NEW YORK -- When Eric Pai yearns for the beach, he packs up his wife and three kids and heads for Naples, Fla., to a $3 million second home with flat-screen TVs and a concierge. When he wants to ski, it's off to his second home in Deer Valley, Utah.
In all, Pai has 300 second homes in North America, the Caribbean, and Europe.
Pai is a member of Exclusive Resorts, a vacation ''ownership club" that allows its members access to multimillion-dollar homes in vacation hot spots for a fraction of the price of owning one.
''I'm a numbers guy. I did the math, and it worked," said Pai, 44, of Montclair, N.J., a fund manager at
Other companies have latched on to the business model. Tour GCX of Manhattan offers 10 rounds of golf at up to 18 private golf and country clubs in the New York area for $6,250. That breaks down to about $156 per person per round for a foursome -- on par, so to speak, with most higher-end publicly available golf courses around New York.
''And these aren't just your average courses. These are private clubs that most people never get to play, and for that day, you have full membership privileges," said Gary Rosenberg, chief marketing officer at Tour GCX. ''On average, our clubs require a $50,000 initiation fee and annual dues around $18,000."
And the Classic Car Club in Manhattan can get you to those exclusive country clubs in style. It gives members the opportunity to use a wide variety of classic cars, from a 1957 356
Michael Prichinello, one of the cofounders, said members can learn more about classic cars in a club atmosphere that includes a club room featuring an open bar, and an Xbox 360 with driving games, all free with membership.
Membership ranges from $7,000 to $10,500 per year, with a one-time fee of $1,500.
''You can't take it with you," Prichinello said. ''All you get in the end are experiences."
