A Second Home and Real Estate - Vacation Home Guidelines
GMAC Real Estate

Articles & Resources

Specialty Real Estate

Real Estate Calculators

Room Planner

A Vacation Second Home Primer

Takeaways

  • Decide a role for the vacation second home.
  • Make it fun for the entire family.
  • Don’t rush the purchase process.

Did you know?

  • Vacation second home sales are growing, and the typical buyer is getting younger.
Many vacation second homes are near water.Selecting a vacation second home is completely different from the search for investment real estate. And in ways it is more difficult. The investment second home search is relatively cold and calculated, driven purely by what property will generate the most money. A vacation second home has to meet a number of possibly conflicting personal needs.

The first step is to decide the role you want a vacation second home to fulfill. Some of the early questions to answer include how close do you want the vacation second home to your primary residence? Is the vacation second home more of a resort destination for annual vacations, or is it going to be a relaxing getaway for vacations and weekends away from home? Once you determine the role a vacation second home will play in your life it’s time to start the search for your new second home.

Fun for Everyone

A vacation second home should offer relaxing fun and entertainment for the entire family. This means just because dad loves the idea of a rustic cabin in a secluded wood perfectly set up for quiet walks among the trees and lazy fishing in solitude, mom might not enjoy the lack of a dishwasher or nearby grocery shops. And the teenage kids don’t fish and would rather be around other teens. A vacation second home should have some appeal to everyone who will use it, or spending time there might not be all that relaxing.

The one place where a vacation second home takes some cues from investment real estate is if you expect to keep the property a short time. In this case, along with the personal criteria it’s important to look for property with resale value, hopefully after appreciating in value. If you plan on keeping the second home for a long time it’s more important to anticipate changes in your family. A vacation second home purchased with a little planning will provide decades of relaxing and fun entertainment for possibly generations of your family.

Search for Second Homes for Sale

To search for a selection of second homes for sale, please visit the website of a GMAC Real Estate Office that serves the area where you'd like to buy a second home. To learn more about buying Second Homes or Vacation Homes, explore the rest of this section, or contact a GMAC Real Estate Agent.