Admin

Is A Vacation Home A Good Investment? Pros and Cons

By
Real Estate Agent with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage

             Are Vacation Homes a good investment?

Big Bear Lake                              Lake Havasu Sunset                        Julian Ca

Are Vacation Homes a good investment? What are some of the Pros and Cons?

My Name is Mary and I have owned several vacation homes throughout the years. They can be a great investment if bought in the right areas, areas that tourists like to visit year round. 

When looking for a investment here are a few things to consider.

1.) How many tourist come to visit the area year round?

2.) Is the vacation rental market flooded with vacation homes already? 

3.) What is the average vacation home rent for? Do they rent monthly or nightly or weekly?

4.) Condition is always important when it comes vacation homes as you dont want to be doing work on it.

5.) Do you have someone you can trust to take care of your home when you are not there? 

6.)If it is a vacation home in the mountains then stick to a mountain cabin feel not newer updated home.

7.) Buy an in area that is close to where you live or that you visit alot.

Pros of owning a Vacation home

1.) You can rent out your vacation home and still use it yourself when you want to while your mortgage is getting paid by others. Build equity in your Vacation Home.

2.) You can take advantages of the tax benefits of owning a vacation home. (There are a lot of tax benefits but ask your CPA)

3.) Less wear and tear on your home then full time rentals and less tenant problems.

4.) Vacation rentals depending where you buy can appreciate in value like the normal Real Estate Market.

5.) Its always to nice to have a place to call home away from home. 

CONS of owning a Vacation Rental

1.) It is far to take care of if you don't live close and things go wrong. 

2.) If you book though a site like VRBO and AirBNB you need to talk with guests and share your secrets about the areas your guests are visiting and make sure you do not double book your guests, or you can pay a rental company but can pay up to 50% of your rental income. 

3.) Re-sale can take longer then a single family home in a city, sometimes 90-120 days to sell.

4.) Paying the electric, gas, internet and cable bills can get expensive so you need to charge enough to cover all your expenses.

5.) You may want to furnish it nicely to appear to more guests. 

All in all I have rented to snow birds for 4 months out of the year in Lake Havasu and I have a place by Yosemite we rent nightly, and our home in  Temecula  rents monthly and nightly because of all the wedding venues.  Furnished rentals in the city can always rent long term to CEOs , RN's and Insurance companies needing to place owners that have suffered a loss. 

You really cant go wrong investing in Real Estate. Your return on your money if you are smart is better then any bank will pay you. 

For more information regarding Vacation rentals please feel free to contact Team Mary and Ash www.maryandashsells.com  

Comments(3)

Show All Comments Sort:
Mary Zullo
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage - Temecula, CA
Real Estate Agent / Investor

If you own a vacation home please add to this post and let me know about your experience.

Nov 08, 2016 08:14 AM
William Feela
WHISPERING PINES REALTY - North Branch, MN
Realtor, Whispering Pines Realty 651-674-5999 No.

A vaction investment home is a great investment...as long as you have a dual use.

Nov 08, 2016 01:25 PM
Joe Pryor
The Virtual Real Estate Team - Oklahoma City, OK
REALTOR® - Oklahoma Investment Properties

It has been for us. We have a second home in Jupiter Florida and we rent it out VRBO weekly and it pays for itself.

Dec 10, 2016 07:27 PM