Zillow Advice: Home Buying - Good second home markets?

Katie,Second home destinations ...

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 23:26:00 GMT

Katie,

Second home destinations run the gauntlet. What are some of the criteria that this reporter might be looking for?

1) Sun or Snow?
2) How far from Resdience might they want to travel (i.e. if they are in New York, maybe they don't want to fly to Hawaii).
3) Activities? Hobbies?
4) Duration? For the 2nd home how long or how much do they expect to use it?

Just some questions. Anything else you think you can add?

You need to be very careful ...

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 23:07:00 GMT

You need to be very careful when looking at traditional second home areas. Why? Boomers who are looking at an expected retirement date in 5-10 years and they look at their 401(k) statements, they are going to dump real estate to raise proceeds.

This will have the effect of seriously depressing real estate prices (ie they are going to continue going lower) in these locations for quite a while as forced selling continues. Add to that the amount of speculative buying that has no end demand in these areas and you get a real double whammy

Also - west coast of florida is subject to requiring hurricane insurance as part of purchasing that home. Its very, very expensive - significantly more than property taxes in most areas, and of course, its not deductible

Regards

Well, if you are going to ...

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 22:33:00 GMT

Well, if you are going to get a good deal on a second home, chances are it's in an area where the market is not holding up well!

I was in Cape Coral Florida almost three years ago. It's a nice planned community on the west side of Florida. The homes are an excellent value right now because this area (the Fort Myers market) happens to be the epicenter of the nationwide housing crisis. There's alot of brand new never lived in homes selling for a fraction of their worth from just a few years ago. If I could stand the sticky sultry Florida summers, I would consider it for a good retirement home.