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Written by: Bea Pablo, Writer
For many investors, travel and real estate are two passions that are often kept separate. One offers lifestyle experiences. The other focuses on long-term financial growth.
Can you combine both and benefit in the long term? The Equity Residences 2026 webinar answers that question in a clear and concise way. During the session, Managing Director, Greg Salley and Head of Investor Relations, Marina Salley walked us through how Equity Residences blends lifestyle and long-term investing. Explaining how the funds operate, how travel planning works through the reservation system, and why the model has continued to attract investors for a decade and a half.
Founded in 2011, Equity Residences is now celebrating its 15-year anniversary, marking a long period of growth and investor travel across destinations around the world. Over time, Equity Residences has expanded its collection of luxury vacation homes while building a global network that allows investors to explore sought-after locations across North America, Europe, the Caribbean, and beyond.
An Overview of Equity Residences
Equity Residences is a luxury real estate investment fund designed for savvy investors who want exposure to high-end vacation homes in sought-after destinations. Instead of purchasing a single residence in one location, investors enter a professionally managed fund that buys and manages homes across several destinations. When investors are not using the homes, the funds rent them on the open market to offset high operating costs of running multi-million dollar portfolios.
This approach allows investors to enjoy a wider range of travel experiences while spreading their investment across multiple markets. Each home in the collection is carefully selected for its location, travel demand, cap rate, and long-term value. Professional management oversees acquisitions, operations, and reservations, allowing investors to focus on planning their trips rather than handling the responsibilities that usually come with owning a vacation home.
How the Equity Residences Investment Model Works
Equity Residences provides an effortless way to blend luxury travel with long-term investment. By making a one-time investment in one of the currently open funds: the Equity Euro Fund and the Equity Platinum Fund 2, investors gain access to a curated collection of homes across premier destinations worldwide.
Investors receive annual vacation credits that can be used to reserve stays at homes within the fund or through an extensive affiliate network. The number of credits required depends on the destination and season, giving investors the flexibility to design personalized travel experiences. The model delivers value in two ways First, investors enjoy extraordinary vacations during the life of the fund, with annual stays often valued at tens of thousands of dollars. Second, when the fund reaches its planned end, the homes are sold, and investors receive their original capital plus 80% of the gains, targeting a return of 1.3x to 1.5x of invested capital.
This approach allows investors to enjoy both remarkable travel experiences and long-term financial growth, all through a professionally managed and globally diversified collection.
Inside the Equity Residences Global Home Collection
The Equity Residences portfolio is broad, ranging from relaxed beach settings to lively city centers and mountain retreats. Each location is chosen with a focus on strong travel demand, setting, and overall experience, offering investors a variety of ways to explore throughout the year.
Beach Destinations
The collection includes coastal homes across destinations such as Hawaii, Mexico, Belize, and the Caribbean. Locations such as Ambergris Caye, Cabo San Lucas, and Costa Rica’s Reserva Conchal offer easy access to the beach, along with space for families to gather and unwind. Many of these homes are located within established resort communities, where beach clubs, dining, and outdoor activities are close at hand.
Mountain Retreats
For those drawn to the mountains, Equity Residences includes homes in destinations such as Big Sky, Montana, Northstar Resort in Lake Tahoe, and Vail, Colorado. These locations are known for year-round appeal, with skiing in the winter and hiking, golf, and outdoor activities in the warmer months. Many of the homes offer direct access to the slopes or are located just steps from village centers.
European Destinations
In Europe, the collection reflects a mix of coastal and cultural destinations. Homes in Siena, Barcelona, and Mykonos place investors close to historic landmarks, local cuisine, and well-known attractions, while also offering space and privacy to enjoy a more relaxed pace of travel.
How Fund Credits Work
A key part of the Equity Residences model is the credit system, which gives investors a structured way to plan travel throughout the year. Think of credits as currency that investors can use to book Equity Residences’ homes each year and transfer to the affiliate networks. Credits give investors a lot of flexibility in booking, regulate demand for homes throughout the year, and equalize vacation dividends during the life of the fund. Each investor receives an annual allocation of fund credits based on their investment. These credits are used to reserve stays across all the fund’s portfolios, with the number of credits required to book homes depending on the destination, season, and length of stay.
Credits are used across different destinations. A stay in a high-demand location during peak travel periods requires more credits, while trips during other times of the year may require fewer. This allows investors to decide how to use their travel time, whether to use credits on high – demand weeks such as New Year and Spring Break or travel during quieter times of the year, such as September and October. Investors can book the homes throughout the year An in-house concierge team is also available to assist with trip planning, helping coordinate details before and during each stay.
In addition to booking in advance, the system also allows for credit-free short-notice travel when availability opens up, creating opportunities for more spontaneous trips. Credits can also be used beyond the core collection through an extended network of affiliated homes, offering additional destinations and flexibility when planning travel.
A Look at How Investors Use Their Time
Let’s take an Equity Platinum Fund 2 investor with 300 fund credits to spend annually on booking vacations. Below is the example allocation of trips that he can book throughout the year.
- President’s Day week in Crocus Bay, Anguilla – 130 credits
- Thanksgiving in Reserva Conchal, Costa Rica – 60 credits
- Independence Day in Vail, Colorado – 35 credits
- Memorial Day in Mauna Lani, Hawaii – 75 credits
These stays reflect a mix of peak travel periods and high-demand destinations, showing how credits can be used for both beach and mountain experiences.
What makes this example especially meaningful is the value comparison. Based on Airbnb rental rates for the same stays, the investor would have spent:
- Crocus Bay, Anguilla: $16,250 per week
- Reserva Conchal, Costa Rica: $11,854 per week
- Vail, Colorado: $9,071 per week
- Mauna Lani, Hawaii: $11,776 per week
This brings the total annual retail value of trips to $48,951. The example highlights how investors are able to enjoy multiple trips across the year, while accessing homes that would typically cost five figures to rent. In this example, we use our own rental data for representative weeks.
Why Investors Choose Equity Residences
For many investors, the appeal of Equity Residences comes down to balance. It brings together meaningful travel experiences and long-term financial growth within a single, structured model. A one-time investment provides access to a professionally managed collection of homes across multiple destinations, along with a system that makes planning travel straightforward and flexible. Investors are able to enjoy time in beautiful locations each year, without the responsibilities that typically come with managing a second home. The structure also reflects a focus on long-term value. With no debt at the fund level and a diversified collection across destinations, the model is built to support both stability and growth over time.
As Equity Residences marks 15 years in 2026, the track record continues to grow. With the Equity Platinum Fund 2 and Equity Euro Fund, operations across 12 countries and thousands of investor trips completed, the model has continued to resonate with those looking for a more thoughtful way to approach both travel and real estate investing. In the end, it is not just about where you go. It is about how your investment supports those experiences along the way.
For more information on becoming an investor and accessing the full Equity Residences experience, contact us at info@equityresidences.com.
