Seasonal Cottages For Sale Blog

New or Pre-Loved? How to Choose Your First Seasonal Cottage

ben@theclcs.com (Ben Whitney) — Wed, 23 Sep 2026 04:13:28 GMT

The first real decision most families face is not which resort. It is whether to buy a pre-loved park model or a new one. Pre-loved seasonal cottages start at $64,900 plus HST and new ones at $149,900. Here is what that difference actually buys you, and where the trade-offs sit.

What is the difference between a new and a pre-loved park model?

Pre-loved gets you onto a resort for less than half the price, already sited and usually furnished, with a shorter financing term. New gets you a warranty, current build standards, a lot you help choose, and twenty years to pay for it.

Neither is the right answer for everyone. The useful question is which set of compromises suits your family.

Pre-loved: you buy the cottage and the lot together

This is the part people miss. Pre-loved park models are sold where they stand, with the buyer taking over the site. You are not choosing a cottage and then choosing where to put it. The two come as a pair.

That cuts both ways. A cottage in great condition on a lot you do not love is a compromise, and so is a perfect lot with a layout that does not work for your family. It also means availability drives everything: at any moment there might be four cottages for sale across a resort, and your decision is made from those four.

The upside is real though. 233 Monument Street at Vine Ridge is a 2015 Northlander Spruce, three bedrooms, 480 square feet, at $64,900 plus HST. That is a family onto a resort in Niagara wine country for less than the deposit on most freehold cottages.

233 Monument Street: a pre-loved three bedroom park model at Vine Ridge Resort, $64,900 plus HST.

Buying new: you choose the lot, and you wait

Buying a new seasonal cottage at one of the Bloom resorts works the other way round. You pick the model, you pick from the lots available, and the cottage is built and delivered.

The Lakeshore is $149,900 plus HST for three bedrooms in 480 square feet, made by Northlander. The Ferrensby, Fonthill and Belvedere are $189,900 each, built by General Coach, running from 467 to 540 square feet with different layouts. The Fonthill puts the lounge at the front; the Belvedere adds a half bathroom.

Two things to budget for that are not in the sticker price. Decking and steps are quoted separately on a new park model, and they are not optional. And there is a wait between ordering and using it, which matters if you are hoping for this season rather than next.

Inside a new build: the Ferrensby show home, furnished and delivered complete.

How much more does a new seasonal cottage cost?

Take two three bedroom park models, both 480 square feet, at the same resort group.

233 Monument Street, a 2015 Northlander Spruce, is $64,900 plus HST. The Lakeshore, brand new, is $149,900 plus HST. Same bedroom count, same footprint, eleven years apart.

The $85,000 difference buys a warranty, current build standards, a lot you had a say in, and a cottage nobody else has used. Whether that is worth it depends less on the money than on how long you plan to keep it and how much you mind a cottage that has had a life before yours.

Does financing change the decision?

More than the price does, and this is the part that surprises people. Financing on new cottages at the Bloom resorts runs over twenty years from 6.99% OAC, with a deposit of 20 per cent of the price including HST. Pre-loved park models at Vine Ridge are usually financed over ten years.

So the gap in weekly payments is narrower than the gap in price. A longer term on a larger sum can land closer to a shorter term on a smaller one than the headline figures suggest. Ask for both numbers before you decide, because the monthly cost is what you will actually live with.

Approval and rate depend on credit, deposit and term, so treat any figure as illustrative until you have an approval.

What stays the same either way?

The annual site fee. It runs from about $4,305 at Hay Bay to $8,695 at Vine Ridge depending on the resort and the lot, and it is the number that governs your ongoing cost, whichever cottage you buy. The buyers guide sets all eight resorts out side by side.

So does the depreciation point. A seasonal cottage is bought to be used, not as an investment, and that is true of a new park model as much as a pre-loved one. If anything, new depreciates faster in the first few years, in the way a car does.

Which one suits you?

Pre-loved tends to suit families testing whether resort life is for them, buyers who want the lowest way in, and anyone who would rather spend the difference on using the place than owning a newer one.

New tends to suit families who are confident this is a long stay, who want a specific layout, or who care about choosing the lot. It also suits anyone who would rather have a warranty than a bargain.

Whichever you buy, the resort around it is the same.

If you are genuinely unsure, look at both on the same day. Book a Discovery Visit and we will walk you through a pre-loved cottage and a new model back to back, with the fees and finance numbers for each written down. Seeing them an hour apart settles it for most people faster than any amount of reading.

You can also browse everything available now, pre-loved and new together.

Buying a Park Model in Ontario: 12 Questions People Ask Us

ben@theclcs.com (Ben Whitney) — Wed, 23 Sep 2026 04:13:25 GMT

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 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 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.

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 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.

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, or book a Discovery Visit and walk one with us.

Still deciding?

Have a look at what is available now, 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.

Park Model Trailers Are Now Seasonal Cottages | Ontario Resorts

ben@theclcs.com (Ben Whitney) — Wed, 23 Sep 2026 00:49:47 GMT

If you last looked at a park model trailer ten or fifteen years ago, the thing being sold today under the name "seasonal cottage" would be almost unrecognisable. The unit is better built. The resort around it is run differently. And the families buying them are, for the most part, not the families who used to buy trailers.

Here is what actually changed, and why seasonal cottage ownership has become one of the more talked-about ways into cottage country in Ontario.

What is a park model trailer?

A park model is a factory-built unit designed to stay in one place rather than be towed from site to site. It sits on a leased lot inside a resort, is connected to services there, and is used seasonally rather than as a permanent residence. That is the technical definition, and it has not changed.

What has changed is everything around it. Today the same category is sold as a seasonal cottage or a vacation cottage, and the shift in language reflects a real shift in the product. Units now come fully furnished, with full kitchens, multiple bedrooms, proper bathrooms, covered decks and finishes closer to a build than to anything you would recognise as a trailer.

A seasonal cottage at Vine Ridge Resort. Covered deck, finished exterior, landscaped lot — a long way from a towable trailer.

Why the resorts stopped operating like trailer parks

The bigger change is the land the cottage sits on, and it comes down to who owns and runs these places now.

From family-run campgrounds to resort groups

Fifteen years ago most of these properties were ma and pa operations. One family owned the campground, ran the office, cut the grass and fixed what broke. Many were run well and warmly, but they were run on a campground budget, and the capital to rebuild a pool or resurface a court simply was not there.

That ownership has consolidated. Resort groups now hold multiple properties, which changes the economics entirely — professional management, full-time on-site staff, enforced site standards, and the balance sheet to actually invest in the place rather than patch it.

Amenities built to a resort standard

The money has gone where guests can see it. Inclusive pool complexes rather than a single fenced rectangle. State-of-the-art multi-sport courts. Covered pavilions for events and family gatherings. Clubhouses, beaches, landscaped common areas and gated entries.

The heated pool and sports court at Vine Ridge Resort in Niagara wine country.

A programmed season, not bingo night

The shift in how the season is run may be the clearest signal of all. The old model offered a bingo night and a long weekend barbecue. The current one runs a published activity calendar across the whole season, staffed by a recreation team.

Across our resorts that means guided canoe and kayak tours, pottery lessons, golf tournaments, an afternoon of peach picking at the peach fields, a day out at the race track, and a monthly glow in the dark disco. Add organised sports, children's programming and live entertainment through the summer.

Note the range in that list. It is not one activity repeated all season — it is a programme built for a family where the teenager, the grandparent and the six-year-old each want something different from a Saturday, and all three can get it without leaving for the day.

That is a resort operating model, not a campground one, and it is the reason families increasingly compare these resorts to a vacation property rather than to a campsite.

The result is a managed resort community rather than a seasonal trailer park, and most of the people buying into one arrive by way of a resort visit rather than a search for a trailer.

Why families are choosing seasonal cottages

The entry point is far lower

This is usually the first reason a family looks. A traditional waterfront cottage in Muskoka or Prince Edward County is now out of reach for a great many households. Seasonal cottages start around $64,900, which puts weekends at a resort within reach of families who had written cottage ownership off entirely.

Financing is available on most units, and the deposit required is a fraction of what a conventional cottage purchase demands.

The upkeep is somebody else's job

The second reason tends to matter more over time. A traditional cottage is a second property, with a second roof, a second septic system, a second set of everything that can go wrong while you are two hours away.

Seasonal ownership removes most of that. Grounds maintenance, common areas and resort facilities are handled by the resort, and costs arrive as a single annual site fee rather than as a steady drip of bills and emergencies. You arrive on Friday and the weekend is actually yours.

The community is the point

This one is harder to put in a brochure, but it is what owners talk about most. Lots sit close together. Children find each other within about ten minutes. Neighbours become the people you plan your summer around, and a good number of our owners bought because a friend or neighbour who was already there told them to come and look.

The dock at Georgian Bay. Three lakes across more than 300 acres at Seguin.

It is used far more than a distant cottage

Travel time decides how often a cottage gets used. A resort ninety minutes away gets used most weekends through the season. One that takes four hours gets used twice a summer and starts to feel like an obligation. Ontario's resorts are spread widely enough that most families in the south of the province have one within a comfortable drive.

The lake at Huntsville, in the middle of Muskoka.

What seasonal ownership does not give you

It is worth being straight about this, because it suits some families and not others.

You are buying the cottage and leasing the lot, so this is not a land purchase and should not be judged as a real estate investment the way a freehold cottage would be. Most resorts operate seasonally, roughly May to October, rather than year-round. And you are joining a community with rules, which is part of why the standards hold but will not appeal to someone looking for total isolation.

Families who want a quiet, private, year-round, appreciating asset are usually better served by a traditional cottage. Families who want to use a cottage often, without the cost and the work, tend to be very happy here.

How to work out whether it fits

Four decisions tend to settle it, and they fit together: which resort suits your family, what budget is genuinely comfortable once site fees are included, which cottage size and layout you need, and where on the resort you want to sit. Waterfront, wooded, quiet corner or right by the pool changes the experience more than most people expect.

The fastest way through all four is to walk a resort. Book a Discovery Visit, look inside a few cottages, talk to owners who have been there for years, and see whether it feels like your kind of place.