Condo-Tels or Condo-Hotels as they are more properly known are a type of hotel room that you can purchase and use as your own holiday home and when you are not using it, it is let out as a normal hotel room/suite. Usually buy a national/international hotelier chain.

Sounds like a great idea!!Well it is, you actually own a slice of real estate in a resort/hotel/location you love, it is rented out for you without you having to get too involved..however is it a great idea? With the slow down in the Real Estate market in recent months these units which are often more than the price of a single family home have been left unsold, unbuilt and in less than a year the market that was once there has dried up. This type of purchase has been doubted by the mortgage lenders who have always been cautious about lending for such a unit, now it has become even harder to finance one in the traditional sense.

According to Dante Alexander, Head of the National Association of Condo-Hotel Owners
"Eighty-five percent of the buyers were relying on second mortgages to buy their units, and that is gone." as reported in the Orlando Sentinel.

With the market virtually gone and lenders avoiding the product some projects that have yet to be built could be canceled and some which were due in the next year or so have been pushed back to 2009-2010.

Condo-Tels are no longer a Real Estate Investment, they are more of a lifestyle choice, somewhere you can vacation, relax in your favourite destination and cover some of the costs by renting out your unit as part of the hoteliers rental program.

However here at the British Homes Group, we have some lenders on board who will in certain developments offer financing to Brits who have bought or are looking to buy a Condo-Tel.