Rich homebuyers are now 'test-driving' multimillion-dollar mansions

Timeshare tactics are becoming de rigueur among big-ticket second-home developments

When San Diego residents Marty Smith and Tracy Park realised they’d soon be empty nesters, they began an international hunt for a beach house. “I had been travelling to the Caribbean for 20 years, but it wasn’t until I saw a show on TV about Placencia that I even considered Belize,” says Smith, 53, founder of RMS Capital Solutions, a direct lender to California real estate investors.

The couple did some Googling, found a development that looked promising, then made a call to one of the agents they’d seen on television. “It turned out he offered a four-night ‘discovery tour’