Buy A Vacation Home

The mountains… The shore… A secluded island in the Caribbean… It doesn’t really matter where you go to relax. If you love a place enough to return year after year, it may make sense to buy a vacation home you can call your own. In many cases, you can put the equity you’ve earned in your primary residence to work to help make your vacation dream come true. Here are some considerations to keep in mind when you’re thinking about buying a vacation home:

• Location: Is it close enough that you’ll be able to use the property often? You’ll pay a premium for a home in a vacation hot spot, but you may command a higher rental price if you want to offset some of your costs.
• Repairs: If the house needs work, consider whether you’ll earn your investment back. Updates to kitchens, bathrooms, HVAC systems and roofs can all be costly.
• Maintenance: Maintaining the property helps protect your investment. If you don’t live nearby, you’ll need to contract with someone to keep the house in good shape and looking lived-in.
• Tax implications*: You can deduct mortgage interest on a second home—that is, if you use it at least 14 days each year or one day for every 10 days it’s rented.

* Consult your tax advisor.

We can help you determine how much equity you have available and how much vacation home you can afford.