Myrtle Beach remains one of the Southeast’s most sought-after coastal markets, attracting buyers who want oceanfront ownership with optional rental income. Condotels differ from traditional condos—you own the unit for personal use, while a hotel management company can rent it out when you’re away. Because these properties fall outside standard lending guidelines, LendSure Home Loans provides specialized condotel financing tailored to this unique ownership structure.
The local condotel market continues to expand, offering everything from beachfront high-rises to mid-rise oceanview complexes. With more than 19 million annual visitors, owners can offset some expenses through optional rentals, though personal use remains the main draw. Myrtle Beach condotels also appeal to snowbirds and vacation homeowners from the Northeast and Midwest, supporting long-term demand and strong resale potential.
What Makes Condotels Different from Traditional Condos
Shared Amenities and Hotel Operations
Condotels blend individual condo ownership with full hotel operations. When you buy a condotel unit in Myrtle Beach, you own your specific unit and can use it anytime.
Meanwhile, the hotel management company oversees shared amenities—pools, lobbies, concierge services, restaurants, and housekeeping—just like a traditional hotel.
This setup differs from standard condos, where owners manage maintenance or hire independent property managers.
Your Control Over Personal Use and Rentals
The main difference with condotels is what happens when you’re not there—the hotel management company can rent your unit on your behalf, but only if you choose. You decide exactly when your unit is available for guests. Some owners rent during high-demand seasons, while others reserve the unit for personal use most of the year. This optional, flexible arrangement differs from full-time rental investing and lets you balance income potential with personal enjoyment.
Why Financing Condotels Has Been Challenging
Why Traditional Lenders Decline Condotel Financing
Traditional banks rarely approve condotel loans because these properties don’t fit standard underwriting categories.
Condotels blur the lines between second homes and investments, rental income is optional, hotel operators handle management, and there are no traditional leases. Thus, they are incompatible with conventional lending guidelines.
LendSure’s Solution for Coastal Buyers
This leaves many Myrtle Beach buyers with limited options: paying cash, using expensive private lenders, or walking away. LendSure fills this gap with specialized condotel financing, designed for second-home and optional-rental buyers. Our team understands condotel operations, allowing qualified borrowers declined elsewhere to secure financing and buy with confidence.
How LendSure Condotel Financing Works
Underwriting Based on Your Financial Strength
LendSure offers several qualification pathways for condotel financing, depending on how you plan to use your property:
Personal Income Qualification: If you’re purchasing primarily for personal use with optional rental income, we underwrite based on your creditworthiness, income documentation, and property condition. Your personal financial strength determines eligibility, regardless of rental projections.
DSCR (Property Cash Flow) Qualification: If you’re approaching the condotel as an investment property, we can qualify you based on the property’s rental cash flow alone—no personal income verification required. We evaluate whether the rental income adequately covers the mortgage payment (debt service coverage ratio), making this ideal for investors with complex income structures or those building rental portfolios.
Foreign National Qualification: International buyers can finance Myrtle Beach condotels as investments without U.S. tax returns, Social Security numbers, or domestic credit history. We accept foreign credit reports and can qualify you through bank statements, employer letters, or property cash flow (DSCR)—making U.S. condotel ownership accessible with up to 75% LTV financing.
Both options recognize that condotels serve different ownership goals, and we’ve structured our underwriting to accommodate your specific financial situation and property use plans.
Loan Amounts and LTV Options
Condotel loans through LendSure offer loan amounts up to $3 million for qualifying purchases, with LTV options up to 75% for purchases and 70% for rate-and-term refinances.
Cash-out refinances are available up to 65% LTV, allowing you to access equity for other purposes. Our underwriting team evaluates each condotel application individually, recognizing that these properties have characteristics standard guidelines overlook, moving quickly with streamlined documentation and minimal conditions for qualifying properties.
Understanding Condotel Building Eligibility
Not every Myrtle Beach condotel meets LendSure’s financing criteria, so building-level factors are crucial. We look for true hotel-style operations with professional management, no mandatory rental pools that limit owner control, and units equipped with full kitchens. Location and demand also matter—well-maintained oceanfront buildings in strong tourist areas are more likely to qualify than isolated or declining properties.
Building Financial Health and Management Stability
The building’s financial health receives attention during evaluation, including reserve funds, occupancy history, and management company stability. These factors help us assess whether the property represents sound ownership, even if rental income remains optional. Established Myrtle Beach condotel buildings with strong management reputations and consistent visitor traffic move through our underwriting with minimal questions.
Personal Use Flexibility and Optional Rental Income
How You Control Your Unit’s Availability
With condotels, you decide exactly when your unit is used personally and when it’s available for rental. You might enjoy peak periods like spring break or summer and open the unit for rentals the rest of the year—or keep it mostly for personal getaways and allow rentals only when convenient. This flexible setup differs from full-time rental properties and traditional second homes that limit or complicate short-term rentals.
Optional Income as a Secondary Feature
Any rental income you earn can help offset costs such as the mortgage, taxes, insurance, and maintenance fees. Income potential depends on the building’s management, tourism demand, and your personal use schedule. Myrtle Beach’s strong visitor traffic supports solid rental opportunities during busy seasons, though monthly income will vary based on unit features and how it’s marketed by the hotel operator.
The Myrtle Beach Condotel Market: Local Advantages
Myrtle Beach enjoys multiple periods of strong visitor demand—spring break, summer vacation, and major holidays. Unlike many northern coastal markets, it attracts tourists year-round, with especially high traffic in warm-weather months. This steady flow of visitors creates reliable rental potential for condotel owners who choose to make their units available.
Market Stability and Community Investment
The Myrtle Beach real estate market has remained stable, with established oceanfront buildings showing steady appreciation. Ongoing community investments—such as upgraded oceanfront parks, expanded entertainment districts, and new restaurants—continue to enhance the visitor experience. These improvements support long-term tourism and strengthen the appeal and resale value of well-located condotel properties.
The Myrtle Beach Condotel Market: Local Advantages
Myrtle Beach benefits from multiple high-demand seasons, creating consistent tourism activity that supports optional rental income for condotel owners. Key demand periods include:
- Spring Break: March–early April
- Summer Vacation: June–August (peak season)
- Holiday Periods: December and spring holiday weeks
- Year-Round Appeal: Unlike northern coastal markets, Myrtle Beach attracts steady visitor traffic even in off-season months, with the strongest demand during warm-weather periods.
This continuous flow of visitors creates stable occupancy patterns and strong rental potential whenever owners choose to make their units available.
Market Stability and Community Investment
Myrtle Beach’s condotel market benefits from long-term economic strength and ongoing local improvements:
- Steady Appreciation: Established oceanfront buildings have shown consistent value growth.
- Infrastructure Upgrades: Investments in oceanfront parks, entertainment districts, boardwalk improvements, and new restaurants enhance the overall visitor experience.
- Tourism Support: These enhancements drive sustained tourism, benefiting condotel owners through improved rental potential and stronger resale appeal.
As a result, well-located oceanfront condotels remain attractive to both personal-use buyers and future purchasers if you decide to sell.
Comparing LendSure Condotel Financing to Traditional Options
Three Financing Options: Cash, Private Lending, or LendSure
Most borrowers pursuing condotel financing face three choices: pay cash, find private lenders willing to charge premium rates, or work with non-traditional lenders like LendSure. Cash purchases eliminate financing flexibility and tie up capital that could be invested elsewhere. Private lending often involves rates 3–5 percentage points higher than conventional mortgages, plus origination fees and prepayment penalties that further erode returns.
Why LendSure Offers Better Terms
LendSure condotel financing offers middle ground: professional underwriting standards, competitive pricing, and understandable terms without punitive private-lending costs. Our loans are fixed-rate mortgages, meaning your interest rate and payment remain stable throughout the loan term. This predictability differs sharply from adjustable private loans or from condotel financing through lenders treating these properties as experimental ventures.
Getting Started with LendSure Condotel Financing
Beginning the financing process starts with basic property details—address, purchase price, building name, and unit information. Our team then confirms whether the building meets LendSure’s underwriting requirements. After that, you’ll submit standard mortgage documents such as income verification, employment history, credit authorization, and asset statements, with flexibility available for self-employed or non-traditional income borrowers.
Our underwriting team evaluates your application and the property simultaneously, moving quickly without unnecessary delays. You’ll receive a pre-approval letter within days, giving you confidence when making offers. Once under contract, our loan officers coordinate with building management and your real estate agent to streamline appraisals and handle property-specific documentation. If you’re ready to begin, contact LendSure and we’ll guide you through every step of the process.
FAQs
How is a condotel different from a condo or a vacation rental?
A condotel combines individual unit ownership with hotel operations and professional management. Unlike condos, where owners manage buildings collectively, or vacation rentals that are purely investment properties, condotels give you exclusive personal use rights while allowing optional hotel-managed rentals when you’re not occupying the unit.
What if I don’t want any rental income from my unit?
You maintain complete control over whether your unit participates in hotel rentals. Some owners reserve units exclusively for personal use and decline all rental opportunities. The optional income potential is available if you choose it, not mandatory.
Can I refinance my condotel loan with LendSure later?
Yes, LendSure offers both rate-and-term refinances (to lower your interest rate) and cash-out refinances (to access equity for other financial goals). Refinance options become available once your loan seasons appropriately through our standard process.
How does the building’s hotel management affect my financing?
LendSure evaluates the hotel management company’s stability, occupancy history, and operational practices as part of building eligibility. Strong management with professional operations supports consistent building performance and positive owner experiences throughout your ownership period.
What happens if building occupancy declines in the future?
Your answer depends on which qualification pathway you chose:
If you qualified with personal income documentation: Your mortgage payment remains the same regardless of rental income or building occupancy. We underwrite based on your personal financial capacity, not on projected rental revenue, so optional income simply remains optional—protecting you from income-based payment volatility.
If you qualified through DSCR (property cash flow): Your payment was structured around the property’s rental performance from the start. While the payment amount stays fixed, building occupancy matters more to your financial planning since rental income is your debt service source. Strong hotel management and tourist demand help maintain consistent occupancy, which is why we evaluate building quality carefully during underwriting.
Are there restrictions on which Myrtle Beach properties qualify?
LendSure evaluates buildings based on legitimate hotel operations with professional management, no mandatory rental pooling arrangements, full kitchens in units, and solid building financial health. We work with you to identify which local properties meet our underwriting standards before you commit.
How long does the condotel financing process take?
The process typically moves quickly—pre-approval within days of application, property evaluation concurrent with underwriting, and loan closing within 30–45 days of clear-to-close. Our familiarity with condotel underwriting eliminates delays common with traditional lenders unfamiliar with these properties.
