The Best Time to Buy a Vacation Home in Massachusetts
If you are like so many vacationers, a small stuffy hotel room for a week is not your idea of a good time. And, at this time of the year we are all thinking about how to get away for awhile.
The time may be right in Massachusetts to think about buying a second home to spend those vacation weeks in comfort and to have a permanent investment all at once. Housing market conditions, price decreases and mortgage rates could well serve as inducements to finally bringing this dream to a reality.
Houses on Cape Cod have dropped around 20 percent since 2005 which is a bit more than in Massachusetts as a whole. But this also depends on exactly where in the Cape you are looking.
The best buys right now are in the Mid-Cape section particularly in the condo market. Condos in this region are selling at prices that have not been seen since the year 2000. Not only have prices in the condo market come down but there is currently a large inventory.
If you are looking for single family vacation home on a beautiful lake, Lake Webster in Webster, Massachusetts has listings from the $300,000's up to over a $1,000,000 and some of these homes have been on the market for over a year. Webster is a very scenic area close to the Connecticut border.
The Berkshires, Lenox, Stockbridge and Great Barrington are all lovely areas and are close to Tanglewood and some of the other cultural spots. They are, however, a bit more expensive.
Some of the ways to find your vacation dream home are to:
- Search some of the vacation home sites like lakehouse.com, escapehomes.com and homeawayrealestate.com.
- Conduct Google searches on your own using key phrases like "lakehouse" or "vacation condos" and the name of the town you are interested in.
- Drive around in the areas you desire and look for properties that are on the market.
- Contact a professional buyer broker who can help you with your search.
Buying a vacation home is a discretionary purchase so you may be able to take your time with your search. But, right now is great time to get started and you may just find a gem before vacation season is over.
Copyright 2010 "The Best Time to Buy a Vacation Home in Massachusetts "
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Claudette Millette, Broker, Owner, The Buyers' Counsel - (508) 881-6230
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Claudette, Your analysis of the second home market closely mirrors ours in New Hampshire the lakes and Mountains have seen a 20%+ reduction in Values in the last 6 - 10 years as well.