{"id":95831,"date":"2019-07-24T09:00:50","date_gmt":"2019-07-24T13:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stage.bhgrelife.com\/bhgrelife\/?p=95831"},"modified":"2019-07-22T16:50:24","modified_gmt":"2019-07-22T20:50:24","slug":"buying-a-vacation-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stage.bhgrelife.com\/bhgrelife\/buying-a-vacation-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Discover the Perfect Time for Buying a Vacation Home"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If\nyou\u2019re lucky enough to have reached the time in your life when you can\nseriously contemplate buying a vacation home, there\u2019s much to be excited about.\nAccording to the National Association of Realtors, one in eight homeowners are\nthinking of buying a second home. While summer may be the time of year you\nstart to think longingly about sun, sea and sand, it may not be the best time\nto buy a cottage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\nare some things to consider<\/a> when you\u2019re buying a vacation\nhome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Peak of season is seldom a good\nidea<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Avoiding\npeak seasons makes sense in supply and demand terms. Peak season, whether you\nhave your eye on a Vail ski chalet or a Cape Cod sea shanty, is when the area\nin which you\u2019re looking is at its finest. Since vacation homes can be sentimental\ninvestments, many who\u2019ve inherited them rent them out as additional sources of\nincome so they can hang onto a property. They may be sharing it with siblings\nor have had to buy them out. They also may be part-time vacation home\ninvestment owners who got in early on a new resort but need to ensure 100\npercent occupancy during peak season to make their investment pay off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aim\nfor the final weeks of the high season to make your offer or hold off until\njust after peak season ends. If you\u2019re looking for a summer vacation home, the\ntime between Labor Day and Thanksgiving is the perfect window of opportunity.\nYou\u2019ll still take possession early enough in the year to be able to get a\nglimpse of what future summers can hold, and you\u2019ll also have a chance to do any\nneeded repairs before winter sets in. Then you can spend the winter planning\nwhat you need to do to make the place your own the following summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If\nyou\u2019re looking at a winter vacation home, spring is the best time to make an\noffer. While diehards may still be renting or occupying their vacation homes,\nhoping to get one or two more days of spring skiing or boarding in, most will\nhave placed their properties on the market. Just be careful not to leave your\noffer for too late in the year if the area you\u2019re interested in is remote. Some\nowners board up their properties for the off season, making it harder to get\nviewings. Also, don\u2019t forget the power of spring mud. Properties accessible\nthrough three seasons may become harder to access during spring thawing and\nflooding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Be sure the time is right<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Before buying a vacation home, you need to think long and hard\nabout a whole host of considerations. First and foremost is whether you will be\nable to use it enough to make it worthwhile for you financially. Even if you\nbuy a vacation home and plan to rent it out to defray expenses, that means your\ntime there will be limited. While you may love a cottage on a lake in fall, not\neveryone else does. If you can\u2019t afford to spend the 4th of July at your own\ncottage, this may not be the time to buy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, have you considered all the duplicate expenses<\/a> involved? Whether\nyou want your vacation home to mirror your principal residence in all ways, you\ncan\u2019t escape the fact that you\u2019re going to need two of everything now. Unless,\nthat is, you want to treat every weekend you spend at your vacation home like a\ncamping trip (which may well be the case). You\u2019re not going to want to haul\nlawn mowers and leaf blowers to the cottage every summer weekend. That goes\ndouble for appliances, linens and furniture. You\u2019ll also have a second set of\nbills for property taxes, insurance, yard maintenance, internet and cleaning\ncosts. In addition, there may be HOA fees, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Third, what are your vacation goals? If you want to visit every\ncontinent and are running out of time to tackle Asia and Africa, does a\nvacation property make sense? If you find you\u2019re drawn to experiential\nvacations like hiking the Appalachian Trail, swimming with the dolphins or\nbuilding someone else a home with Habitat for Humanity, a vacation home may be\nan anchor you don\u2019t need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand, if you know you can afford to invest in a\nsecond property and have a long-term plan to use it as a home base while you\nglobetrot in retirement, or if you want your family to have the freedom of the\ngreat outdoors while they\u2019re growing up, it might just be time to seize the\nday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"