Ever Thought About Buying A Vacation Home?

School will be back in session next week in Hoover Alabama.  Many people are out of town taking advantage of this last week for a vacation.  With the beach only 4 hours away, and one of several large lakes 1-2 hours up the road, it is easy to "get out of town" for some R&R.

Earlier this summer, my husband and I went to Colorado and spent several days in the Rocky Mountain National Park.  The mountains are also a wonderful place to spend some quality down time (it is also a lot cooler there, too).

When spending time away, have you ever thought, "It would be great to OWN a vacation home".  It would certainly cut down on the cost of the vacation if you didn't have to pay the hotel or condo fees for the nights you were there.

 Did you know that vacation homes accounted for 12% of the homes purchased in 2007 (this is according to the Investment and Vacation Homes Survey conducted by the National Association of Realtors). If you add "investment property" to the mix the total of investment and vacation homes sold was 33% of total homes sold.  So you may be THINKING it but many others are actually DOING it.  Fifty Nine percent of vacation homes were single family detached homes, 29% were condos, 7% were townhouses and 5% were "other".  The number of properties sold for vacation purposes was 740,000 in 2007.  WOW.  The median price of the vacation home was $195,000. 

 Now all properties require maintenance, taxes and other expenses, however, many people have found that renting the property when you are not using it is a way to defer some if not all of the cost (renting the vacation home puts it into the investment category).  Also, property is an asset that appreciates over time - just as your stock portfolio does and you can sell it later to pay for other expenses in your retirement years.  Also, I would venture to say that the mountain home or beach condo would give you many more years of enjoyment with family and friends than your stock portfolio will!

Think about it.  Where will you spend your vacation next year?  If you would like information about vacation homes in ANY area, let me know.  I know realtors throughout the entire United States so we have all the vacation hot spots covered.  Just send me an e-mail to Toni@ToniBird.com and I'll find a professional to help you.