An intriguing new holiday home concept is emerging for high net worth Australians in 2025, similar to buying into a boat syndicate.
The concept, called Second Home, is pioneered by longtime co-ownership proponents, John and Sharon Russell, and sees investors purchase a share of a fully managed holiday home, with their name on the title which remains a sellable and appreciating asset – unlike timeshare.
In fact, the only real point of difference from owning a property outright is there’s a number of other owners on the title. The latest opportunity is an under construction, luxury three bedroom apartment in the Jack’s Point development in picturesque Queenstown in New Zealand, on the shores of Lake Wakatipu.
Eight shares of the architecturally designed, fully furnished apartment are available, priced at $325,000 and include six weeks usage of the property throughout each year.
“This is very similar to buying into a boat syndicate where you own a share and can use it as if it’s yours, without the full cost and responsibility of owning the boat outright,” says John, who pioneered Australia’s first boat syndicate in 1999.
With Second Home, you are purchasing the bricks and mortar of a New Zealand holiday home valued at over $2.5 million – with your name on the title, and access to it and all the wonderful activities in and around Queenstown for six weeks each and every year.
This is not a hotel or Airbnb with tourists coming and going – the only people who stay in the home are the owners and their guests, who we encourage to get to know each other. After all, they own the property together.
Second Home is ideal for people who aspire to own a holiday home and return with family and friends to enjoy the same region each year, but don’t want to invest so much capital in owning an apartment outright, only for it to be locked up for months on end.
Another benefit (of the concept) is the ongoing costs are shared between the owners. In the case of Jack’s Point, each investor’s share of expenses is about $7000 annually, which covers body corporate and management fees, insurances and maintenance.
Overall, that’s still significantly cheaper than booking accommodation each time they’d like to holiday in New Zealand. Property prices in Queenstown have increased approximately 7% per annum over the past decade, so in a decade, buyers’ initial investment of $325,000 is projected to be worth approximately $630,000.
Over that same period, they would have enjoyed 60 weeks of usage, which would cost approximately $420,000 AUD if they had paid for accommodation separately – substantially more than the $70,000 in annual expenses over 10 years.
“There can be some very lucrative capital gains to be made by buying into a shared holiday home,” says John. “Not to mention, you’ve holidayed multiple times per year in one of the most beautiful places in the world, and much cheaper pay for accommodation separately. Similar model is operating in the U.S. called Pacaso, launched in 2020, facilitating more than $1.5 billion AUD in gross real estate transactions.”
Second Home’s other NZ location is a six bedroom, French style chateau in the Carrick Winery in Central Otago, which comes with a Land Rover Defender 130 and six e-bikes. 13 shares are available valued at $445,000 per share with annual expenses of around $8,600.
“It’s really a lifestyle choice,” says Sharon. “New Zealand offers amazing alpine scenery; there’s so much to do from hiking to fishing, skiing to biking, plus all the incredible food and wine.”
John and Sharon, also have one $40,000 share remaining of thirteen, in a four bedroom villa in central Italy, near Florence, where you can live the authentic Italian rural lifestyle one month every 13 months.
