Vacation homes are becoming a burden for some owners. (Photo: iStockphoto)
There was a time when it seemed that everyone owned a vacation home -- or at least dreamed of owning one, anyway. Vacation homes were seen as cash cows that would reap easy money in quick appreciation, plus the added bonus that rental money would bring in.
Oh, how times have changed. These days, you could probably pick up a vacation home for a relative bargain, but not so many people are buying them these days -- at least compared to the heyday of the housing boom.
“Second homes have become an ugly stepchild in an environment [where] people aren’t even buying first homes,” the Wall Street Journal quotes Cicily Maton, a financial planner for Aequus Wealth Management Resources LLC in Chicago.
Vacation homes have become financial burdens to some homeowners, the Journal says, adding that according to data from the National Association of Realtors, the median price of a vacation home dropped 23 percent from 2007 to 2008, with sales falling about 31 percent from 2007.
If you are struggling to afford your vacation home and have been unable to sell, the Journal suggests renting out your second home and becoming a landlord and even donating your home to charity as possible remedies.
Meanwhile, the New York Times’ “Raising the Roof” blog says that according to a survey by vacation website HomeAway.com, 27 percent of second-home owners say they’ve entered the rental market because of an economic hardship like job loss or not having any luck with selling their property. (To read the survey, visit HomeAway.com.)
Not many people I know own vacation homes (owning a vacation home is a little too rich for my blood), but I do know of one former colleague who since being laid off from her journalism job, has been trying to sell the townhome in Naples, Fla., that she bought at the height of the housing boom. She too, has turned to renting out her second home to make up for some of the financial burden, and regularly posts and Tweets about the rental on Facebook and Twitter.
Readers: What do you think: Vacation home -- financial investment or burden?—Lauren Baier Kim