What is a Villa?

Hey Mike it's the same thing we call a house over here on the main land: )

You are correct Julie; a Villa is an upscale, fully furnised private home.

Upscale - - is the key here I think -- my house is nice but no one would call it a villa in comparison.

I don't know...I've been in some so called "Villas" that were certainly not upscale (very dated decor, small, old & broken furniture). I think people feel that it will sound upscale and use the term for any furnished home.

I always assumed that a villa was just a completely furnished house for short term, tourist rentals rather than regular long-term leases. Typically the villas advertise weekly rates in the thousands of dollars range, so even if they were available for a lease, they would be really expensive for long-term rentals (unless you are loaded, of course ;))

In its classic Italian sense, it's a spacious or airy country house typically used as a retreat. In britain it's merely a house in the suburbs. In most places, a studio is a dinky rat hole, in Los Angeles, it can mean a 7600 sq ft warehouse in an industrial sector that rents for 250K/month. Labels...go fig.

I own "Sail Away Villa" and I always feel a lil pompus saying it to tell you the truth. It is a very nicely furnished airy home w/ beautiful views that is a rental for me. I'm not your typical villa owner because rentals are a must for me. When I first bought the villa the rental management company made me "name it"... I guess for marketing purpose's but it seemed a little fru fru??? I don't know?

We used to own a condo at a decent, but nothing fancy property. Certainly not high end. One of the other owners kept referring to his 'villa"..some of us thought he had a house elsewhere on the island, till we found out his condo was his villa...consensus was he had the only "villa" at the place...

I own a studio condo. The two story units at Sapphire are referred to as "villas", but only to distinguish them from the studio units.

lip, that is the association I have with the term "villa" too. As in "Ya, I have a villa in the South of France"
When I first came here I didn't know what the term "condo" meant - still not sure if I do. What it seems to be is an apartment/house, that you think you own, but actually you don't. You pay the mortgage, but someone else can tell you exactly what you can/cannot do with your property. At regular intervals they can request lump sums of money from you, for whatever purpose they decide. Seems to me it makes more sense to rent than deal with that.

But Sabrina, you don't build any equity when you rent. If you're going to stay on island for any length of time that rent money is just gone. In a condo, you own the unit itself. In a co-op you own a percentage of the building. The Homeowners set the rules & make sure they're enforced so staying active in the Homeowners' Association is key to a well-run condo complex.

Personally, I'm not a huge fan of condos but it's a good alternative if house prices are too steep or you don't want to deal with outside maintenance issues. I'm talking about complexes who don't have fees that are ridiculously high which is too often the case.

Well I can tell you this... Mine is a Villa aka house, not a condo but I have plenty of monthly fees associated w/ my villa.. eg; electric w/ averages in the $800 month range, WIFI $100, Choice satellite cable $52, Telephone $31, landscaper $150... thats over $1100 before my mortgage and "wind insurance" which is $7000 a year??? Call it a house, Villa... whatever, but you can also call it expensive