What is a Condotel?

Condotels – also referred to as hotel-condos, or contels – have become increasingly popular throughout the United States and in Texas, thanks to the conveniences and amenities they offer, as well as their investment potential. As the name suggests, a condotel is a hybrid between a condominium, and a traditional hotel building. With this unique setup, condotel owners enjoy typical hotel services like dry cleaning, housekeeping, and room service, while still gaining all the benefits of owning a property.

Additionally, unlike hotel managed timeshares, owners are able to live in their condotel unit year-round.  However, if the owner wishes to rent out the unit, some condotel developments even offer the convenience of renting out the unit and managing rentals through their central website.

Condotels are very common across the Texas coast as vacation homes. They are also increasingly being found in urban areas across the state, springing up in cities like Dallas and Austin.

When looking into condotels, it is important to understand the concept of warrantable vs. non-warrantable condos. In short, when dealing with housing, the term “warrantable” means that the property can be sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. While this may not seem like a big deal, it can make a difference. Lenders, especially larger lenders, prefer properties that are warrantable. So, as a consumer, it’s easier for you to get a loan on a condotel if it’s warrantable. If a condo is considered to be non-warrantable, then it cannot be sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. In general, larger lenders will not do loans for non-warrantable condos. Others may require a higher down-payment or a higher interest rate for these loans. Hurst Lending does offer affordable loan options for non-warrantable condos; you can learn more on our non-warrantable condo website.

While some lenders may not, Hurst Lending is proud to offer financing options for condotels – warrantable or non-warrantable. We believe that condotels are a good investment opportunity, and pride ourselves on being able to lend where national creditors cannot.

We have programs available for non-warrantable condos, as well as traditional condotel loans. Often, the down payment will be around 15%, and could go as low as just 10%. Have a look at the table below for some brief features of our options, and visit out website at http://condotel-loan.com for more information!