, who’s a fan of interior design. “I love this house, and it is amazing. I think the design team did a phenomenal job.” As owners who had rented out their second home, the couple also appreciates how Pacaso takes care of the maintenance and adds special touches to make them feel at home. “The hot tub, furnishings, outdoor furniture and fire pits are all comfortable. You have everything you need that you can think of, and that makes me feel really good,” said Chris. “We’re going to impress our family and friends whenever we go there. And we’re always going to have a comfortable stay because of that.” Julie added, “It’s really nice just to be able to walk in and not have to do anything.” Julie and Chris aren’t the only ones who are impressed. On a recent stay, the couple’s daughter and dog didn’t want to leave. “That was a really good sign the Pacaso team did well,” Chris said. The perks of true ownership Simplicity and comfort aside, a massive benefit for Chris and Julie was having true ownership in their second home. “There’s a sense of pride when you own a piece of a home. One thing that resonated with me during our last experience was that we did build a lot of traditions,” Julie said. “And it felt nice to have the same place to go to and make it your own. And it is your own.” This feeling of ownership makes their new Pacaso different from other offerings on the market. “I think there’s a lot of misconception out there with it being a timeshare,” said Julie. “It’s not a timeshare — we’re owning a home with eight people. We are able to have access to Tahoe and a beautiful home that we would not be able to afford on our own.” A second home is a special place With more moments on the schedule and plans to pass the home to their daughter, the couple views their Tahoe home as more than just a second home — it’s about going to a beloved destination that holds special meaning in their family. “I think our second home is an extension of our primary home and an extension of our family,” said Chris. “We can’t say that about our current home as much as we love it, because — at some point — you transition out of your primary home. But with a second home, it’s always going to be a place we go to that matters.” Look forward to coming to Tahoe Looking for a place to make memories in Lake Tahoe? When you co-own a Pacaso, you enjoy hassle-free ownership in a beautiful property that feels like home — because it is. Check out our

For Susan and Jason, Napa Valley had long felt like a home away from home. They live less than two hours away in Burlingame, and wine is Jason’s business — in fact, he owns a wine bar, and frequent trips to Napa and Sonoma Valley are part of the job. But wine country means more than that to the family, said Susan. “Jason is in the wine industry, so Napa is important for that reason, but we also love the community and the change in pace of life it brings while we’re there, so it has a lot of sentimental value for us.” From ‘maybe someday’ to ‘let’s do it!’ They had thought about a second home in Napa, but the idea never went anywhere. “We’d been considering it for years, but the most we ever did was look online, and we always had the same conversation,” said Susan. “It seemed like a lot of upkeep and maintenance considering our busy jobs and lives. How often are we going to use it? Is it worth it? And then this home showed up online and we realized it was partial ownership and we thought that seemed ideal.” Although they hadn’t heard of Pacaso, they understood the concept. “We have friends in Tahoe who own a fractional property, so we were familiar with the idea. Jason was able to tour in person and took me along via FaceTime. We decided that night, and it wasn’t a hard decision! We loved the property and it seemed like a minimal risk for what we would get out of it.”  What they would get was space, true ownership in a home, and an opportunity to put down roots in an area they loved. “When you have a family and go on vacation, you end up cramming four people in a hotel or paying for a suite or multiple rooms each time,” said Susan. “That’s not nearly as appealing as having space for not just family, but also friends, and being able to own it and sell it — those were all the things our friends loved about their Tahoe place, which, in part, is what convinced us to move forward with Pacaso.”  A short drive, a world away Getting out of the city and having a place to relax, with minimal effort, is a dream come true, said Susan. “Being able to just pack up and be there in under two hours is wonderful. You just feel the stress melt away as you get closer to the house.”  Susan and Jason’s Pacaso is situated on an acre and a half in a neighborhood they described as almost farmlike. “It’s close to downtown but you feel like you’re in the middle of nowhere. The kids love to walk down the drive and feed the goats across the street. We live in a city, so having all this space, a pool, playing bocce ball, making s’mores — it’s great, and the kids don’t want to leave.” In addition to making friends with the neighborhood goats, the family looks forward to developing closer connections within the Comfort and ease Leisurely days spent by the pool or exploring local parks are possible in part because Susan and Jason don’t have to invest time and energy in the home itself. “The house is very thoughtfully appointed, and the fact that we don’t have to worry about the maintenance is even better,” said Jason. “From our first stay, it immediately felt very comfortable, and there was clearly a lot of thought put into the way the home was stocked from appliances to glassware and bedding. The personal touches like games are really nice too.” Susan added, “There’s a lot less screen time when we’re there because there’s so much other stuff to do, like playing family games.” The themes of home, ownership and ease have been core to Susan and Jason’s And for Jason, the consistency you can expect from a home you own offers peace of mind — especially when you don’t have to deal with the hassles yourself. “There’s a comfort level in going back to the same place — you know where everything is, you know how to work the TV and the pool and set everything up the way you want it. But we’re not responsible — it’s the actual joys of homeownership.”  Make Napa your second home destination Pacaso puts second home ownership within reach for families, with listings in some of the most desirable destinations. And our Family-Friendly Second Homes™ make it easy to just show up and relax — from cribs and high chairs, to games, pool floaties, streaming services and more, we have you (and your kids) covered. Check out our

The second home real estate market in 2026 is best understood in two tiers: the broader housing market, which has navigated the weight of elevated mortgage rates and affordability constraints, and the luxury second home segment, which continues to demonstrate remarkable strength. At the macro level, the U.S. housing market has been in a period of rebalancing. Median home prices reached a new all-time high of $446,000 in June 2025, with the full-year 2025 average tracking about 1.7% above 2024 levels, according to Redfin data. Active listings surged roughly 33.7% year-over-year in 2025, inventory relief not seen in recent memory, yet overall home sales remained sluggish as affordability kept buyers sidelined. Mortgage rates, while easing modestly after three Fed cuts in 2025, have remained in the mid-to-high 6% range, continuing to constrain primary market demand. The second home housing market tells a different story. Affluent buyers purchasing luxury second homes are less dependent on financing, with close to half of luxury home transactions completed in cash in recent years. This structural insulation means the second home market, especially at the luxury tier, has continued to attract serious buyers even as the primary market cools. According to Pacaso's fourth annual The latest housing market research consistently reinforces that demand for luxury second homes has held firm through rate volatility, economic uncertainty, and shifting work patterns. Pacaso's ongoing analysis of second home mortgage rate lock data, one of the most reliable indicators of second home buying activity, has tracked this resilience across multiple market cycles.  When broader second home mortgage rate lock shares fell below pre-pandemic levels in 2022, Pacaso's research showed the decline was concentrated in the median-to-lower end of the market. Luxury second homes priced above $1 million made up approximately 12% of all second home mortgage rate locks, with median prices holding relatively flat year-over-year even as rates climbed. The Agency's 2025 Red Paper further confirmed the bifurcation: the number of U.S. homes sold for $1 million or more grew 5.2% in the first half of 2024, and median prices for high-end properties climbed 14.2%. This starkly contrasted the broader market, where overall home sales fell 12.9% in the same period. Pacaso's Second Home Attitude Report, a survey of more than 1,000 current and aspiring second homeowners with household incomes of $150,000 or more, also revealed a key motivational insight: affluent consumers increasingly view real estate as a stable asset class.  Research shows that since 1980, real estate has remained more stable than typical stock market indexes during periods of economic uncertainty, which continues to drive high-net-worth buyers toward the The luxury market's steady momentum is further supported by a two-year inventory high, which is giving buyers more choice and negotiating power. Globally, the luxury real estate category is projected to grow at a 6.9% CAGR through 2035, with North America accounting for approximately 30% of market share. For affluent investors seeking leading second-home markets with strong ROI, Pacaso's annual market reports have consistently surfaced a combination of legacy destinations and emerging hotspots. Legacy second home markets with enduring appeal Cape May County, New Jersey claimed the top spot in Pacaso's 2024 Top Vacation Home Markets Report, with second homes making up more than 150% of the ratio of second to primary homes. Average vacation home prices remain above $1 million, reflecting Cape May's status as a premier East Coast coastal destination with timeless demand. Newport County, Rhode Island demonstrated extraordinary transaction momentum, recording a 64% surge in second home transactions in 2023, the largest year-over-year increase among all tracked markets. Fairfield County, Connecticut and Westchester County, New York also ranked in the top tier as metro-adjacent markets appealing to New York City buyers seeking accessible escapes. Beaufort and Charleston counties in South Carolina continue to attract affluent second-home buyers with their coastal charm and Southern appeal. Pacaso CEO, Austin Allison, has cited Hilton Head and Kiawah Island specifically as first-mover East Coast markets where co-ownership demand has been especially strong. Emerging second home markets with appreciation potential Several markets have broken out as new leaders for appreciation-focused buyers: The destination dupe trend Pacaso's market analysis has also identified a growing "destination dupe" trend among second home buyers: the search for more affordable markets that offer comparable amenities, outdoor access, and quality of life to well-known high-priced destinations.  Examples include Bald Head Island, NC (as an alternative to Kiawah Island, SC), Mt. Rose, NV (as a substitute for Lake Tahoe ski resorts), and Golden, CO (as an alternative to the higher-priced Colorado mountain towns). This trend reflects buyers getting more sophisticated about where to find top second-home markets with strong ROI. The Scottsdale second home market has emerged as one of the most closely watched luxury real estate stories in recent years. According to local market data, luxury home sales priced above $1 million surged 57.7% in early 2025 compared to the same period in 2024. Even more striking, ultra-luxury properties priced above $5 million saw a 157% increase in closed sales, a sign that Scottsdale is attracting a concentration of ultra-high-net-worth capital. A key driver is that second home buyers are keeping Scottsdale's market prices stable even as some segments of the broader Phoenix metro have softened. According to market practitioners cited by KeyCrew, out-of-state affluent buyers purchasing second homes have provided critical price support, with second home purchases rather than local primary residence demand functioning as the primary market driver. Scottsdale's appeal for second home buyers is deeply rooted in lifestyle: Premium neighborhoods commanding the most second home buyer interest include Silverleaf at DC Ranch, Troon North, and Estancia, master-planned communities with private golf clubs, spa facilities, and resort-style living. For buyers seeking a lock-and-leave lifestyle, luxury condos near Old Town Scottsdale offer sophisticated urban living with immediate access to fine dining, designer shopping, and cultural venues. Market observers expect Scottsdale second home prices to remain supported by ongoing migration of high-income households, strong stock market performance, and the sustained appeal of lifestyle-driven purchases. Explore Several structural shifts are redefining how affluent buyers think about and approach the second home real estate market today. Demand resilience through rate cycles One of the most important findings from Pacaso's housing market research is that luxury second home demand has consistently proven resistant to interest rate headwinds. Because more than half of second home buyers at the luxury tier pay entirely in cash, mortgage rate fluctuations have a far smaller impact on this segment than on primary residence purchases.  While the total share of second home mortgage rate locks fell during periods of rate increases, transaction activity and appreciation for luxury homes priced above $700,000 to $1 million remained strong, a pattern that held through the rate spikes of 2022 and 2023 and has continued since. The local and metro-adjacent destination shift As premier destinations like Malibu, Aspen, and Lake Tahoe have seen accelerated price appreciation in recent years, second home buyers have increasingly pivoted to more accessible local and metro-adjacent destinations.  Buyers are seeking locations where they can get more for their money without compromising on quality of home or nearby attractions, a shift reflected in the strong performance of markets like Coeur d'Alene, ID; Williamson County, TN; and Cape Cod, MA. Resort areas within easy driving distance of major cities, like Lake Geneva, WI (between Milwaukee and Chicago) or Westchester County, NY, have emerged as key beneficiaries of this trend. Hybrid work as a lasting demand driver Flexible and remote work arrangements have permanently expanded the appeal of second home ownership. The ability to work from anywhere has made a second home far more than a weekend escape. It has become a viable base for extended stays, a meaningful alternative to hotel and vacation rental costs, and a lifestyle asset with year-round utility. This shift has been most pronounced in markets offering both natural beauty and reliable connectivity. Lifestyle-first buying criteria Today's second home buyers are increasingly prioritizing lifestyle attributes over traditional real estate metrics. According to agent insights and market research, buyers are asking about golf course views, lake access, resort community amenities, and proximity to outdoor recreation rather than just square footage or bedroom count. Properties within master-planned communities offering clubhouses, beach clubs, on-site dining, and activities accessible by golf cart are commanding premium prices and selling faster. Sustainable luxury A growing subset of luxury second home buyers is prioritizing eco-conscious features. Solar panels, energy-efficient appliances, water-efficient systems, and smart home automation are increasingly considered standard requirements in high-end second homes. Markets with natural beauty, whether desert, mountain, or coastal settings, are seeing buyers willing to pay a premium for homes that align with an environmentally conscious lifestyle. Co-ownership as a mainstream access model Perhaps the most significant structural trend in the second home real estate market is the rapid normalization of Buyers increasingly recognize the logic of right-sizing their ownership share, purchasing what they will actually use at a fraction of the full cost and without the management burden of sole ownership. Learn more about Multiple authoritative sources provide useful context for understanding where the second home market stands and where it is heading. Redfin's 2025 Housing Market Year in Review found that overall home sales remained below pre-pandemic levels, with 30% of homes purchased entirely in cash, down slightly from 31% in 2024 but still well above pre-pandemic norms. Luxury buyers remained far more likely to pay in cash, which has given them an outsized advantage in a high-rate environment. J.P. Morgan Global Research projects U.S. house prices to stall near 0% growth in 2026, reflecting a market that has largely worked through its pandemic-era surge but faces ongoing affordability headwinds. For luxury second homes, this stabilization is more opportunity than threat. With inventory at a two-year high, buyers have more selection and negotiating power than at any point since 2020. The Dallas Fed's real-time house price model showed signs of stabilization beginning in May 2025, with the trend turning less negative even after a modest first-quarter dip. The consensus view is that any correction will be shallow rather than steep, a pause in momentum rather than a significant decline. Cotality data showed that investor activity, which overlaps significantly with second home purchases, remained strong through 2025, running well above pre-pandemic norms even as overall market activity cooled. The luxury segment has benefited from the wealth effect of strong equity market performance, boosting the net worth and purchasing confidence of high-net-worth households. Pacaso's own rate lock data continues to show that second home demand is concentrated in the top-of-market price tier, with buyers in the $700,000+ range driving the most active segments of the second home housing market. The outlook for the second home market in 2026 is cautiously optimistic. Mortgage rates are expected to ease gradually, with J.P. Morgan projecting continued improvement if the Fed continues to cut rates. Home purchase applications have been rising, and growing inventory is translating into more transactions. While the overall housing market recovery will be gradual and regionally dependent, the luxury second home segment is positioned to remain one of the most resilient categories in real estate. Key dynamics shaping the second home market in 2026: Whether you are tracking second home market trends as an investor, a Pacaso is the technology-enabled marketplace that makes luxury second home co-ownership simple, transparent, and professionally managed. Instead of purchasing an entire vacation home and bearing all costs, responsibilities, and underutilization alone, Pacaso buyers purchase a hare (1/8 to 1/2) of a fully designed, furnished, and managed luxury property, giving them true real estate ownership in some of the country's most sought-after markets. Pacaso homes have appreciated in value on average, often outperforming traditional luxury homes in their local markets. With a Today, Pacaso operates in more than 40 top second home destinations across the U.S. and internationally, from Scottsdale and Palm Springs to Paris and Cabo San Lucas. Ready to explore what is available?

You keep coming back to the same streets in Paris, the same corner pub in Mayfair, the same market in Lisbon, and the thought surfaces again: what would it take to actually own a place there? Buying a second home in Europe used to mean navigating a foreign legal system, a foreign tax code, and a long list of local vendors on your own. It does not have to. This guide walks through the best places to look, what to expect as an international buyer, and how Pacaso's cross-border co-ownership in Europe gives you a real home abroad with local experts doing the heavy lifting. Europe is one of the rare places where short trips start feeling too short. A long weekend in Paris or London stretches a few days and you are already thinking about when you can come back. A second home turns that pattern into something you actually live, rather than rebook every year. Beyond the lifestyle, owning in Europe gives you a home base for the wider region. From Paris you can reach Amsterdam, Barcelona, or the Alps within a few hours. From London, the Cotswolds, Edinburgh, and Dublin are all a short hop. One home becomes a doorway to dozens of future trips with family and friends. Europe also has deep real estate markets in its most loved cities, with centuries of demand behind them. Central Paris and central London have been desirable for generations, which is part of why they remain the go-to answer for buyers searching for the best places to buy a second home in Europe. The right European city depends on how you want to spend time there: long weekends, multi-week stays, holiday seasons, or a bit of everything. A few cities Paris is the classic choice: world-class food, art, and fashion inside a city you can cross on foot. Neighborhoods like London is an English-speaking launchpad into the rest of Europe. Mayfair, Chelsea, and Knightsbridge remain anchor neighborhoods for buyers who want Georgian and Victorian townhouse living steps from parks, restaurants, and theater. It is also a natural pick if you travel on business and want a home that doubles as your European base. Lisbon, Barcelona, Florence, Milan, and Amsterdam all earn regular spots on best-of lists. Each one trades sunshine, cost, and cultural flavor differently. The common thread: pick a city you already love visiting, then decide whether you want a full-time solo purchase or a share in a home that is already set up for co-ownership. There is no single best European country to buy a second home. The honest answer is that the best country for you is the one that matches how you want to spend time, what you are comfortable managing from overseas, and which rules you are willing to work inside. A quick side-by-side helps. Pacaso is a luxury second home company that offers fully managed co-ownership of real homes in real cities. You purchase a share (1/8 to 1/2) in a property-specific LLC (or the local equivalent structure), For international homes, Pacaso layers local expertise on top of that model. Practically, that means: You keep the lifestyle of a second home in Europe. Pacaso quietly absorbs the cross-border complexity in the background. Pacaso's European portfolio is a curated collection of homes in Pacaso's Pacaso's Pacaso's Expect local transfer taxes, notary or solicitor fees, and often a foreign-buyer premium on top of the purchase price. In France, notaire fees typically run a few percent of the price. In the United Kingdom, Utilities, property management, insurance, local taxes, and maintenance are real line items whether you own a whole home or a share. With co-ownership, each owner pays their portion, and Pacaso handles the vendors and billing. Budgets are transparent and require owner approval, so there are no surprises. Buying a second home in Europe does not automatically confer residency, and it does not require it either. You own a home, you visit it, and you follow local stay limits and tax rules. Some countries offer residency pathways tied to real estate that change over time. Your Pacaso Crewmembers can flag what is currently available so you can plan with your own tax professional. Owning abroad on your own means managing a purchase in another language, another currency, and another legal system, then maintaining a home you only visit part of the year. Pacaso was built to take that weight off. Through Pacaso's cross-border co-ownership in Europe, you share ownership of a designed, What you get: a curated home in a neighborhood you actually want to live in, If you are ready to look at specific homes, you can

YIMBY stands for “Yes In My Backyard.” The phrase started as a direct counter to NIMBY (“Not In My Backyard”), which describes residents who oppose new housing or development near their homes. So when people ask what YIMBY stands for, the short answer is: it’s a pro-housing identity. People who say “yes in my backyard” believe more homes should be built, closer to jobs and transit, in more shapes and sizes than the postwar single-family default. The YIMBY movement formed in the late 2000s and grew rapidly in the 2010s as housing costs in West Coast cities outpaced wages and the U.S. fell millions of homes short of what its population needed. By 2024, the National Association of Realtors and Zillow estimated a U.S. housing shortage of roughly 4 to 4.5 million homes, and that gap has shaped almost every conversation about YIMBY housing since. Today YIMBY is bigger than a slogan. It’s a coalition of homeowners, renters, labor unions, environmental groups and elected officials who believe the answer to high prices is more homes, not fewer. When people search for “what is YIMBY” or “what is the YIMBY movement”, that is the through-line: YIMBY housing advocates argue that abundant, diverse, well-located homes are better for affordability, climate and community than blocking new construction. Most local housing fights come down to NIMBY vs YIMBY. NIMBY residents tend to support housing in the abstract but oppose specific projects nearby, often citing parking, traffic, neighborhood character or property values. YIMBY residents argue that those concerns, while real, have been used to block so much housing for so long that the cumulative effect is sky-high prices, longer commutes and exclusion of renters and lower-income workers from desirable neighborhoods. A side-by-side helps make the difference concrete: In practice, most communities sit somewhere between the extremes. A NIMBY vs YIMBY conversation is usually about how much new housing, where, and at what scale. The YIMBY movement’s contribution has been to make sure the cost of saying “no” is finally part of the conversation alongside the cost of saying “yes.” Pacaso’s inaugural Y.I.M.B.Y. Report, produced in collaboration with Greater Washington, D.C., which spans parts of Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia, ranked first. More than 70 percent of its high-demand ZIPs met the YIMBY criteria. Arlington County’s missing middle ordinance now allows two- to six-unit buildings on lots once zoned exclusively for single-family homes, and Alexandria, Virginia and Montgomery County, Maryland, have followed with similar density and YIMBY affordable housing plans. Chicago made the list because its high-demand ZIPs correlated strongly with YIMBY housing growth, even though the metro’s overall demand pressure is lower than the coasts. The 2021 update to the city’s Affordable Requirements Ordinance pushed more new construction into mixed-income neighborhoods. Austin stood out for the clear demand we found across all of its ZIPs, almost half of which qualified as YIMBY. In May 2024 the Austin City Council voted to reduce minimum single-family lot sizes and legalize triplexes, townhomes and other missing middle homes citywide. Nearby San Antonio also embraced YIMBY real estate reforms in its highest-demand neighborhoods. Minneapolis became the first major U.S. city to eliminate single-family-only zoning in 2019. Two- to four-unit buildings now make up a growing share of the city’s housing stock, and the policy has been studied closely by other YIMBY organizations as a real-world test case for citywide upzoning. Columbus introduced a plan to reshape the city and allow construction of as many as 88,000 new housing units. The proposal limits car-focused sprawl and simplifies the rules for homeowners and small developers. Nearby Kansas City legalized rental ADUs in 2022, and Salt Lake City joined the YIMBY scale by recognizing that more efficient use of existing homes is part of the supply answer. In 2023, Utah passed a law requiring municipalities and counties to regulate YIMBY Los Angeles is shorthand for the network of advocates pushing California cities to permit more homes near jobs and transit. While Los Angeles itself didn’t crack the top of our YIMBY scale, the state’s package of pro-housing laws (SB 9, SB 10, AB 2097 and others) has reshaped what is possible at the parcel level statewide and changed how YIMBY real estate gets built across Southern California. The fastest-growing area of YIMBY housing policy is statewide preemption: laws that override the most restrictive local rules to make more homes legal by right. The most influential YIMBY legislation in recent years includes: A common question is whether YIMBY policy is the same as YIMBY rent control. It isn’t. Most YIMBY advocates focus on supply (more homes, faster, in more places). Rent control is a separate debate about pricing existing units. Some YIMBY organizations support targeted tenant protections; the movement’s core insight is that without more homes, no policy can keep prices in check for long. Even residents who agree the country needs more homes often have legitimate questions about how new development plays out on their block. The YIMBY movement has spent the last decade gathering data on those concerns. Here is how the most common ones look once you check the evidence. The most common pushback on new housing is parking. The data from cities that have eliminated parking minimums (Buffalo, Minneapolis, San Diego, Anchorage) shows that builders still add parking where the market wants it; they simply right-size it instead of overbuilding. Studies from UCLA’s Institute of Transportation Studies have found that requiring two off-street spaces per unit can add $50,000 or more to the cost of a single home, much of which is passed straight through to buyers. Removing those minimums lowers prices without producing the parking apocalypse opponents predict. In second home destinations, the most common concern is short-term rental impact. Pacaso is structurally different from a A Independent analyses of upzoned neighborhoods, including the University of Minnesota’s tracking of post-2019 Minneapolis data, show that adding gentle density does not depress nearby property values; it increases options for buyers and renters across price points. The YIMBY movement’s answer to neighborhood-disruption fears isn’t to dismiss them; it’s to point at the cities that have actually built more housing and ask what changed.  The YIMBY movement is a network of national, state and local YIMBY organizations rather than a single body. Some of the most active groups include: For day-to-day discussion, most YIMBY forums live online. The That structure is why Pacaso is a member of YIMBY Action and why our 2023 economic impact study found that co-ownership reduces competition for primary housing in the destinations where Pacaso operates. For buyers, Pacaso turns a luxury second home into something accessible. For neighbors, it means a home that’s actually occupied, professionally managed and not turning over every weekend like a short-term rental. For policymakers, it’s a working example that the YIMBY movement isn’t only about new apartments. It’s about making more efficient use of the homes that already exist.  To learn more, explore

They don't make headlines. They're not on Forbes lists. But according to a new This group isn't defined by fame. It's defined by asset wealth: stock portfolios, private business stakes, and real estate that have compounded quietly for 30+ years. And the way they approach second home luxury is increasingly reshaping what ownership looks like, not through flashy purchases, but through smart, values-aligned co-ownership. At Pacaso, this is our buyer. And the data has never been clearer about just how many of them there are. According to Federal Reserve data analyzed by Princeton economist Owen Zidar, there are approximately 430,000 U.S. households worth $30 million or more. Within that, roughly 74,000 households have crossed the $100 million threshold. This group has grown faster than the general population over the past few decades, and recent stock market gains suggest the numbers are even higher today. These aren't tech billionaires or celebrity executives. Many live outside major coastal cities and built wealth through car dealerships, regional businesses, and long-term investment portfolios. They are distributed, diverse, and largely overlooked by luxury brands that only targeted the ultra-famous top. The growth isn't coming from salaries. It's coming from assets. For the top 0.1% of U.S. households, nearly 72% of their wealth is held in corporate equities, mutual fund shares, and private businesses, according to the Federal Reserve. The S&P 500 has more than tripled over the past decade. Private business valuations have risen in tandem. And for Baby Boomers, who make up roughly two-thirds of $30M+ households, decades of homeownership and equity accumulation have produced a generational wealth surge that shows no signs of slowing. The WSJ describes this as "get rich quick(er)" but really it's the compounding payoff of long-term asset ownership. These households didn't win the lottery. They built something The same instincts that made the quiet rich successful in business, smart capital allocation, avoiding waste, and optimizing for return, apply directly to how they think about real estate. Traditional luxury second home ownership means paying 100% of the cost for a property you may use 4 to 6 weeks a year. It means property management headaches, carrying costs, and capital tied up in a single illiquid asset. For someone whose wealth is built on intelligent asset allocation, that math doesn't add up. The WSJ points directly to this shift: co-ownership models, specifically citing NetJets in private aviation, are seeing surging demand from the multimillionaire class even as the overall market is flat. The behavior is the same in real estate. Ownership, yes. But smart ownership. Pacaso is the NetJets of luxury real estate. We offer the same core value proposition that has made co-ownership a defining feature of how the quiet rich live: premium access, without the premium burden. With Pacaso, buyers own a real deeded share of a vacation home co-ownership property, For buyers with significant assets, the second home co-ownership benefits are clear: it is simply the smarter way to own. Brands and services targeting the "merely well-off" are facing headwinds. Demand is concentrating at the very top. Hermès, Ferrari, and Brunello Cucinelli are posting record numbers. High-end travel is booming. Shared aviation is up markedly. Second home luxury is following the same curve. The most expensive homes have seen accelerating demand since the pandemic, and that demand is coming from exactly this buyer profile: asset-wealthy, experience-driven, and looking for vacation home co-ownership solutions that match how they think. Pacaso homes are positioned squarely in this tailwind. Our portfolio spans the There's no compromise on quality. Every Pacaso home is The quiet rich aren't waiting. If you're ready to make your second home work as hard as the wealth behind it,

Market trends in global luxury real estate: 3 rising retreats For 2025, buyers are paying attention to market trends in global luxury real estate while zeroing in on places that deliver an extraordinary everyday rhythm. Carmel, Santa Barbara and Breckenridge check that box with rare settings, strong lifestyle draws and a growing selection of high-design homes available through co-ownership. Below, see why each destination is trending, how the broader market supports thoughtful acquisitions, and where Pacaso fits your plan. The luxury market shows steady momentum in 2025, with median prices for single-family luxury homes up 1.8% year-over-year and 8.0% versus 2023. Inventory has reached a two-year high, giving buyers more choice and negotiating power. Globally, the category is projected to grow at a 6.9% CAGR through 2035, with North America accounting for about 30% of market share. These market trends in global luxury real estate are fueling interest in lifestyle-led destinations like Carmel, Santa Barbara and Breckenridge. Why Carmel is trending for 2025 Carmel pairs cinematic coastline and acclaimed dining with access to Santa Barbara’s Mediterranean pace and culture Framed by ocean and mountains, Santa Barbara blends refined dining, a lively arts calendar and quick access to Breckenridge for four seasons of alpine living With How co-ownership fits these markets Pacaso co-ownership aligns with these destinations by matching high-use lifestyles with right-sized ownership. You enjoy equity in a real home that is professionally designed and furnished, plus intuitive scheduling that supports frequent stays. For a deeper overview of how it works, see Pros and cons by destination Which destination fits your lifestyle If you picture quiet coastal mornings and gallery strolls, vacation homes in Carmel deliver a refined, low-key rhythm. For terrace-to-beach living with culture in every direction, luxury homes in Santa Barbara lead the list. If your calendar is built around ski days and summer trails, Breckenridge vacation homes offer a year-round mountain base. In each, market trends in global luxury real estate favor thoughtful buyers who value setting, design and time well spent. Explore Pacaso homes in these markets Ready to see more in each destination? Browse

Beautiful American cities attract big businesses, and big businesses pay well for top talent, making metropolitan areas flush with million-dollar homes. But which cities lead the high-priced real estate pack? A 1. San Jose, CA Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, San Jose is the hotspot for 2. San Francisco, CA Just north of Silicon Valley, San Francisco has 42% of its homes valued at over $1 million. But the size of million-dollar homes in San Francisco varies widely depending on location and condition, with 700-square-foot condos in popular neighborhoods going for $1 million, and suburban homes with close to 3,000 square feet listed at the same price. The neighborhoods with the highest appreciation in San Francisco are just east of Lake Merced and bordering San Francisco State University.  3. Los Angeles, CA Are you starting to see a California trend? Los Angeles has long been known for pricey real estate, and its selection of million-dollar homes make up 19% of the market. The average size of million-dollar homes in the City of Angels is 1,720 square feet, with 92% of them built before 1999. The priciest neighborhoods include Bel Air, Brentwood, West Sunset Boulevard, and areas along the Pacific Coast Highway.  4. San Diego, CA San Diego continues the trend of expensive West Coast real estate, with 14% of the homes valued at over $1 million. Median home values in San Diego are around $665,000, with the majority of homes in the area priced between $596,000 and $894,000.  5. Seattle, WA Seattle’s 91% white-collar workforce is a contributing factor to having 11% of its homes valued at a million dollars or more. You’ll find the most expensive neighborhoods near Edgewater Park/Broadmoor, Laurelhurst, and East Roy Street at 24th Avenue East. Newer construction dominates the scene, with nearly 24% of all homes built since 2000.  6. New York, NY New York City is known for its expensive real estate, so it’s no surprise that the Big Apple made this list: 10% of homes are valued at a million dollars or more. But unlike many other urban areas in the U.S., New York’s dense population means that 95% of the city’s homes are apartments, not detached houses. One-bedroom apartments make up 39% of those units, and it’s rare to find a home with five bedrooms or more in the city.  7. Boston, MA In Boston 9% of the housing inventory is valued over $1 million. You’ll find Boston’s priciest real estate at Beacon Street near Fisher College and Boylston Street near Presidential Plaza. Boston is known for its history, and it’s not just monuments and museums — in fact, 50% of the city’s real estate was built before 1940. As a college town, Boston also has a high percentage of renters, with only 33% of homes occupied by owners. 8. Washington, D.C. Like Boston, Washington is a hotspot for American history, but with a larger inventory of newer construction homes: 34% of homes in the district were built before 1940. Million-dollar homes make up 7% of the D.C. real estate market, with Dupont Circle’s historic mansions, Georgetown and The Palisades among the city’s most expensive neighborhoods. Typical home values range from about $236,000 to $1.2 million, with no single price bracket cornering the D.C. market.  9. Miami, FL With glamorous mansions lining its waterways, million-dollar homes are part of Miami’s scenery, making up nearly 5% of the city’s homes. Miami also has some of the newest homes, with 27% of its housing constructed after 2000. Up-and-coming Miami neighborhoods include Buena Vista, City Center and Biscayne Boulevard at Miami Dade College.  10. Denver, CO The Rocky Mountain gem of Denver rounds out the list with 4% of its market consisting of million-dollar homes. Home values are pretty evenly distributed between $122,000 and $914,000, with 86% of them falling in this range. The city is also divided nearly equally between owners and renters, at 49% and 51%, respectively.

Time to celebrate—Pacaso is turning five! In just five years, we’ve broken new ground in the second home market and introduced a model that is reshaping real estate. None of it would be possible without our team of innovators, thought leaders, and most importantly, our incredible owners. As we look ahead to the next chapter, we remain grateful to the community that fuels our success and inspires us to keep innovating and raising the bar. Thank you for being part of our journey. Now, let’s take a look back at the milestones that made our first five years so memorable. Here’s to the next five years of memories, meaningful connections, and innovation. The best chapters of the Pacaso story are still to come.

Luxury real estate trends: Paris & London 2025 Luxury real estate trends in Paris and London point to a year of selective growth, more choice at the top end, and faster deal timelines. For a second home, that translates to better access to prime addresses and turnkey quality in both cities. Globally, prime prices rose 2.8% year over year in Q1 2025, underscoring steady demand for high-caliber homes in world capitals. Pacaso makes ownership in these prestigious markets more attainable through fractional ownership. Instead of buying an entire property, buyers purchase a share of a luxury home in Paris or London. This approach lowers costs while preserving the benefits of equity, appreciation, and personal use, making world-class real estate more accessible to second-home buyers. Paris in 2025 market signals buyers should watch Paris rebounded decisively to start 2025. Lower mortgage rates below 3% and stable pricing have doubled the pool of active buyers and shortened timelines, especially for renovated, move-in-ready residences in prime districts. That momentum is also evident on the Left Bank, where Saint-Germain combines classic architecture with updated comforts, a profile exemplified by Beaux Arts. Set steps from galleries and the Seine, London in 2025 pricing, policy and prime demand London is set for modest 2025 gains of about 2%, supported by strong cash-buyer demand and improving choice at the top end. Across luxury segments, inventory is at a two-year high, with single-family listings up 40.4% and multifamily up 42.6% year over year. Price performance is bifurcated: the best-designed, turnkey listings still command premiums, while buyers have more room to negotiate on homes needing updates. For everyday access to Key luxury real estate trends shaping buyer choices Paris vs London lifestyle essentials for a second home Paris offers How co-ownership supports 2025 buyer behavior Today’s buyers value time and certainty. Pacaso co-ownership provides access to high-demand neighborhoods with professional management and streamlined scheduling, so you spend your time enjoying the city rather than handling home logistics. In Paris, that can look like a classic Left Bank address steps from museums, cafes and the Seine, such as What it means for your next move Here is the bottom line for 2025. Paris is accelerating, with faster transactions in top districts and a broader base of active buyers. London should post around 2% annual growth with more inventory at the high end, giving shoppers greater choice. With global prime prices trending higher and considering these luxury real estate trends, selecting a property that is truly turnkey and well-located remains the clearest path to lasting enjoyment. Ready to explore prime addresses in two world capitals? Browse Pacaso listings in

Luxury home buying in a stabilizing market Luxury home buying is entering a more balanced phase across flagship destinations, and the shift is reshaping luxury real estate market trends. In Paris, Q1 2025 transaction values rose 69% as rates dipped below 3% and buyers returned. London’s prime addresses faced sharp price adjustments and rising inventory, creating room to negotiate. Cabo posted one of its strongest quarters on record, while select U.S. resort hubs show more listings and longer decision windows. In Miami, most April sales closed below asking, another sign of cooler conditions and buyer leverage. What market stabilization means for luxury home buying Stabilization is showing up in three ways: more choice, more time and more precision on price. For luxury home buying, these shifts translate to improved selection, pacing and pricing clarity. Prime central London listings rose nearly 16% year over year, stretching time to sell and shifting power to buyers. In Miami, a larger share of sales closed below ask, signaling realistic pricing wins. In Vail, nearly 45% of active listings saw price reductions in the 2025 summer window, reinforcing the value of disciplined offers and well-priced, move‑in ready homes. Signals by destination How co-ownership performs in a cooler market With luxury real estate market trends pointing to steadier pricing and more selection, co-ownership offers a precise way to align use with value. Pacaso provides professionally managed, designer furnished homes in blue chip locations, so you enjoy the lifestyle and avoid the burden of sole ownership. In a market that rewards optionality and speed, coordinated scheduling and local care teams keep your time focused on experiences, not logistics. For Cabo days centered on golf, water and dining, In the Rockies, Next steps for buyers If you are evaluating luxury home buying across stabilized markets, start by shortlisting destinations with clear usage fit and resilient demand drivers. Browse Pacaso listings in

With summer winding down and the year’s midpoint behind us, the luxury real estate landscape looks clearer, and brighter, than it did just a few months ago. Buyers and sellers are navigating calmer waters: prices at the high end have held steady, interest in co-ownership keeps climbing, and industry trends point to more meaningful travel. Here are some key takeaways  as we head into the second half of 2025, and why the outlook for second-home owners has never felt more promising. When we launched Pacaso in 2020, many buyers still assumed “real” ownership meant holding 100% of a home, even if it was rarely used.. That mindset is changing fast. In Cost and ease of management are the main drivers behind co-ownership. Though overall home sales cooled in early 2025, the top of the market keeps defying gravity. High-end properties outperformed every other price segment in 2024 and Q1 2025, according to Realtor.com’s What’s driving demand? A combination of strong stock-market returns, limited home inventory in some markets and the appeal of tangible assets you can Global living isn’t just for digital nomads. London is a prime example. Beauchamp Estates reports U.S. citizens now account for roughly That global appetite is why Pacaso is expanding beyond North America. We’re continuing to focus on adding more Pacaso homes in Europe, bringing our seamless co-ownership model and simplified transaction process to some of the world’s most coveted vacation destinations. Whether you’re traveling or buying a home, experience is quickly becoming the true measure of luxury. This same experiential mindset is reshaping real estate: “The feeling a home delivers matters as much as the address,” observes Tammy Fahmi of Sotheby’s International Realty—a change that’s prompting buyers to pay premiums for properties aligned with their lifestyle ideals ( Luxury real estate is evolving on two parallel tracks: shared ownership is accelerating, and lifestyle-led demand is strengthening at the high end. Together, those forces create an unprecedented opportunity to enrich your life through the purchase of a second home. Pacaso takes the complexity out of second home ownership, giving you effortless access to extraordinary properties around the world. Whether you’re eyeing a Austin Allison CEO and Co-founder of Pacaso

When planning a Colorado ski trip, you may be weighing Snowmass vs. Aspen. Though only nine miles apart and connected by the same lift ticket, Snowmass and Aspen offer two distinct mountain experiences. Snowmass is expansive, laid-back, and built for families and groups, while Aspen is energetic, walkable, and known for luxury shopping, dining, and nightlife. Understanding the difference between Aspen and Snowmass can help you choose the destination that fits your travel style, or plan a trip that includes both. The overall vibe of each destination plays a big role when comparing Snowmass vs. Aspen. While both offer incredible mountain living, the lifestyle in each town feels distinctly different, and choosing the right fit can shape your entire trip. Snowmass offers a relaxed, spacious atmosphere that's ideal for families, groups, and travelers who want room to unwind. The village centers around effortless mountain access, with abundant ski-in/ski-out options and wide-open terrain steps from most lodging. Many homes are newer builds with modern design, resort-style amenities, and a quieter pace that makes the area feel like a true alpine retreat. Aspen is a high-energy, cosmopolitan experience with a vibrant cultural and social scene. Its walkable downtown is lined with art galleries, upscale boutiques, and lively nightlife, giving the town a sophisticated yet approachable feel. Historic architecture and long-standing traditions anchor Aspen's identity as one of Colorado's most iconic mountain destinations, drawing comparisons in other guides like Skiing is one of the biggest draws in both destinations, so comparing terrain, runs, and mountain access is key when weighing Aspen Mountain vs. Snowmass or Aspen Highlands vs. Snowmass. A single Aspen Snowmass lift ticket covers all four mountains: Aspen Mountain, Aspen Highlands, Buttermilk, and Snowmass, totaling more than 5,700 skiable acres. Snowmass is the largest of the four mountains, with roughly 3,300 skiable acres, giving skiers and riders a huge variety of runs without ever leaving the resort. Wide-open slopes, long cruisers, and a modern ski-in/ski-out base village make it especially appealing for families, intermediates, and anyone who prefers room to roam. In summer, Snowmass transforms into an adventure hub with hiking, biking, an alpine coaster, and weekly outdoor events. Aspen puts the entire Aspen Snowmass playground at your fingertips. Aspen Mountain rises right from downtown Aspen, with steep, expert-heavy terrain and no beginner runs, making it the pick for advanced skiers who want to blend laps with lunch or shopping. Aspen Highlands offers roughly 1,040 acres of terrain, including the legendary Highlands Bowl for expert hike-to skiing. Buttermilk rounds out the group as the most approachable of Aspen's three in-town mountains, with wide beginner runs and renowned terrain parks.  Off the slopes, Aspen shines with sleigh rides, snowmobiling, ice skating, fly fishing, hiking, biking, and outdoor concerts. Art fairs, culinary events, and cultural programming keep the town lively throughout every season, including in the fall (see For snowboarders deciding between the four mountains, the best Aspen mountain for snowboarding depends on skill level and style: Both destinations offer rich dining, nightlife, and cultural experiences, an important part of choosing whether Snowmass or Aspen is the better fit for you. Snowmass has a steadily growing dining scene with everything from casual, family-friendly spots to more refined alpine restaurants, many centered around the cozy atmosphere of Snowmass Village. Evenings here tend to revolve around outdoor concerts, seasonal festivals, and activities suited for all ages. Apres is more relaxed and scenic: think mountain-view patios and laid-back lounges rather than late-night crowds. Downtown Aspen is known for its elevated dining, with Michelin-recognized restaurants and acclaimed chefs shaping a high-end culinary scene. Apres here is energetic and upscale, centered around Champagne, DJs, and legendary spots like Ajax Tavern and the patio at The Little Nell. Beyond the slopes, Aspen delivers cultural depth with museums like the When comparing Snowmass vs. Aspen, accessibility can be a major deciding factor, especially if you're traveling with kids or planning a shorter trip. How easily you can reach your destination often shapes the overall experience. Snowmass Village is roughly 15 minutes from Aspen/Pitkin County Airport (ASE), making it one of the most convenient ski destinations in Colorado. The village is designed for an easy, park-once experience, with lodging, dining, and lifts all connected by walkways, shuttles, and ski-access paths. Aspen shares the same airport convenience, with quick transfers into downtown Aspen and smooth access to all four mountains via free RFTA buses. Once you're there, the downtown core is fully walkable, so it's easy to explore without a car. During peak winter and summer weekends, traffic and parking can be challenging, something to keep in mind if you plan to drive. Whether it's better to stay in Aspen or Snowmass comes down to what you want out of the trip: When comparing Snowmass vs. Aspen, the right choice ultimately comes down to the lifestyle you prefer. Both destinations offer exceptional four-season living, world-class recreation, and access to some of Colorado's most beautiful mountain landscapes. Snowmass offers space, modern comfort, and a relaxed, family-friendly pace, while Aspen offers walkable sophistication, vibrant culture, and an energetic social scene. Choosing between Snowmass and Aspen isn't just about a single trip. It's often the first step toward finding a mountain home you'll return to year after year, whether that means gathering the whole family for a week of skiing or slipping away for a quiet weekend among the aspens.  The tension for most buyers isn't whether they love this corner of Colorado; it's how to own a piece of it without taking on a second mortgage, a rotating cast of property managers, or the hassle of coordinating every visit. Pacaso allows buyers to purchase a share (1/8 to 1/2) of a

One part world-class ski destination, one part historic Colorado mountain town, Aspen is a year-round draw, but fall is when the town shows a different side of itself. This community of roughly 7,000 year-round residents sits inside the White River National Forest, backed by the Elk Mountains, and every September and October its hillsides fill with aspen trees turning gold against the peaks. If your Aspen, Colorado fall colors peak time typically falls between the last week of September and the first week of October, though the exact window shifts a bit each year depending on temperature and moisture. Aspen groves at lower elevations, like those along Castle Creek Road and the Roaring Fork Valley, tend to turn a week or so after the higher trails around Maroon Bells and Independence Pass. The best time to see the aspens in Colorado is also the start of Aspen's shoulder season, the stretch between summer's Labor Day crowds and the opening of ski season in late November. Hotel rates soften, restaurants are easier to book and the trails feel far less crowded than they do in July and August. Aspen in September still has some of the mildest weather of the year, with daytime highs in the 60s and 70s, while Aspen in October brings crisper air, more color underfoot than overhead as the leaves begin to drop, and the first dusting of snow on the highest peaks. Several of Aspen's most scenic drives and viewpoints are built around exactly this kind of aspen leaf peeping, and most are a short trip from downtown. Hiking in Aspen in September means trading summer's crowds for cooler air and gold-lined trails, and a few routes stand out for fall color specifically. Aspen's fall calendar is built around a handful of signature events, and timing a visit around one is one of the best ways to experience things to do in Aspen in September and October beyond the outdoors. For the complete rundown of what's on throughout the season, including smaller community events and exact dates as they're announced, Not every fall day needs to be spent on a trail. Downtown Aspen stays lively well past summer: If you're planning a No matter the season, there's more to explore in Aspen than a single long weekend allows, and fall's quieter pace makes it one of the best times to return year after year. Owning a second home here means there's no clock ticking on the last hour of golden light, and a home base close to Maroon Creek Valley, downtown or Snowmass puts every trail, event and restaurant on this list within easy reach. Pacaso allows buyers to purchase a share (1/8 to 1/2) of a

Napa and Sonoma sit within an hour of each other and share the same coastal fog, the same long harvest light and much of the same soil. They are also, in practice, two quite different places to spend a weekend or a decade. But if your time is limited, or you're deciding where to put down roots with a second home in wine country, something has to break the tie. Here's a current look at what separates Napa and Sonoma are both less than 60 miles north of San Francisco, and geographic confusion between them is common even among Bay Area natives. Part of the mix-up is that both names refer to a city, a county and a valley at the same time. When people ask about Sonoma Valley vs. Napa Valley specifically, they're usually talking about the narrower wine-growing valleys rather than the full counties, which extend further west and east. Napa Valley is a narrow, 30-mile-long corridor that's only five miles across at its widest point. It's home to four main tourist towns: Napa, Yountville, St. Helena and Calistoga. With more than 500 wineries packed into that small footprint, Napa has built its reputation on structured Cabernet Sauvignon, polished tasting rooms and a dense concentration of destination dining. Sonoma County is more than twice the size of Napa and far more varied. The Sonoma Valley itself runs about 17 miles north to south between the Sonoma Mountains and the Mayacamas range, but the county stretches all the way to the Pacific Ocean and includes 19 distinct AVAs, from Russian River Valley to Alexander Valley to Dry Creek Valley. More than 30 towns fall within Sonoma County, with Sonoma and Healdsburg as the best known. That extra room translates into more varietal range, more family-owned wineries and a noticeably slower pace. Tasting fee and bottle price figures from Silicon Valley Bank's 2026 Direct-to-Consumer Wine Report. The towns of Napa and Sonoma sit about 14 miles apart, a drive of roughly 20 to 25 minutes along Highway 12 and Highway 121 through Carneros. That short hop is exactly why so many visitors end up splitting a trip between both regions rather than choosing just one. Distance varies more once you look past the two town centers. Calistoga, at the north end of Napa Valley, to Healdsburg, in northern Sonoma County, is closer to 40 minutes. Getting from downtown Napa to the Sonoma Coast can take over an hour, since the Mayacamas Mountains separate the two counties for most of their length and only a handful of roads cross between them. If you're planning a day that touches both valleys, build in extra time for the two-lane roads that wind through the hills connecting them. Napa Valley built its international reputation on structure. The region is best known for Cabernet Sauvignon, along with Merlot and Chardonnay, and its wines lean toward bold, age-worthy bottles from marquee estates along Highway 29 and the Silverado Trail. Sonoma vs. Napa wines is really a contrast in personality: Sonoma's cooler pockets near the Pacific, particularly Russian River Valley, produce some of California's most sought-after Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, while Dry Creek Valley is known for old-vine Zinfandel and the Sonoma Coast turns out excellent sparkling wine. If your palate leans toward big, structured reds, Napa's lineup will feel like home. If you want to spend a weekend moving between cool-climate Pinot, old-vine Zin and a proper sparkling house, Sonoma covers more ground. Cost is one of the clearest differences between the two regions, and it's shifted meaningfully in the past year. According to Both counties have started experimenting with lower prices as wine tourism has softened. About 30% of wineries in each region reported dropping fees over the past year, though the region-wide averages have barely moved. The gap widens once you factor in bottle prices: Napa wine averages around $103 a bottle, compared with roughly $64 in Sonoma. For a full day of tasting, Napa's flagship Cabernet houses can run $75 to $200 per person, while Sonoma's boutique and family-run wineries frequently land in the $30 to $60 range. Neither region is cheap, but Sonoma consistently gives you more tastings per dollar. One more practical difference: Napa's tasting culture leans heavily toward reservations, especially at name-brand estates, while Sonoma still has more wineries that welcome walk-ins. If your trip is loosely planned, Sonoma is the more forgiving region to wing it in. Where you stay comes down to how you want to spend your days. Napa's four main towns, Napa, Yountville, St. Helena and Calistoga, sit close together along a single corridor, so you're rarely more than 15 minutes from a winery, a Michelin-recognized restaurant or a wellness soak in Calistoga's hot springs. It's an easy region to base yourself in without a car for very long stretches of the day. For a closer look at how to divide your time once you've picked a home base, see our Sonoma spreads out more. Staying in the town of Sonoma puts you near historic sites and a walkable plaza with a laid-back pace, while basing yourself in Healdsburg or the Russian River area puts you closer to some of the county's best-regarded wineries and a livelier restaurant scene of its own. Renting a bike is a realistic way to see close-in wineries from either town, but if far-flung wineries are on your list, plan on a car or a tour. For winery-specific recommendations once you've settled on a home base, our If you want maximum convenience and a shorter list of towns to choose from, Napa is the easier region to stay in. If you'd rather have room to spread out and explore at a slower pace, Sonoma gives you more towns and sub-regions to pick from. For anyone weighing living in Napa vs. Sonoma as a second-home owner rather than a weekend visitor, the calculus shifts. Napa's compact geography and dense concentration of fine dining make it easy to feel settled quickly, but that same density means weekends can feel busy, especially around harvest season from late August through October. Sonoma's larger footprint means more elbow room and a slower day-to-day rhythm, with a genuine small-town feel in places like Healdsburg and the town of Sonoma, plus easier access west toward the Sonoma Coast for a change of scenery. Both regions reward repeat visits more than a single trip ever could. Owning rather than booking a hotel changes that math further: you get to know the same wineries, the same restaurant staff and the same seasonal rhythms year after year, instead of relearning a destination every time you visit. There's no universal answer to whether Sonoma or Napa is better, only a better fit based on how you travel: The pull of wine country rarely fades after one trip. It's the idea of a regular table at your favorite restaurant, a familiar face at the tasting room counter and a place where your family gathers every harvest instead of once every few years. That kind of familiarity comes from returning to the same address, not the same region. Owning a whole second home outright can also mean carrying the full cost and upkeep of a property that sits empty most of the year. Pacaso allows buyers to purchase a share (1/8 to 1/2) of a Explore current

Massachusetts is a state built on contrasts: a Revolutionary War capital with a modern skyline, quiet coastal towns a short drive from big-city museums, and mountain foliage a couple of hours from the ocean. Whether you're walking the Freedom Trail, spending a week on Cape Cod, or timing a trip around Salem's October crowds, this guide breaks down the best things to do in Massachusetts by region and by season. Boston is the natural starting point for any Massachusetts trip, with most of its major sites within walking distance of each other downtown. A short drive from downtown Boston opens up some of the state's most distinctive history, from witch trials to Walden Pond. Cape Cod and the islands are where Massachusetts' coastal reputation comes from, and they're also where Pacaso's Massachusetts portfolio is concentrated. If you're weighing which Cape Cod town fits your plans best, our guide to Away from the coast, central and western Massachusetts trade beaches for rolling hills, historic villages, and the Berkshires' arts scene. Summer is peak season across most of the state, especially on the coast. Fall brings foliage, harvest festivals, and Salem's biggest month of the year. Boston leans into the holidays each winter, with events running from late November through New Year's. A few things to do in Massachusetts are hard to find anywhere else. Massachusetts brings together Revolutionary history, coastal towns, and a genuine change of season in a way few states can match. Whether that means Fenway on a spring evening, a week on Cape Cod in August, or watching the Berkshires turn gold in October, it's the kind of place that rewards a return visit rather than a single trip. Pacaso allows buyers to purchase a share (1/8 to 1/2) of a To see the full range of homes across the state, browse

One of South Carolina's barrier islands, Kiawah is ten miles of hard-packed beach, maritime forest, and championship golf. Beyond the fairways and the shoreline, there is a steady calendar of fun things to do on Kiawah Island, plus family activities, wildlife, and rainy-day options enough to fill a trip in any season. Here is a look at the best things to do on Kiawah Island, whether you are visiting for a weekend or considering a second home on the island. Kiawah's event calendar runs all year, with most gatherings centered on Yes, Kiawah Island is good for families and makes a great vacation destination thanks to its calm, gently sloping surf, wide beaches, and 30 miles of paved biking trails that make it easy to explore together. Kiawah Island family activities span every age group, from toddlers splashing at the shoreline to teens joining themed day camps, and the island's nature-focused setting gives kids room to roam without the crowds of a more developed beach town. Kiawah's indoor options for a rainy day cluster around Night Heron Park. The Heron Park Nature Center keeps its wildlife exhibits, including native diamondback terrapins and rescued young alligators, open regardless of weather, and nearby indoor amenities add bowling, golf simulators, an arcade, and an art studio for all ages. The Nest Market & Café, also at Night Heron Park, offers indoor and covered patio seating for coffee and fresh baked goods while you wait out a storm. Beyond the park, Freshfields Village is a reliable rainy-day stop with boutique shopping, restaurants, and more. For a quieter afternoon, book ahead for treatments at the Sanctuary Spa: availability tends to fill quickly once other guests have the same idea. Kiawah Island attractions extend well beyond its events calendar. These are the most popular activities available on the island any time of year. Things to do around Kiawah Island extend just past the gates. Freshfields Village sits right outside the island, with shops, restaurants, and the bulk of Kiawah's event calendar. Charleston is about 25 miles away, a 40-minute drive that makes it easy to pair island time with a day of historic touring or a stop at For visitors weighing a longer stay, it is also worth seeing The best trips to Kiawah are the ones that turn into a tradition: the same oyster roast every summer, the same stretch of beach where the kids learn to ride the waves, a porch that already feels familiar before you have even unpacked. Owning a vacation home can make that possible, but the cost, upkeep, and scheduling of a traditional second home often get in the way of actually using it. Pacaso owners own a share, anywhere from 1/8 to 1/2, of a Explore

Retirement should be a time to relax and enjoy life. Do you imagine chilling on the beach, immersing yourself in new, exciting cultures or both? Choosing a vacation home or permanent residence in another country can be stressful. This guide will help you pick the right destination to retire in, considering factors like cost of living, climate, healthcare and taxes, plus a look at where retirees are finding value both abroad and closer to home. The best places to retire generally share a few core traits: an affordable cost of living, accessible and high-quality healthcare, low crime and strong safety records, a comfortable climate, reasonable housing costs, favorable tax treatment for retirees, and a straightforward path to a retirement visa or long-term residency. Based on our scoring across cost of living, healthcare, safety, home prices, taxes, climate, and retirement visa access, these are the 15 best countries to retire in right now. Imagine sipping sangria at a local tapas bar while chatting with your neighbors until sunset. That is an average evening in Spain. Beyond the Mediterranean climate and world-class healthcare, Spain offers retirees something uniquely special: a culture that celebrates aging.  Being a "jubilado" (retiree) here means you are respected and included in community life, and the "sobremesa" tradition of lingering after meals for conversation makes it easy to build lasting friendships with locals and fellow expats. Retirees who want a European base often gravitate toward Madrid for its blend of world-class culture, walkability, and excellent healthcare. Malaysia stands out among the best countries to retire in for its mix of Eastern hospitality and Western amenities. Retirees particularly appreciate senior discounts on everything from travel to dining, and many qualify for the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) program, a long-stay visa route designed for retirees aged 50 and over. Its strategic location also makes it easy to explore the rest of Southeast Asia during your golden years. Portugal offers an enviable lifestyle at a surprisingly gentle price point. What sets it apart is a deeply rooted cafe culture, where you can spend hours people-watching over a pastel de nata and coffee for just a few euros. The Portuguese concept of "saudade," a loving longing for life's beautiful moments, resonates with retirees seeking meaning in their next chapter. Belgium offers a sophisticated twist on European living: start your day with world-class chocolate, spend afternoons exploring UNESCO-listed medieval towns, and end evenings sampling one of more than 1,500 unique beer varieties. Retirees value the country's central location as a home base for European travel, and its commune system ensures every neighborhood has its own distinct identity and community center. If your idea of retirement includes staying active while surrounded by dramatic scenery, New Zealand delivers. The SuperGold Card system gives seniors free off-peak public transport and discounts at thousands of businesses, and the country's tramping (hiking) culture makes it easy to join a local seniors' walking group and discover trails while building new friendships. Add New Zealand's high safety ranking, and it is one of the best foreign countries to retire in. The UAE offers retirees a unique proposition: tax-free living in a country where tradition meets a genuinely modern lifestyle. Its retirement visa grants five-year renewable residency without the need for employment, allows multiple entry, and lets retirees sponsor dependents, with eligibility based on meeting a property, savings, or income threshold. "Smart Government" digital services also let residents handle most administrative tasks from home. Mexico ranks among the easiest countries to retire to from the U.S., and for good reason. Just a short flight from major U.S. cities, The high number of English speakers and wide acceptance of U.S. dollars make the transition smoother, though healthcare needs planning: Original Medicare does not cover care in Mexico, and the Medicare Advantage plans that do are generally limited to emergency and urgent care. "Tercera edad" (third age) benefits add discounts on everything from groceries to airline tickets, and in Cabo's thriving expat community, retirees find countless organized activities, from sunset yacht cruises to desert adventure clubs, making it easy to build a social life from day one. Thailand's appeal goes far beyond its tropical climate and affordable living. In cities like Chiang Mai, retirees can join early morning tai chi groups, learn traditional crafts, or become part-time English conversation partners at local schools. The Emerald Isle offers more than stunning landscapes. Its Age Friendly Ireland program ensures communities are designed with seniors in mind, from accessible public spaces to social clubs, and the Active Retirement network organizes everything from dance classes to mystery tours. Many retirees find themselves drawn into the local storytelling tradition, whether through a writing group or a chat at the neighborhood pub. Switzerland's price tag might raise eyebrows, but its benefits make it one of the best places to retire in the world for retirees seeking a premium quality of life and genuine peace of mind as one of the safest countries anywhere. Swiss rail offers a discounted GA Travelcard for Seniors, and many museums, ski passes and cable cars extend reduced rates from age 62. Plus, many universities offer free courses to seniors. Healthcare wait times are among the world's shortest, and house calls from doctors remain common. Living "la dolce vita" takes on new meaning in Italy, consistently rated among the best places to retire outside the U.S. Each region offers its own version of retirement, from joining olive harvesting communities in Beyond afternoon tea and historic villages, Morocco extends a long-standing tax break to foreign retirees on pension income, and in cities like Fez, daily life still runs through the medina: craft workshops, neighborhood hammams, and a pace that rewards staying a while. France elevates retirement to an art form, offering more than wine and cheese, though those are excellent perks. The country's public healthcare system, Assurance Maladie, is renowned as one of the best in the world, providing universal coverage to legal residents. A "senior solidarity" program keeps retirees connected through regular community events, and many regions offer culture passes for discounted access to museums, theaters, and concerts. Whether you are exploring picturesque villages or searching for the Chile's beautiful landscapes are matched by a genuine national commitment to healthy aging, making it one of the top countries to retire in. The country's health ministry runs Más Adultos Mayores Autovalentes, a community program built around keeping older adults active and independent, and gated residential communities designed for active retirees are common outside the major cities. A growing digital nomad retiree community makes it easy to connect with fellow expats while exploring everything from the Atacama Desert to Patagonia. Not every retiree wants to relocate abroad, and the U.S. has no shortage of destinations that check the same boxes: comfortable climate, strong healthcare access, and an active, community-driven lifestyle. Among the best places to retire in the U.S., a few stand out for retirees who also want the option of a vacation home: Many of these markets are also home to some of the country's For retirees who want the lifestyle without the crowds, a few lesser-known holiday retirement locations offer the same appeal as their more famous counterparts, often at a lower cost and a slower pace: These best vacation spots for retirees tend to reward people who are willing to look slightly off the beaten path for the same climate, healthcare access, and lifestyle benefits found in better-known destinations. To determine the rankings for the 15 best countries for retirement, we developed a scoring system based on seven key factors. Each factor was selected to reflect the priorities of retirees looking for a safe, affordable, comfortable, and fulfilling retirement experience. Cost of living carried the highest weight in our rankings, as affordability is a top priority for retirees. The metric used for each country was the cost of living index sourced from Numbeo, which considers average monthly living costs like groceries, utilities, and transportation. Rent and mortgage costs were not included in this index. Access to quality healthcare is especially important for retirees, so it was assigned the second-highest weight. We sourced the healthcare index from Numbeo, which estimates the overall quality of each country's healthcare system based on professionals, equipment, staff, and costs. Living in a safe place makes retiring a more comfortable experience. Our rankings pulled from the Global Peace Index, which examines how peaceful each country is by looking at how well different groups within the country coexist, a nation's relationship with its neighbors and the global community, and internal stability and law enforcement effectiveness. Housing is a major expense for retirees, and affordability can significantly affect quality of life. To gauge housing accessibility, we sourced the average percentage of income spent on home prices in each location from Numbeo. Tax policies can significantly affect retirees' budgets. We factored in tax benefits for retirees, such as Social Security tax exemptions and sales tax for each country, and averaged these figures. A comfortable climate plays an important role in retirees' lifestyles and well-being. We used a climate index that ranked cities worldwide based on temperature and weather patterns. Countries that offer a retirement visa and make the process easy can be an important factor for retirees. Results were binary, logging countries that include retirement visas and those that do not. Retirement is the chapter you have been working toward: the one where time finally belongs to you, and the destinations that matter most become more than just places on a calendar. Maybe it is the sunny coast where you always said you would spend more time, or the European town where your family has made memories for years. But choosing where to retire also comes with real tension. Buying a home outright in a favorite destination, whether that is This is where Pacaso comes in. Pacaso allows buyers to purchase a share (1/8 to 1/2) of a Because many Pacaso homes are eligible for If you are exploring

The golf here is famous, but Palm Springs rewards the visitor who looks past the fairways. From aerial trams and desert botanical gardens to a packed festival calendar, a sharper dining scene and a wave of design-forward boutique hotels, here's a current guide to the best things to do in Palm Springs and the surrounding Coachella Valley. Palm Springs' event calendar is one of the biggest reasons people plan repeat trips rather than a single visit. A few dates are worth building a trip around: Palm Springs' dining scene spans white-tablecloth fine dining, farm-to-table restaurants and late-night cocktail spots, much of it walkable from downtown. Reservations are strongly recommended during the winter and spring high season, especially around Modernism Week and festival weekends. Palm Springs has leaned further into its boutique hotel identity in recent years, with small, design-driven properties concentrated in and around downtown, while larger resort brands cluster in neighboring Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage and Indian Wells. For repeat visitors, the pattern is familiar: the rooms you want are hardest to get during Modernism Week and festival season, and priced accordingly. Palm Springs rewards returning. Between the golf, the architecture tours, the restaurant scene and an events calendar anchored by With Pacaso, buyers own a share, from 1/8 to 1/2, of a If you're comparing Palm Springs against other markets before deciding where to buy, see our guide to the

You've booked your flight or mapped out the road trip. The dates are set. Now comes one of the biggest decisions of any trip: where you'll actually stay. Travel accommodations can make or break a vacation, and the best option depends on your destination, your group, and how you like to travel. Here's a look at the most common types of accommodations, plus how to decide which one fits your next trip. Most travelers choose from six main categories of travel accommodations, each with a different balance of cost, service, and privacy. Hotels are the default choice for most trips. You'll find hotel accommodations in nearly every city and vacation destination, spanning a wide range of price points and amenities: Resorts and all-inclusive properties are built for a full vacation experience in one location, often with pools, spas, golf courses, and on-site activities. All-inclusive pricing covers food, drinks, and activities in a single flat rate. Bed and breakfasts are small, independently owned inns, often with the owner living on-site, offering a more personal alternative to a hotel stay. Vacation rentals cover everything from a single room in a shared apartment to a full private villa, typically booked through platforms like Airbnb, Vrbo, or Vacasa. They can be a good fit when you need more room than a hotel provides or you're traveling with a group. If a specific rental platform has left you wanting something more consistent, it's worth reviewing a few A timeshare gives you ongoing access to a specific resort or hotel group, with a set number of nights available each year. This is different from every other option above, since you're purchasing repeat access rather than booking a one-off stay. For more on the mechanics, see Co-ownership is a newer category among vacation accommodations, sitting between renting and buying a second home outright. Rather than booking a stay or purchasing repeat access to a resort unit, a group of owners holds a Hotels win on consistency and service: you know roughly what you're getting no matter which property you book. Vacation rentals win on space and privacy, since you typically get a full kitchen, multiple bedrooms, and a more residential feel. The tradeoff is unpredictability.  A rental's quality depends entirely on how well the last host or property manager kept it up, which is one reason more travelers who return to the same destination repeatedly look at Co-ownership and timeshares both split the cost of a property among multiple people, but the similarities end there. With co-ownership, each owner holds a deeded share in an LLC that owns the actual home, meaning the asset can appreciate, be financed, and be resold like any other piece of real estate.  With a timeshare, you're purchasing the right to use a unit for a set period, not an ownership stake in the property itself, so there's no equity to build or sell. For a full breakdown of how the ownership structure works, see Once you're weighing more than a single trip, three of the accommodation types above become real long-term options: renting a vacation home each time you travel, buying a whole second home outright, or co-owning a second home with a small group of owners. Each comes with a different cost structure, level of commitment, and amount of hassle. We've laid out the full comparison, including a cost breakdown and a set of questions to ask yourself, in A few questions can help narrow down the best type of travel accommodations for your situation: For a lot of travelers, the destinations that come up again and again, the mountain town you ski every winter, the coastal spot your whole family keeps returning to, start to feel less like a series of trips and more like a place you belong. The friction is that booking a new hotel room or rental every time rarely matches that feeling, and buying a whole second home outright can mean carrying costs and upkeep for a property that sits empty most of the year. Pacaso allows buyers to purchase a share (1/8 to 1/2) of a Many Pacaso homes are also eligible for

Jackson Hole is the valley itself, running along the eastern foot of the Teton Range, and it has built its reputation as one of the top ski and snowboard destinations in North America. But skiing is really just the start. Between the If you only have time for a handful of Jackson Hole activities, start with these: Keep reading for the full breakdown by season, by who you're traveling with, and by what actually sets Jackson Hole apart from other mountain towns.  Winter is when Jackson Hole earns its reputation. Beyond the lifts, winter things to do in Jackson Hole include: Jackson Hole summer activities trade snow for trails, rivers and long daylight hours. Summer highs hover around 80 degrees, cool enough for hiking and warm enough for the Snake River. Part of what makes Jackson Hole such a strong home base is how much sits within an hour or two of town. A few Jackson Hole experiences are hard to find anywhere else: Jackson Hole's events calendar runs year-round, and timing a visit around one of these can shape the whole trip: Downtown Jackson centers on Town Square, framed by four elk antler arches and ringed by Western boutiques, art galleries and restaurants. It's compact enough to cover on foot in an afternoon. If you only have a few days, here's a sample itinerary that hits the highlights without feeling rushed. Settle in, then walk Jackson Town Square and its elk antler arches. Grab an early dinner downtown, catch the summer Jackson Hole Shootout reenactment on Town Square if it's running, and end the night with dinner at a downtown spot like The Wort Hotel's Silver Dollar Bar before some low-key nightlife. Start with the Jackson Hole Farmers Market, then coffee and breakfast downtown. Head to Teton Village to ride the Aerial Tram, grabbing a waffle at Corbet's Cabin at the summit. On the way back into town, stop at the National Museum of Wildlife Art. Cap the day with an early dinner, a scoop from Moo's Gourmet Ice Cream, and the Jackson Hole Rodeo if it's a Wednesday or Saturday. Book an early wildlife safari through Grand Teton National Park, then brunch back in town. Spend the afternoon browsing Gaslight Alley and the shops around Town Square before heading out. Every season in Jackson Hole brings something worth coming back for: ski season one month, sleigh rides and holiday lights the next, then hiking, rodeos and music festivals all summer. Visiting once a year barely scratches the surface. Pacaso allows buyers to purchase a share (1/8 to 1/2) of a Ready to make Jackson Hole a regular part of your year instead of a once-a-year trip? Browse

With dramatic cliffs along the Pacific shoreline and a network of canyons carved into the Santa Monica Mountains, Malibu has some of the most varied terrain in Southern California. Whether you want a flat, half-hour stroll or a steep push to a mountain summit, these are the best hikes in Malibu, organized by what you're looking for: easy trails, waterfalls, ocean views, a real challenge and dog-friendly options. If you're looking for short hikes in Malibu that don't require much elevation gain, these two trails are the most popular starting points. Corral Canyon Loop is a 2.5-mile loop in Corral Canyon Park with a gradual climb, ocean and canyon views and a firebreak spur about 1.5 miles in that opens up to a vista stretching from Point Dume to Palos Verdes. The trail can be overgrown in spots, so long pants are worth wearing. Parking is available in the trailhead lot off Pacific Coast Highway for a small fee (historically $5 to $12), or along PCH itself where signage allows. The lot sits right next to Malibu Seafood, making it easy to combine the hike with lunch. This 1.3-mile loop in the Point Dume Natural Preserve climbs a bluff-top sand dune to an overlook with sweeping views of Santa Monica Bay, and Catalina Island on a clear day. It's one of the best Malibu beach hikes for spotting migrating gray whales between December and April. Parking is available at the Westward Beach Road lot for a fee, and it fills quickly on weekends, so plan to arrive early. Dogs are not permitted on the preserve's trails. Escondido Falls Trail is the definitive Malibu waterfall hike: an easy, dog-friendly, 3.8-mile round trip that begins near Pacific Coast Highway and follows a single path through wildflower fields, sage and small stream crossings. The lower tier of the falls is 50 feet high and easy to reach. The upper tier requires a steep, unmaintained scramble that crosses private land, and access has been restricted at times. The lower falls are the intended destination.  For anyone searching for Escondido Falls Malibu specifically, the falls run strongest after winter rain, typically January through March, though the hike itself is scenic year-round. Parking is available for a fee at the Winding Way lot, and expect company on the trail since it's one of the most popular in Malibu. These two trails are among the best Malibu hikes with ocean views, and neither requires a technical climb to earn the payoff. Nestled in the Santa Monica Mountains, Solstice Canyon Loop is a roughly 2.6- to 3-mile loop popular for its shaded canyon terrain and coastal payoff. Along the way, you'll pass the ruins of the mid-century Roberts Ranch house and the historic Keller stone cabin, plus a seasonal waterfall that flows after winter rain. The return leg via the Rising Sun Trail opens up to ocean views before descending back to the trailhead. Leashed dogs are welcome on the main trail (though not permitted at the waterfall itself), and parking at the Corral Canyon Road trailhead is free but limited, so early mornings are best. At 5.4 miles round trip with about 1,390 feet of elevation change, Zuma Ridge Trail is a moderate fire-road hike with ocean and mountain views for nearly the entire route. It's less trafficked than Malibu's beach-adjacent trails, and horses are a common sight.  Zuma Canyon has an entire system of trails managed by the National Park Service, so it's easy to shorten the hike or extend it toward Encinal Canyon Road. There are no restrooms or water along the way, and dogs are welcome. Parking at the Busch Drive trailhead is free. For hikers looking for real elevation gain, these two options sit just beyond Malibu's edges and count among the best Malibu state park hiking and Santa Monica Mountains routes in the area. This 6.1-mile loop climbs to Sandstone Peak, the highest point in the Santa Monica Mountains at 3,111 feet, with roughly 1,500 feet of elevation gain. Along the way, you'll pass Balanced Rock, an optional spur to Tri-Peaks and Inspiration Point, which looks straight out to the ocean.  The trail is exposed with little shade, so cooler months or early mornings are best. Dogs aren't allowed. Parking is free in the dirt lot off Yerba Buena Road, though it fills up fast on weekends; a second, overflow lot sits about a mile down the same road. Located in Point Mugu State Park, Mugu Peak Trail is a steep, sun-exposed route of about 6.5 miles round trip (shorter loop options exist) with roughly 1,225 feet of elevation gain. It's one of the best hikes near Malibu for hikers chasing a true summit: the peak is marked with an American flag and offers 360-degree views of the Pacific, the Santa Monica Mountains and, on clear days, the Channel Islands.  Dogs aren't permitted. An $8 vehicle fee is charged to park at the La Jolla Canyon day-use area, though free roadside parking is sometimes available along Pacific Coast Highway just outside the park. If you're specifically looking for dog friendly Malibu hikes, stick to these four: Solstice Canyon Loop, Zuma Ridge Trail, Corral Canyon Loop and Escondido Falls Trail all welcome leashed dogs on the main trail. Point Dume Cove Trail, Sandstone Peak via Mishe Mokwa Trail, Mugu Peak Trail and Parker Mesa Overlook all prohibit dogs to protect fragile coastal habitat or bluff and preserve terrain, so plan accordingly if you're hiking with a pup. Trading a rental car for a set of house keys changes the way you experience Malibu's trails. Instead of squeezing a hike into a single day trip, you can head out the door for a sunrise summit at Sandstone Peak or an easy evening loop at Solstice Canyon, then come home to relax without racing a checkout time.  Popular second-home neighborhoods like Malibu Colony, Point Dume and Carbon Beach put many of these trailheads within a short drive, and having a Home Manager on call means the house is ready every time you arrive, no matter how sandy your hiking boots get. Pacaso allows buyers to purchase a share (1/8 to 1/2) of a

For many real estate agents, Pacaso sparks interest — and just as many questions. To explore those questions, we spoke with top-producing realtor, real estate investor, and author, Eugene Kamenskiy, who has built a dedicated platform educating buyers and agents on the Pacaso model.  Drawing from his personal journey, professional credentials, and years of hands-on experience, he shares why Pacaso resonated with him and effective marketing strategies for real estate agents to thoughtfully and successfully position it in today’s luxury real estate landscape. This conversation is designed for real estate agents: practical, candid, and rooted in real-world application rather than sales theory. Q1: How did you first get introduced to Pacaso, and what was your initial impression? My journey to Pacaso began from a very personal place — a dream that started in the middle of a cold Canadian winter. During the harsh winter of 2021, amid COVID-19 lockdowns and ice storms in Toronto, I found myself dreaming of an escape to warmer climates: the Florida sun, the sound of the ocean, and the idea of finally owning a vacation home. It was a dream I’d held for nearly 20 years, ever since a conversation with a former boss who owned a modest Florida property. When I finally began researching seriously, reality hit quickly. The beachfront home I envisioned was priced around $4 million — far beyond my $500,000 budget. Even with financing, the ongoing carrying costs, maintenance responsibilities, and the fact that I’d only use the home four to six weeks a year made traditional ownership financially impractical. That dream felt out of reach — until I discovered the concept of co-ownership. That’s when I found Pacaso. When I first came across Pacaso, it was a pivotal moment. My initial impression? I was blown away. Here was a Silicon Valley–backed company that had cracked the code for affordable luxury living. Pacaso wasn’t just offering co-ownership — it was delivering a In my book, I describe Pacaso as a “paradigm-shifting solution” because it turned what once felt like fantasy into something real and attainable. My takeaway was simple: Pacaso built the model that made the impossible finally possible. Q2: What made you confident in recommending Pacaso and promoting it in general? At first, I was impressed by how the Pacaso model opened doors for people who once believed owning a luxury vacation home was impossible. Emotionally, it felt revolutionary — a concept that could truly redefine the entire second-home industry and create new opportunities for countless dreamers. But what ultimately gave me confidence wasn’t just the idea — it was the people and the proof behind it. Leadership & track record What gave me instant trust in Pacaso was the leadership behind it. Spencer Rascoff (former Zillow CEO) and Austin Allison (founder of Dotloop) aren’t just successful tech entrepreneurs — they’re true real estate visionaries who understand both innovation and property ownership. Their advisory board includes some of the most respected names in the industry, and with $1.5 billion in funding and backing from top-tier investors, Pacaso’s credibility felt undeniable. These are people who clearly know what they’re doing – equipped with the experience, data, and resources to evaluate markets and validate concepts at the highest level. I remember thinking, A proven model Results speak louder than words. Pacaso now has over 2,000 satisfied owners, 90,000 nights booked, a $1B real estate portfolio, and operations in 40 global destinations. Real estate asset As a real estate investor, I immediately recognized the strength of Pacaso’s model. Resilience by design From an investor’s perspective, the Pacaso model appeared remarkably resilient across different market cycles — that was my logical conclusion. When markets are strong, share values naturally rise with the tide, reflecting appreciation in the underlying real estate. But when interest rates climb and affordability declines, co-ownership becomes not just an attractive alternative — it might become the only accessible path for many buyers to step into luxury ownership, fueling demand and, in turn, supporting share values. Pacaso’s structure adapts to both climates, making it, in my view, a smart and sustainable model in any market. Personal alignment As a licensed realtor, mortgage agent, and real estate investor with a multimillion-dollar portfolio — and someone who has always valued innovation that delivers real, lasting results — I saw in Pacaso a model that passed every test: financial, operational, and philosophical. It represents exactly what I believe in: smart, efficient investing, true hard-asset ownership, and the freedom to live your dream today, not someday. Q3: What do you wish more real estate agents understood about Pacaso? I have a chapter in my book: This is not just another home; it’s a lifestyle transformation that opens doors to experiences previously out of reach. Pacaso doesn’t compete with traditional ownership — it expands the market, creating homeowners out of people who might otherwise rent, stay in hotels, or never own a vacation property at all. Agents who promote Pacaso are not only salespeople but also educators and advisors, helping clients realize dreams they once thought impossible. I also wish agents recognized the power of leverage within the Pacaso model. With the ease and flexibility of  Finally, agents should understand that Pacaso solves real problems, such as affordability barriers, management headaches, and underutilization. It’s a legitimate, modern solution for sophisticated buyers seeking maximum return and enjoyment. From my own marketing experience, I’ve learned one important lesson: if you promote only “savings” or “affordability,” you attract the wrong audience. The real message is value, access, and lifestyle transformation — that’s where Pacaso truly shines. Q4: How does Pacaso enhance the second-home ownership experience? In my book, Pacaso transforms second-home ownership from a burden into pure joy — it eliminates every pain point traditionally tied to owning a vacation property and replaces them with simplicity, flexibility, and freedom. Eliminates the “second job” problem Traditional vacation homeownership often feels like work, from coordinating maintenance and paying bills to arranging cleaners and worrying about an empty property. You finally arrive for a short vacation and end up busy fixing things instead of relaxing. Pacaso changes everything. They handle design, furnishing, cleaning, repairs, utilities, taxes, insurance, and reserve funds. You simply arrive, unpack, and start living your dream. Adds true flexibility With Upgrades the Asset Instead of owning a modest $500,000 property, my clients can now own a share of a $2M – $3.5M luxury home with resort-level amenities, the difference between a basic condo miles from the beach and a luxury waterfront estate just steps from the sand. Freedom from debt and stress In my book and No debt, no carrying costs (with smart strategy) Using strategies I outline in my book, Pacaso owners can invest their remaining (saved) capital in cash-flowing assets that cover their monthly Pacaso ownership fees. That means they enjoy their dream home without debt and without out-of-pocket carrying costs. Pacaso doesn’t just enhance second-home ownership — it completely redefines it. It’s not about owning a property; it’s about owning your freedom, your time, and your dream. Q5: What feedback have you received from clients? Many clients who discovered Pacaso through While my book The book itself has generated strong interest. My reader survey shows that people become more interested in co-ownership after reading it. Q6: If you had to describe Pacaso to another real estate agent in just a few words, what would you say? "Pacaso is where Silicon Valley innovation meets luxury real estate — making dream homes accessible through smart co-ownership, backed by proven leadership, and wrapped in hassle-free, turnkey management." "Unlock the luxury market for your clients. Pacaso turns $2M second homes into accessible $400K opportunities — with you earning on every share sold." About the agent This Q&A features Eugene Kamenskiy, a top-producing realtor and Pacaso expert behind Your opportunity with Pacaso Pacaso isn’t just a new ownership model — it’s a new opportunity for agents. For real estate agents willing to understand the structure, educate thoughtfully, and position Pacaso as a value-driven lifestyle solution rather than a discount play, the upside is meaningful. Pacaso enables agents to serve buyers who may have otherwise stayed on the sidelines — and to do so with credibility, confidence, and scale. If you have additional questions,

There are far better vacation options, including: Let’s explore each alternative and explain how it differs from the typical reasons not to 1. Second home co-ownership  Second home co-ownership is when a property is jointly owned by multiple people. Buying a vacation home is a greater upfront expense than a timeshare, but you don’t have to be the sole owner. With this timeshare and Whether you’re buying with a group of friends or buying a Pacaso second home, you still have true real estate property ownership. You’re not just buying the right to use a hotel or condo-sized space for a set period. Timeshares are notoriously difficult to sell due to the many rules and limitations owners must abide by. The timeshare is also one of many identical units, creating an imbalance between supply and demand. On the other hand, unique homes attract buyers who must compete against each other in the whole housing market.   Browse a plethora of luxury co-ownership options all over the world with Pacaso’s 2. Vacation rentals Vacation rentals are furnished spaces that are rented out on a short-term basis. Airbnb is as popular as ever, with 265 million users and over 7.7 million listings, according to Lighthouse. People choose vacation rentals because renting a property from a private owner is often cheaper than comparable hotel rooms, and they often give travelers added perks like kitchens and convenient locations. However, vacation rentals can come with charges like cleaning fees, sometimes making them even more expensive than hotels.  Vacation rentals are considered preferable alternatives to timeshares because they give greater flexibility in where and when you can vacation. You’re only paying for specific days, so you aren’t on the hook for yearly fees on top of the purchase price of a timeshare.   Timeshare owners often sell their timeshare days when they can’t use them, giving vacationers the option to visit the same timeshare facility without the long-term commitment.  3. Hotels Although Hotels often provide discounts to certain groups (like the military and AAA) or offer discounted rates throughout the year, making them even more affordable. Some hotel chains offer rewards programs, so the more you stay there, the more you get back. 4. Hostels  A hostel is a budget-friendly alternative to hotels with dormitory-style rooms and communal areas. They’re ideal for backpackers and young travelers seeking a social vacation where they might meet people from all walks of life.  Hostels are typically sparse in accommodations compared to timeshares, but the trade-off is worth it for people who enjoy different locations every year. You can find various types of hostels on apps and sites like Booking.com. In a budget hostel, you may stay in a room with six or more people. A boutique or luxury hostel may offer more upscale vibes and cleaner amenities, while party hostels host social activities and late active hours.  5. Resorts Resorts offer an all-inclusive appeal of many of the best timeshares, such as private beach access, live entertainment, gourmet food and guided tours. You’ll spend less time planning all the details of your vacation, leading to less stress and more time enjoying your break.  Just like hotels, resorts give you the flexibility to stay for longer or shorter durations than a timeshare. You won’t be boxed into traveling at predetermined times of year, and you can visit whenever you want. One example of a famous luxury resort is the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai in Hawaii, which boasts many amenities like spas, pools, beach access, multiple restaurants and exceptional customer service. 6. Travel clubs Travel clubs offer group travel rates to various destinations. Travel clubs operate similarly to timeshares and vacation clubs, while being slightly more affordable. Travel clubs require yearly membership fees, and some clubs also charge maintenance fees. These combined costs are often lower than those of vacation clubs. The benefit of travel clubs is that they arrange for group rates, making your stay cheaper while giving you the benefit of travel companions. Oftentimes, the club is centered around a shared trait, like a hobby or age group.  Aside from the social aspect of travel groups, travel clubs also free you from long-term commitments. Even the cost of an inexpensive timeshare begins to add up over the years if you aren’t able to sell it. Since membership in a travel club is yearly, you’ll only lose what you’ve already spent.  7. Vacation home ownership One big draw of owning a timeshare is the dependability of returning to the same destination year after year while avoiding the rising costs of accommodations. Buying a second home in a vacation destination gives you those same benefits and more.  Unlike a timeshare, buying a vacation home gives you real equity in the property, so you have the potential to recoup the money you put into it over the years. Timeshares rarely appreciate in value, and due to the many When you have your own vacation home, you have the freedom to use it as much as you want. In contrast, most timeshare options only allow you to use them once per year and have fixed scheduling limitations.  8. Vacation clubs Vacation clubs are travel services that offer members access to different vacation locations and amenities within their network of affiliated properties. For example, a Holiday Inn Club membership works by purchasing credits. However, many clubs have blackout dates that restrict your ability to travel unless you pay more money. Depending on the club you join, it could cost more per year than even luxury timeshares, but you’ll have easier access to multiple destinations. 9. Fractional ownership Fractional ownership is a collaborative investment where multiple parties share ownership of a vacation property. Each investor maintains specific ownership rights and entitlements to the asset based on their contribution. Fractional ownership is similar to vacation home co-ownership in that you can schedule specific usage times and/or access to different parts of the property.  Splitting the costs of a vacation home comes with benefits like owning a home in a luxury location that you might not otherwise be able to afford. You also share upkeep and maintenance costs. However, it also means all major decisions must go through all ownership partners. You’re also splitting benefits, leading to potential disagreements between owners. How to resell your timeshare?  As you browse timeshare exit vacation alternatives, you may wonder how to best get out of a timeshare. Though it can be difficult, there are a few ways to resell your timeshare. Here are some options: Consider second home co-ownership These timeshare alternatives may help you avoid a major scam and stick to your original goal of enjoying a beautiful vacation with your loved ones.  Unlike a timeshare,

Pacaso is a team of real estate and tech veterans with a mission: Enrich lives by making second home ownership possible and enjoyable for more people.  We offer buyers a smarter way to approach owning a second home: professionally managed Buying and owning a second home through Pacaso dramatically reduces costs and lessens management and scheduling hassles. This lets buyers who are sitting on the sidelines have the chance to become true property owners of a home that previously was beyond their price range.  And it opens up opportunities for real estate agents to have new conversations with buyers and sellers. They can access the second home of their dreams in one of their favorite locations for less money than if they purchased a whole home.   Co-owning real estate is not a new concept. But doing it on your own with friends or family often creates hassle and strain on personal relationships. Many DIY owners find it daunting to communicate effectively about scheduling, maintenance and managing the home.  Pacaso eliminates those issues, making co-ownership easy for the first time by creating a professionally managed, property-specific LLC design especially for co-ownership. A limited liability company (LLC) ensures that the owners are not personally liable for the company’s debts or liabilities. It combines some elements of a partnership, sole proprietorship and a corporation. For buyers, co-ownership increases their purchasing power. It also reduces the stress and pressure of whole home ownership. Gone is the feeling of guilt from leaving a home empty much of the year. Gone is the hassle of vacation rental platforms, the anxiety of knowing that dozens (or hundreds) of strangers are traveling in and out of your home, and the tedium of dealing with repairs.  The benefits for buyers, sellers, owners Buyers can shop from Pacaso’s curated listings. Alternatively, if they find an active listing they’d love to co-own, they can submit the listing to Pacaso; if it meets our specifications, we’ll partner with the buyer to purchase and close on the home, as well as identify vetted co-owners. Each home is co-owned by a maximum of eight owners who use it with only family and friends; no outside rentals are allowed. Owners schedule time in the home with our innovative and equitable SmartStay system on the owner app. And instead of worrying about maintenance, Pacaso's professionally managed LLC will take care of all property management needs. Sellers have two options to work with Pacaso. First, they can decide to sell their whole home to us. Pacaso is a qualified buyer, and we pay premium prices for turnkey homes in the right locations.  Alternatively, current second home owners can decide to keep as much as half of the ownership in their home while unlocking their equity by selling the other portion through Pacaso’ selldown program. This allows owners to keep the home they love while tapping into its liquidity and continuing to enjoy access to their second home. Why partner with Pacaso today? The Pacaso crew, led by former executives from Zillow, has more than 100 years of combined expertise using big ideas and innovative technology to create great real estate experiences. The company’s founders believe second homeownership enhances people’s lives because it has enhanced theirs. And it’s the driving force for the company.  This co-ownership model is a chance for you to bring a modern way of owning as well as fresh inventory to your customers.  Be part of the next wave of innovation, re-inventing how second homes are bought, sold and owned — and creating new business opportunities for you.  -------- Quiz 1. What type of second home ownership does Pacaso offer? A. Whole ownership of a second home B. Time share ownership D. None of the above 2. True or false: Co-ownership is not new, but Pacaso is solving the major pain points associated with the DIY approach. B. False 3. The advantages of Pacaso co-ownership for buyers include: A. They can now afford to own a home previously out of reach financially. They can bring a listing, from Pacaso or any website, that they are excited about to Pacaso. If it’s a fit, Pacaso will buy the home and bring together co-owners. B. They get true real estate property ownership of a fully managed single-family home with fewer hassles and headaches.  4. The advantages of working with Pacaso for sellers include: A. Pacaso pays a premium for turnkey homes in select locations. B. Sellers can unlock equity and still retain up to half ownership of their homes. C. Sellers can remain co-owners of their homes but will have to find the buyers themselves. 5. The professionally managed LLC also handles property management. B. False

Los Angeles and luxury real estate go hand-in-hand. And when the city’s A-list buyers want to Stars of Bravo’s long-running “Million Dollar Listing LA” reality series and co-owners of Josh and Matt worked with Zillow for years and had gotten to know Pacaso co-founder and former Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff. They had also met Pacaso co-founder and CEO Austin Allison, and the brothers knew Rascoff and Allison were real estate innovators.  So when the Pacaso founders approached the team to discuss their new venture, the brothers were intrigued. “Knowing their track record, we were interested, because these were guys who changed the business,” said Josh. Added Matt: “Josh and I jumped at the idea. It was an incredible concept and a product that I would use.” The Altmans, always on the lookout for innovations in real estate, were among Pacaso’s early agent partners. “We like to be the first to do new things. In order to stay on top, you really have to embrace change and technology, and understand how it can work to your benefit,” said Josh. But they had plenty of questions. “When Spencer and Austin presented their business idea to us, my initial reaction was, ‘How is it different from a timeshare, how do people sell their shares, how do they get financing’ — just like any buyer hearing about it for the first time,” said Josh. “Because it’s a new company, it takes a second for clients to wrap their heads around it, but after conversations with the Pacaso team, all our questions were answered.”   After going through the sale process with Pacaso, which Josh described as “seamless,” he was convinced. “I looked at my brother and said, ‘This is going to be really big. This is going to be game changing.’” Matt said it didn’t take long for their team at The Altman Brothers to embrace the concept as well. “I explained the benefits of the Pacaso model for both the homeowner and the buyers, and the team got it very quickly.”   More importantly, the brothers have found second home shoppers to be highly receptive. “The best selling point for buyers is you don’t have to take care of the house,” said Josh. “That’s why a lot of people shy away from second homes. With Pacaso, you get the best of both worlds but for a much lower cost. My clients like it because of the ease.”   For Matt, Pacaso’s fully managed model is a huge perk for buyers. “Owning a second home isn’t easy — you have maintenance, which is an issue no matter how new the home is, you’ve got upkeep. With a Pacaso, you just walk in with your toothbrush and your clothes. It’s a great feeling with no stress. It lets you enjoy a second home like you’re supposed to.”  Being able to tap into the luxury market at a lower price point is a win for buyers, said Josh. “Pacaso has really expanded the buyer pool for second home ownership. Most of the world cannot afford a second home, but Pacaso unlocks a whole group of buyers who weren’t there before.” Matt added, “What’s so special about the Pacaso model is it enables someone to own a real second home for a fraction of the price. A typical second home is empty half the time, which doesn’t make sense financially.” And for real estate agents? Josh thinks working with Pacaso is a “no-brainer.” He said, “Not only can you sell Pacaso the house, you can then sell it up to eight times to the individual buyers. You get commission on the sale of all those shares. Pacaso looks out for the agent and makes sure they get paid what they deserve.”  Matt described it as “an incredible opportunity for agents,” pointing to one of their early success stories in Malibu. The Altman Brothers found a desirable home that seemed like a perfect fit for Pacaso. “It was a hidden gem, a small property right on the beach. As soon as it was in escrow, all eight shares sold almost immediately.” Looking to the future of second home ownership, the brothers agree Pacaso is onto something big. “Pacaso is really changing second home ownership, and I think this is just the beginning. Five years from now, people are going to own multiple second homes for one-eighth the price, and that’s a game-changer,” said Josh.  Matt said he’s considering a Pacaso for his own family. “I see Pacaso becoming a household name in the next few years. I live in LA, and this winter I thought about buying a second home in Big Bear. But I’m only going to use it a portion of the time —  I’d much rather buy a Pacaso knowing I’m only going to use it part-time, but I still have ongoing access to the home. It’s a great product.”

Beautiful American cities attract big businesses, and big businesses pay well for top talent, making metropolitan areas flush with million-dollar homes. But which cities lead the high-priced real estate pack? A 1. San Jose, CA Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, San Jose is the hotspot for 2. San Francisco, CA Just north of Silicon Valley, San Francisco has 42% of its homes valued at over $1 million. But the size of million-dollar homes in San Francisco varies widely depending on location and condition, with 700-square-foot condos in popular neighborhoods going for $1 million, and suburban homes with close to 3,000 square feet listed at the same price. The neighborhoods with the highest appreciation in San Francisco are just east of Lake Merced and bordering San Francisco State University.  3. Los Angeles, CA Are you starting to see a California trend? Los Angeles has long been known for pricey real estate, and its selection of million-dollar homes make up 19% of the market. The average size of million-dollar homes in the City of Angels is 1,720 square feet, with 92% of them built before 1999. The priciest neighborhoods include Bel Air, Brentwood, West Sunset Boulevard, and areas along the Pacific Coast Highway.  4. San Diego, CA San Diego continues the trend of expensive West Coast real estate, with 14% of the homes valued at over $1 million. Median home values in San Diego are around $665,000, with the majority of homes in the area priced between $596,000 and $894,000.  5. Seattle, WA Seattle’s 91% white-collar workforce is a contributing factor to having 11% of its homes valued at a million dollars or more. You’ll find the most expensive neighborhoods near Edgewater Park/Broadmoor, Laurelhurst, and East Roy Street at 24th Avenue East. Newer construction dominates the scene, with nearly 24% of all homes built since 2000.  6. New York, NY New York City is known for its expensive real estate, so it’s no surprise that the Big Apple made this list: 10% of homes are valued at a million dollars or more. But unlike many other urban areas in the U.S., New York’s dense population means that 95% of the city’s homes are apartments, not detached houses. One-bedroom apartments make up 39% of those units, and it’s rare to find a home with five bedrooms or more in the city.  7. Boston, MA In Boston 9% of the housing inventory is valued over $1 million. You’ll find Boston’s priciest real estate at Beacon Street near Fisher College and Boylston Street near Presidential Plaza. Boston is known for its history, and it’s not just monuments and museums — in fact, 50% of the city’s real estate was built before 1940. As a college town, Boston also has a high percentage of renters, with only 33% of homes occupied by owners. 8. Washington, D.C. Like Boston, Washington is a hotspot for American history, but with a larger inventory of newer construction homes: 34% of homes in the district were built before 1940. Million-dollar homes make up 7% of the D.C. real estate market, with Dupont Circle’s historic mansions, Georgetown and The Palisades among the city’s most expensive neighborhoods. Typical home values range from about $236,000 to $1.2 million, with no single price bracket cornering the D.C. market.  9. Miami, FL With glamorous mansions lining its waterways, million-dollar homes are part of Miami’s scenery, making up nearly 5% of the city’s homes. Miami also has some of the newest homes, with 27% of its housing constructed after 2000. Up-and-coming Miami neighborhoods include Buena Vista, City Center and Biscayne Boulevard at Miami Dade College.  10. Denver, CO The Rocky Mountain gem of Denver rounds out the list with 4% of its market consisting of million-dollar homes. Home values are pretty evenly distributed between $122,000 and $914,000, with 86% of them falling in this range. The city is also divided nearly equally between owners and renters, at 49% and 51%, respectively.

The demand for second homes is growing, but so are the barriers. With limited inventory and rising prices, many buyers are hesitant to take on the full cost and responsibility of a second property. Others worry about leaving a home unused for much of the year or managing short-term renters. That’s where co-ownership comes in. This modern approach to second-home ownership gives agents a powerful way to meet evolving client needs, earn more through commissions and grow your business in a changing market. With co-ownership, buyers purchase a share of a private, high-value home alongside a small group of other vetted owners. It’s an ideal solution for clients seeking more flexibility and accessibility than traditional second-home ownership, with greater equity and control. With Pacaso, clients benefit from a professionally managed LLC co-ownership model that offers true real estate ownership. While DIY LLC ownership has existed for years, it’s often difficult to manage. Pacaso simplifies the process by handling the management, maintenance and scheduling so your clients can enjoy their home for several weeks a year, minus the typical headaches of ownership. Co-ownership isn’t just a smart option for buyers, it’s a business-builder for agents. Whether your clients are priced out of full ownership or simply want more flexibility, co-ownership allows you to expand your reach and offer more tailored solutions. No matter where you’re based or licensed, you can refer clients to thousands of homes nationwide and in select global markets and earn a Want to take your business to the next level? Our free Co-ownership isn’t just a trend, but a smart, strategic way to meet modern buyer needs.

More people are buying second homes than ever before. Although the pandemic-induced buying frenzy slowed in 2021, second homes purchases remain historically high. In popular vacation destinations across the country, demand continues to rise, as do prices, with nearly all top markets seeing To determine the “We know that the pandemic fueled a major surge in second home buying demand, and that national demand peaked in the Rural southeast counties had highest rates of growth In addition to revealing the top second home market in every state, the analysis also highlights the percentage of growth each market has seen over the past year. Perhaps surprisingly, Top 10 markets with biggest increases in share of second home rate locks in 2021 High-priced markets more likely to see declines in rate locks Some markets, despite their popularity, experienced significant declines in their share of second home sales. Dukes County, which includes Martha’s Vineyard and 10 other islands off the southeast coast of Massachusetts, is the top second home market in that state. Still, it saw the biggest year-over-year decline in second home share among all top 50 markets that made the list, down 19.4% from last year. With an average second home price of $1.6 million, Dukes County is also one of the most expensive markets.  Price increases and limited inventory may have contributed to the annual decrease, as well as the emergence of other, more affordable markets with more inventory. Teton County, Wyoming — home to the popular Jackson Hole ski resort — has the highest average second home sale price of all the markets on the list: $3.4 million. It also saw a moderate dip in the share of second home mortgage rate locks, down 7.9% from last year.  Find your second home with Pacaso With prices and demand for second homes continuing to rise in many areas, co-ownership offers a more accessible, simpler option for would-be buyers. Pacaso has co-ownership listings in destinations across the U.S. and in Spain, and is rapidly expanding to new markets. Methodology Pacaso identified the top second home market per state by selecting the county with the highest total percentage of second home mortgage rate locks between January 1 and October 13, 2021, in each state. Counties without at least 50 second home transactions in the period were excluded from the analysis.  Mortgage rate lock data is an indicator of second home buying activity. When applying for a mortgage rate lock, a home buyer must specify whether they are securing a mortgage rate for a primary home, secondary home or an investment property. Approximately 80% of mortgage rate locks result in home purchases. Mortgage rate lock data was provided by real estate analytics firm Optimal Blue and includes a sizable share of the market that is taken to be representative of the whole. Second home mortgage rate lock transactions and average second home purchase price data were sourced at the county level. 

According to second home mortgage rate lock data analyzed by Pacaso’s research team, sales of luxury second homes and “Overall, luxury real estate exceeded expectations and outperformed the rest of the second home category and the overall real estate market in Q2 2022,” said Pacaso Co-Founder and CEO Austin Allison. “Despite a rising interest rate environment and growing concerns of a recession, it is clear that demand for this type of asset remains strong.”   The last two years, particularly during the peak of the pandemic, the housing market experienced record growth. Home price appreciation seemingly peaked in April of 2022, when it was up 21% nationwide. Today, the market is beginning to normalize from those unprecedented levels. In May, home prices decelerated for the first time in five months, but were up double digits year-over-year for the 16th consecutive month. The deceleration was partially driven by rising interest rates, an uncertain economy and geopolitical unrest in the Ukraine. Contrary to some headlines, many economists believe that the housing market will continue to grow through 2022, albeit not at the same pace as 2020 and 2021. The current volatility in the stock market has impacted many consumers’ overall net worth in recent months. This in turn drives many to look to more stable asset classes, such as real estate. “Affluent consumers tend to be more insulated from the impacts of an economic downturn,” continued Allison. “Some consumers will look to real estate as a more stable place to park their money during times of increased market volatility. Although they may trim their budgets, this group is less likely to completely drop out of the market. As a result, demand for luxury real estate remains strong, but the acceleration of home price appreciation for this category will likely continue to slow as we saw during Q2 2022.”  While interest rates are rising compared to record low rates during the pandemic, the housing market is still experiencing very healthy demand, particularly in the luxury second home segment. Thirty-year fixed rates rose above 5% in April for the first time in more than a decade. In the second week of June, interest rates rose by 55 basis points, which was the largest one-week increase since 1987. However, for the past 50 years, 30-year fixed mortgage rates have averaged approximately 8%, even crossing above a staggering 18% in the early 1980s. With rates averaging around 5% today, they are still relatively low comparatively. It is important to note that the total share of second home mortgage rate locks was 2.7% in Q2 2022, dropping below the pre-pandemic national average of 3.5% (based on second home mortgage rate locks between 2015-2019). The luxury category makes up approximately 12% of all second home mortgage rate locks. The median price for all second home mortgage rate locks during Q2 2022 was $435,000, which was up 19% year-over-year. Looking specifically at the luxury category, the median price was approximately $1.4 million, which remained relatively flat on a year-over-year basis. However, when it comes to second homes, more than 50% of buyers pay in all cash*. For this reason, looking simply at second home mortgage rate lock data is not the best indicator of true second home sales in the U.S. The median-to-lower end of the housing market, which makes up approximately 88% of all second home mortgage rate locks is being hit particularly hard, thus driving down total second home mortgage rate lock growth on a year-over-basis. In fact, numerous discount brokerages and mortgage companies are reportedly laying off agents in mass due to decreasing demand for median to lower priced homes.  Second home buyers were focused on locally-relevant destinations that feature outdoor attractions, many located along waterfronts, as the peak summer travel season approached.  “For the past two years, premier second home destinations like Aspen, Malibu and Tahoe experienced strong buyer demand,” said Allison. “As inventories were constrained and prices accelerated in those markets, buyers began looking to more locally-relevant destinations for their second home. In those markets, buyers can get a lot more for their money without sacrificing on the quality of their home or proximity to outdoor activities.” Coeur d’Alene, ID and Williamson County, TN experienced the largest year-over-year increase in the median purchase price for luxury second homes of 52% and 42%, respectively. These destinations offer a wealth of outdoor activities, such as hiking, mountain biking, and fishing, making them optimal second home destinations. Situated along Washington’s Puget Sound, Kitsap County, WA, which boasts miles of beautiful shoreline, golf courses, water activities, and boat excursions, saw the median price of luxury second homes increase 39% year-over-year. Cape Cod, MA experienced the largest increase in second home rate lock transactions during Q2 2022 (+236% year-over-year). Located just south of Boston, Cape Cod offers a wealth of outdoor activities, pristine beaches, five star restaurants and some of the best mini golf courses in the nation for family-friendly fun. Beachfront counties dominated the top ten list of destinations by transaction count, including  St. Johns County, FL which saw a 220% increase. Sevier County, TN, which is known as the gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and Clark County, NV, home to The Last Vegas Strip, also experienced strong growth in second home rate locks, up 147% and 108%, respectively. Pacaso identified the nation’s top second home markets by compiling census data on counties with a percentage of seasonal homes and median home values at or above the top 20th percentile, and by excluding those below the bottom 10th percentile of counties with the fewest households. Pacaso then analyzed real estate activity in the top second home markets by observing mortgage rate lock data, a leading indicator of second home buying activity. When applying for a mortgage rate lock, a home buyer must specify whether they are securing a mortgage rate for a primary home, secondary home or an investment property. Approximately 80% of mortgage rate locks result in home purchases. Mortgage rate lock data was provided by real estate analytics firm Optimal Blue and includes a sizable share of the market that is taken to be representative of the whole. For this analysis Pacaso’s research team looked at mortgage rate lock volume for both second homes and investment properties for Q2 2022 with a purchase price of greater than $1 million to focus on the luxury end of the second home and investment property category. Rate lock transactions and median purchase price data were sourced at the county level for counties that had a minimum of 5 second home transactions and aggregated quarterly, with Q2 representing the months of April through June 2022. * National Association of REALTORS®, June 2021

Many second home buyers are wary of high costs and ongoing maintenance, and worry they won’t have enough time to use their home. Pacaso is the best solution, according to San Francisco-based luxury real estate broker Roh Habibi of Sotheby’s International Realty. “Every complaint that I’ve gotten from my clients that own second and third homes in all these destinations — Pacaso has solved it,” said Roh, describing how Pacaso makes it easy for buyers to enjoy their second home. Plus, Pacaso handles the legwork, including tours, inspections and escrow. “For me as an agent, the Pacaso transactions are the easiest I will do all year.” Watch the video to learn more about co-ownership and the benefits of working with Pacaso, from easy in-person or virtual touring with clients to a generous and fast commission structure for agents. 

There’s no denying the challenges and unpredictability of today’s macro environment. Suddenly, the idea of owning a second home — which saw a surge in demand during the height of the pandemic — sounds a lot less feasible during these changing times. As the market shifts and inventory tightens, is there still value in the second home market? To help answer that question, Pacaso compiled its Here are the biggest takeaways from the report.  1. Demand remains strong for the luxury second home market Sales of luxury second homes and Home prices decelerated in May 2022 for the first time in five months, likely driven by rising interest rates, uncertain economic conditions and geopolitical unrest. The volatility of the stock market has impacted the overall net worth of many consumers. Despite these changes, affluent consumers are increasingly looking at more stable asset classes like real estate. While interest rates are rising, demand for the housing market continues to be healthy, particularly in the luxury second home segment. While the total share of mortgage rate locks for all second homes fell below pre-pandemic levels, this was in large part due to the median-to-lower end of the housing market. In addition, more than 50% of second home buyers pay in all cash. For this reason, looking simply at second home mortgage rate lock data is not the best indicator of true U.S. second home sales. Luxury second homes overall make up about 12% of all second home mortgage rate locks, and median prices remained relatively flat on a year-over-year basis.  3. Second home buyers are flocking to local destinations For the past two years, premier second home destinations like Malibu, Aspen and Lake Tahoe have seen accelerated prices. This has led buyers to increasingly look at more local destinations for their second home — in particular, destinations where buyers can get more for their money without compromising on their home or nearby attractions. Beachfront counties and areas with year-round outdoor activities saw impressive growth, including Coeur d’Alene, ID, Williamson County, TN, Cape Cod, MA and Sevier County, TN to name a few.  The stability (and opportunities) of the second home market Despite our current reality of rising interest rates and concerns of an impending recession, the numbers show that demand for luxury real estate — the second home market in particular — remained strong during the second quarter of 2022. For clients still hoping to enter the second home market, trends show that real estate remains a stable place to purchase, and even more so through responsible and accessible ownership models, like co-ownership. This can be a huge opportunity for both your clients and your business. For the full analysis and methodology, click