It's Cheaper to Own a Vacation Home Than to Rent One


My mom couldn't afford to rent her vacation home — so she bought it instead. That sounds backwards until you run her numbers, and her numbers are exactly why she owns the place today instead of handing a landlord a small fortune every winter.

Here's the math she walked me through. Renting the home in prime time would cost $23,000 Canadian a month. Broken down nightly, that's $545 US a night — and she likes to stay for three months at a time. Three months of prime-time rent adds up to roughly $75,000. As she put it, she doesn't have $75,000 to spend on a vacation rental. Most people don't.

So she flipped the problem around. Instead of paying $75,000 in rent and having nothing to show for it, she bought the home. The place isn't a cost sitting empty the rest of the year, either — she rents it out for ten months, and the rental income is what carries the property while she's not there.

Then comes the best part: because she owns it, she gets to stay there for two or three months for free. The guests cover the year, and her own vacations are built into the asset. That's the difference between renting and owning — rent is money gone, but an owned vacation home keeps working when you're not using it.

Key takeaways

  • Renting the home in prime time would cost $23,000 Canadian a month — $545 US a night.
  • A three-month stay at rental rates would run about $75,000, with nothing to show for it afterward.
  • Buying the home turned that expense into an asset: it rents out for ten months of the year.
  • Owning means she stays two to three months for free while renters carry the property the rest of the year.

Watch the original Short: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/nKc3lPe0hyY

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