The Second Home Muse

Managing Multiple Homes

It's easy to get overwhelmed at the idea of managing more than one home, especially after dealing with contractors, services, and other daily details of the first home. But that certainly shouldn't deter you from getting that second home. Especially since help is on the way...As always, where there's a need, there's a solution. BCB Technology, creator of other life-style tools for the web, is now offering Home Concierge. According to their press release, "Home Concierge is a virtual assistant, helping homeowners keep track of scheduled maintenance appointments, personal activities, vendor information, seasonal tasks and important deadlines such as property tax payments and insurances. " It's geared to owners of multiple homes, whether a beach house, ski chalet, or both, not to mention the primary residence. Check it out. Thanks, BCB, for making life easier.

Inside Scoop on Sedona Housing Market

Perhaps I'm preaching to the converted, but it's my firm belief that there's nothing like having a local expert help with buying a second home, especially if you don't live there. Even better is to get a buyers agent...one who only represents your interest. Recently, our colleague in Sedona, Arizona, Roy Grimm, sent us an update about Sedona, and it just confirmed our opinion on getting good help.

Besides the beauty of the place, Roy points out that the surrounding national forest limits the growth of Sedona, meaning that the place will always maintain good value for investment. He writes, "Since 1996 we've seen the median cost of homes appreciate at an average of over 12.5% a  year and vacant residential land, 21%.  In the last  three years it's been considerably higher.  Currently, the median  selling price is close to $600,000.  The median for lots  is about $500,000.  That will go much higher since we are  nearly out of vacant land now." More demand than supply makes it tough for a buyer, but Roy points out that right now there's a bit of inventory, a good time to buy in.

For those of you who worry about water in a desert town, Roy points out that "Sedona has always had one of the  best water supplies in Arizona.  Located  just below the Colorado Plateau (or as we call it, the Mogollon Rim),  we are sitting on a terrific aquifer that has been described by hydrologists as more than adequate for future Sedona  needs indefinitely. "

Like I said, there's nothing like having a local expert and dedicated buyers agent to make your second home purchase feel easy. Check out Sedona, and give Roy a call. Tell him the Second Home Muse sent you!

College Towns are In

A recent article on how to pick a place to live, run on MSN, came to my attention. While it dealts with primary home locations, it was interesting to note that a few of the spots are great for second homes as well. The article points out that some great criteria for searches are college town, low crime, good economy and inexpensive. The second home locations that poppped up on their list of 8 include Boise, Idaho;  Asheville, North Carolina; Olympia, Washington, and Prescott, Arizona. While they are all well-established communities, they offer great recreation possibilities and good get-away sites for second homes, without breaking the bank. Check them out!

Upscale Vacation Home Swap

Investing over a million in a vacation home has its pros and cons. But one hurdle is being removed...have you felt unwilling to rent out that valuable property, because it could get trashed? Have you felt that you now had limited rather than expanded your vacation options, because you have a mega-vacation home? I just read of a service, Travel to Trade, that caters only to homes valued over a million, that allow similar luxury home owners to trade with each other. The clients are all very pre-screened, and selected, giving peace of mind to the owners. And while you pay a bit, (20% of the going rental rate), it's an interesting concept. Not quite a residence club nor a timeshare, it really is a home exchange, with some benefits.

So if you've hesitated getting that big one because you'd feel locked in, maybe you can relax a bit now, and buy it anyway.  Has anyone got a castle they can spare?

Baby Boomers Love Real Estate

Who's got the vacation homes? Baby boomers, for sure. A Harris Survey on baby boomers, presented to the NAR has some great stats. Here's a snapshot, thanks to the report from Knight Ridder.

-  Baby boomers number 77 million (39 million women, 38 million men), 35% of all U.S. adults

- 80% own their own homes; the national home-ownership rate at 69 percent.

- In addition to their own home, 13% own land; 8% own rental property; 7% a vacation home or seasonally occupied property; 2% commercial real estate; and 3% other kind of real estate.

- Baby boomers own 57% of all vacation/seasonal homes and 58% of rental properties, with 34% owning more than one rental, and 13% with more than one vacation home

- 40% intend to make the vacation home or seasonal property a primary residence eventually, compared to typical averages of 20% for all buyers.

Impressive numbers. I'm wondering what happens when the last boomer has turned out the lights. Is the X-generation ready?

Northern California Coastal Find

I'm still on vacation, without a computer, so I can only dictate this short "heads-up." When I return, I'll give you a full report. I've found a great secret on the No. Cal. coast: Can you imagine ocean view lots for $150K? And well-done, rentable vacation homes for $650K? That's what I'm finding here at Irish Beach.

Where's Irish Beach, you might ask? Go to Google, and you'll see it's due west of Booneville, which gives you some idea that it's sort of nowhere. But that's its beauty. The coast is every bit as beautiful as the lower part of the California coast, but the prices are even better. There are several developments up and down the line here. No town in Irish Beach, but it's only 20 minutes to the cute town of Gualala. I was all prepared for those white-knuckle route 1 drives, but up this way, it's a serene and easy drive. Can't tell you more...it's time to head out and find some seashells. At a two and a half hour drive from home, this is as good as it gets in California. B Back Soon.

Buying into a Destination Club

Destination clubs are one of the newer business models in the vacation travel scene. Without years of public exposure, it's hard to know how to evaluate this option. Our friends at Helium Report offer a great service: they created a first class Decision Guide to Destination Clubs. You might think, 'why do I need that? I can just look up the clubs I'm interested in.' But wait...if you are about to invest anywhere from $150K to over $400K to join a club, wouldn't you want some objective advice? That's what the report gives. And personally I'm glad to have it.

A Destination Club isn't for everyone. It is definitely aimed at affluent families who travel multiple times in a year, to multiple destinations. Since it offers luxury homes in a variety of places, it is way different than buying your second home somewhere, which limits you to one spot. Nor is a destination club a timeshare or fractional. For the most part, you don't actually own anything. But you can get alot for your money, from concierge service in luxury homes, to a refundable membership fee. Check it out yourself. Click here to get one of the decision guides, and let us know what you think about this new way to enjoy life.

Naples Florida Market

We recently mentioned that the statistics about overvalued and undervalued housing markets seemed a bit askew to us. Our realtor friend in Naples, C. Bensen, gives a great example of why this is so. The numbers correlate housing prices to income. By that chart, Naples is way overvalued. But as Chris points out, the numbers are using local income to create the relationship. Most of Naples housing are second homes, where rather affluent people come to vacation, not to work. Their relatively high income doesn't show up in stats about Naples income. Hence, Naples is considered overvalued. Hmm.

Chris also points out that in Naples as in other areas, it is a buyers market. According to his newsletter, as of May 31st, there are 9,375  properties on the market in Naples with 2,528 new listings coming out on the market versus 1,926 the previous  year, an increase of 23.8%. Demand for property declined as 672 properties were sold in May versus 1,340  the previous year, a decrease of 49.8%. If you are heading to a warm place for your second home, keep Naples on your list, no matter what they say about 'overvalued.'

See some Naples properties here.

1031 Exchanges

Many readers often ask us for more information about 1031 exchanges. The 1031 refers to the IRS Code that governs the exchange of investment property for like kind, and the tax liabilities involved. Recently we  came across some good information from an unique association. The "Tenants in Common" Association brings qualified investors together so that they can create beneficial investments, as well as take advantage of the 1031 rules. If you find yourself in this category, you might want to look into their organization. It pays to be well-educated, especially when it comes to investments and IRS.

International Second Homes

It's easy to get country-centric, and think that second homes are a big thing only in the US. However, statistically, the growth in second homes is an international phenomenom, with Europe and Asia having an expanded demand for vacation properties as well. The great thing about the Internet is that we can research and find properties just about everywhere.

One of our readers living in Asia has identified Malayasia and Krabi, Thailand as great beachfront vacation spots. Now the question is, which of our readers out there is building something worth buying, with easy access to the beach. Any takers?