--- description: Straight answers on cost, ownership, annual fees, financing, renting out, resale and year round living at Ontario's seasonal cottage resorts. title: "Buying a Park Model in Ontario: 12 Questions People Ask Us" --- [![Seasonal Cottages For Sale](https://www.seasonalcottagesforsale.com/hubfs/SCFS%20colour%20liner.png)](https://www.seasonalcottagesforsale.com/home) [Enquire now](https://www.seasonalcottagesforsale.com/book-a-discovery-visit) [Cottages for sale](https://www.seasonalcottagesforsale.com/cottages-for-sale) Resorts [Resorts](https://www.seasonalcottagesforsale.com/resorts) - Bloom Resorts - [Hay Bay](https://www.seasonalcottagesforsale.com/resorts/hay-bay) - [Penetanguishene](https://www.seasonalcottagesforsale.com/resorts/penetanguishene) - [Flamborough](https://www.seasonalcottagesforsale.com/resorts/flamborough) - [Georgian Bay](https://www.seasonalcottagesforsale.com/resorts/georgian-bay) - [Sandbanks](https://www.seasonalcottagesforsale.com/resorts/sandbanks) - [Huntsville](https://www.seasonalcottagesforsale.com/resorts/huntsville) - Vine Ridge - [Vine Ridge Resort](https://www.seasonalcottagesforsale.com/resorts/vine-ridge) - Sunday Place - [Sunday Place, all year](https://www.seasonalcottagesforsale.com/resorts/sunday-place) - [All eight resorts](https://www.seasonalcottagesforsale.com/resorts) [Buyers guide](https://www.seasonalcottagesforsale.com/buyers-guide) [Discovery Visit](https://www.seasonalcottagesforsale.com/book-a-discovery-visit) [‹ All posts](https://www.seasonalcottagesforsale.com/blog) # Buying a Park Model in Ontario: 12 Questions People Ask Us Ben Whitney · Sep 23, 2026 [Park Model Trailers](https://www.seasonalcottagesforsale.com/blog/tag/park-model-trailers)[Seasonal Cottage Ownership](https://www.seasonalcottagesforsale.com/blog/tag/seasonal-cottage-ownership)[Buying a Cottage](https://www.seasonalcottagesforsale.com/blog/tag/buying-a-cottage) Most families ask us the same twelve questions, usually in the same order. Here they are with straight answers, including the ones where the honest answer is not the one that helps us sell. ## Do I own the cottage, or am I renting it? You own it outright. It is your property, you furnish it as you like, and you can sell it on whenever you choose. What you lease is the site it stands on, through an annual agreement with the resort. That split is the whole basis of how seasonal ownership works, and it is why the price you see is the price of a building rather than a piece of waterfront. ## What does the annual fee actually cover? At most resorts it covers the site, grounds and grass cutting, waste collection, road and common area maintenance, on site management and reception, and use of the pool, beach and courts. What varies is utilities. At Bloom Resorts Sandbanks the fee includes water, sewer, waste and septic pump outs. At Georgian Bay those are billed on top. Two fees that look similar on paper can mean quite different annual costs, so always ask what a given figure includes before comparing it with another. The [buyers guide](https://www.seasonalcottagesforsale.com/buyers-guide) sets all eight resorts out side by side. ## How much does a park model cost in Ontario? Pre-loved cottages start at $64,900 plus HST. New models run from $149,900 plus HST for the three bedroom Lakeshore up to $189,900 for the Ferrensby, Fonthill and Belvedere. On top of the purchase, budget for the annual site fee, which runs from about $4,305 at Hay Bay to $8,695 at Vine Ridge depending on the resort and the lot. Premium and waterfront sites cost more. ![233 Monument Street, a three bedroom pre-loved park model at Vine Ridge Resort priced at $64,900](https://www.seasonalcottagesforsale.com/hubfs/233/Lot%20233%20Front%20Deck%20Exterior%20Professional.png) 233 Monument Street at Vine Ridge Resort, our entry level pre-loved cottage at $64,900 plus HST. ## What else should I budget for? Propane is typically around $250 a year. Hydro is around $300 a season where it is metered to your cottage. Insurance runs between $300 and $1,200 and is yours to arrange. On a new cottage, decking and steps are quoted separately from the purchase price. Winter storage for a boat or trailer is extra where it is offered. And HST sits outside the prices quoted above unless we have said otherwise. ## Can I finance one? Yes. Financing on new cottages at the Bloom resorts is available from 6.99% OAC over twenty years, with a deposit of 20 per cent of the price including HST. Pre-loved cottages at Vine Ridge are usually financed over ten years. Approval and rate depend on credit, deposit and term, so treat any weekly or monthly figure you see as illustrative until you have an approval in hand. ## Is a park model the same as a mobile home? No, though the terms get used interchangeably. A park model is delivered complete, placed on a site and connected to services. It is not towed behind a car, it has no engine, and once sited it stays there. A mobile home in the sense most people mean is a year round dwelling, insulated and serviced for winter. A park model is built for three season use. The ones we sell are made by General Coach and Northlander Industries, two Ontario manufacturers, and run from 467 to 820 square feet. There is more detail on [what a seasonal cottage actually is](https://www.seasonalcottagesforsale.com/what-is-a-seasonal-cottage). ![Inside a new General Coach park model, looking across the living space to the full kitchen](https://www.seasonalcottagesforsale.com/hubfs/Ferrensby/Ferrensby_Show_Home_Interior_Living_and_Kitchen_Professional_Warm_DSC01473.png) Inside the Ferrensby: a full kitchen, a proper bathroom and furniture included. ## Can I rent it out? At Vine Ridge Resort, yes. It is currently the only resort we work with that allows owners to rent their cottage out, and it runs a managed rental programme to handle it. The Bloom resorts are owner use only. That is a deliberate policy rather than an oversight, and it is one of the things existing owners value most. Everyone on the resort is an owner, you see the same families each season, and children make friends they come back to year after year. Resorts that allow short term rentals feel different, with a changing set of strangers each weekend. ## What happens to it over the winter? It stays on its site. The resort closes at the end of October, the cottage is winterised, and you return to it in May. Nothing is moved or stored. ## Can I live in one year round? Not at a seasonal resort. They close for the winter and the cottages are built for three season use. If you want somewhere you can use in January, a park model is the wrong product and we would rather tell you that now. [Sunday Place](https://www.seasonalcottagesforsale.com/resorts/sunday-place) near Greater Napanee is the exception we work with: an all season land lease community of detached ranch style homes, open all year, with the land leased from $550 a month. ## Does a park model go up in value? No, and we put that plainly because it is the honest difference between this and buying a house. A seasonal cottage depreciates like a vehicle rather than appreciating like property. It is bought to be used, not as an investment. Families who want an asset that grows in value should buy land. Families who want twenty six weeks by the water without losing their weekends to maintenance are the ones this suits. ## Is a year round home different? It is a different proposition. The newest addition at Sunday Place, the Napanee, is a detached ranch style home of almost 1,000 square feet on a five foot crawl space foundation, from $299,900 with the land leased at $550 a month. Built to permanent standards rather than three season ones, homes like these are treated by buyers as homes, and they tend to hold their value in a way a seasonal cottage does not. What you still lease is the land, and that is what keeps the price at $299,900 rather than what a comparable freehold bungalow would cost in the same area. ![Detached ranch style homes on a street at Sunday Place, the all season land lease community in Greater Napanee](https://www.seasonalcottagesforsale.com/hubfs/Sunday%20Place%20street%20view%20render.jpg) Sunday Place, Greater Napanee: detached homes on a foundation, open all year. ## Which resort should I look at first? The one nearest home. Owners tell us the same thing consistently: a resort you can reach in ninety minutes gets used most weekends, while one that takes four hours gets visited twice a summer. Flamborough sits inside an hour of the GTA. Vine Ridge is in Niagara wine country. Huntsville and Georgian Bay put you in Muskoka, and Sandbanks, Hay Bay and Sunday Place open up Prince Edward County and the Bay of Quinte. You can [compare all eight](https://www.seasonalcottagesforsale.com/resorts), or [book a Discovery Visit](https://www.seasonalcottagesforsale.com/book-a-discovery-visit) and walk one with us. ## Still deciding? Have a look at [what is available now](https://www.seasonalcottagesforsale.com/cottages-for-sale), or book a visit and we will go through the fees and the finance numbers properly. If it turns out not to be right for your family, that is a perfectly good outcome. ## More from the journal [All posts ›](https://www.seasonalcottagesforsale.com/blog) ### [Sep 23, 2026 New or Pre-Loved Park Model? Choosing Your First Seasonal Cottage](https://www.seasonalcottagesforsale.com/blog/new-or-pre-loved-park-model-choosing-your-first-seasonal-cottage) ### [![Exterior, deck and lawn of a seasonal cottage at Vine Ridge Resort](https://www.seasonalcottagesforsale.com/hubfs/530/Lot_530_Exterior_Deck_and_Lawn.png) Sep 23, 2026 Park Model Trailers Are Now Seasonal Cottages: What Changed](https://www.seasonalcottagesforsale.com/blog/park-model-trailers-are-now-seasonal-cottages-what-changed) ## Come and see for yourself. Book a Discovery Visit and walk a resort with us. Meet a few owners, look inside a cottage or two, and see whether it feels like your kind of place. [Book a Discovery Visit](https://www.seasonalcottagesforsale.com/book-a-discovery-visit) SEASONAL COTTAGES FOR SALE Helping families find their perfect seasonal cottage across Ontario. #### Explore [What is a seasonal cottage?](https://www.seasonalcottagesforsale.com/what-is-a-seasonal-cottage) [Cottages for sale](https://www.seasonalcottagesforsale.com/cottages-for-sale) [Our resorts](https://www.seasonalcottagesforsale.com/resorts) [Buyers guide](https://www.seasonalcottagesforsale.com/buyers-guide) [Book a Discovery Visit](https://www.seasonalcottagesforsale.com/book-a-discovery-visit) #### Get in touch [hello@seasonalcottagesforsale.com](mailto:hello@seasonalcottagesforsale.com) Seasonal Cottages For Sale is part of Cascade Leisure Consultants, which holds exclusive rights to market cottages at Vine Ridge Resort, Bloom Resorts and Sunday Place. Each resort is independently owned and operated. Enquiries are handled by a Seasonal Cottages For Sale team member based at the resort you ask about. Pricing, availability and financing are subject to change and to approval. Resorts operate seasonally. © 2026 Seasonal Cottages For Sale. All rights reserved. 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