Buying a Vacation Home - What to Know

Buying a White Mountains AZ vacation home is a wonderful idea.  Not only will you have a home in the beautiful White Mountains of AZ, but you'll have a GREAT investment.  And we will help you achieve your goal.

Instead of looking for rentals, packing and organizing for your trip, you just pack a bag and go.  And there you are!  In your own vacation home for as long as you like.  Spend quality time with your loved ones, make memories to last a lifetime, relax, rejuvenate.  Not only those wonderful possibilities, but owning a White Mountains AZ vacation home or 2nd home is a really great investment! But, to make your dream come true, you need to consider quite a few aspects.

You know how much you, the family, and friends will enjoy a vacation home, but what makes it a really smart investment?

Vacation Home Tax Advantages

There are significant tax advantages to owing a vacation home.  Be sure to check in with your tax accountant or financial advisor for the most up-to-date tax information.  Owning a vacation home does offer some attractive tax benefits.

You Can Rent it Out

You can't be at your White Mountains AZ vacation home all the time, although you'd like to be?  So why not rent it out?  The White Mountains is the premier vacation spot for greater-Phoenix, Tucson and many out-of-state residents to escape the blistering summers, and enjoy the fantastic winter activities. We are a huge, national vacationer choice in nearly all seasons.  In fact, vacation rentals are usually booked months in advance here.  We have over 1 million visitors a year!  So, why not take advantage of that by renting out your vacation home and make some cash?  With the advent of VRBO, AirBnB, and others, the opportunity for vacation rental income is excellent.  And, we can be a resource to you for local vacation property management firms who can assist you with move-ins/move-outs to make renting your vacation home hassle-free.  Diversifying your investments is a smart move, and you can easily boost your cash flow by investing in a vacation home.

Think About Retirement

If you find a vacation home you love in an area that's safe, peaceful, with endless enjoyable year-round activities, a real friendly and welcoming community, why not think about retiring in your vacation home?  Make a plan to keep your vacation home for your retirement in our White Mountains.  So many of our clients are doing this, and we love helping them achieve that happy dream.  Over the years, we've watched our vacation home buyers retire here.  It's a wonderful, forward-looking plan.  You will not need to find another home-- you've already got one that you love!  And you won't find a better place to retire in than the White Mountains.

Friends and Relatives

We never know what life brings to our friends and our relatives where they may need a place to stay or live for a time.  Many of our clients buy a vacation or second home in the White Mountains for their grown children with family.  Or for other relatives who need and want a place to live and work.  It's a fantastic way to let your investment appreciate, amortize the mortgage, and help family members at the same time.  We've done this for many vacation home buyers.  Helped them find a vacation or second home where family members will reside for a time.  In fact, over the many years we've been helping clients buy a vacation home, we've seen how well this works.  You get a place in our beautiful mountains to visit, and family have their housing needs met, too.  Then, you can keep the home or sell it at a profit.  It's a win-win for many people!

Some Tips for Buying a Vacation Home

1.  Stick to a budget.  Know what you can spend.  Calculate and estimate for what you can afford.  If financing, talk to a lender.  But, even though you may be able to afford an amount greater than you expected, try to be realistic about what you REALLY want to spend.  Good investments require good judgment.  Don't get talked into spending more than you can comfortably handle.  Talk to your financial advisor, or a careful lender that we are happy to resource you to.  Knowing what YOU want, helps us advocate for you.
2. Know the added costs.  Insurance, taxes, HOAs, utility bills, maintenance, repairs, are some financial considerations to factor into your "carrying costs".  And, over-estimate, use worst-case scenarios.  Better to be happily surprised at lower expenses than higher.  We'll be valuable assistance for estimating what your expenses will be. And that brings us to the next important factor
3. Work with experienced local real estate professionals. You don't have to be on your own, especially when looking for a vacation home in the White Mountains.  It's imperative that you start with real estate agents who know our area and market.  We can guide you to areas and homes that work for your goals, especially since a vacation home is an investment, you may want to rent it out, it may have to be close to certain goods/services.  We will guide you every step of the way with the best resources and advice available.
4. The best vacation home is already in place.  Even though the lure of a custom-built home on a pretty lot is hard to resist, it's the best idea to look at resales. Building a home in the White Mountains, especially when you don't live here to begin with, can be difficult, time-consuming, expensive, and frustrating.  You will end up paying far more than you might like.  Resales are far more negotiable and honestly, the better investment.
5. Location, location, location.  We can't emphasize this enough.  Our market is actually vast area-wise.  From tall cool pine to volcanic rock and scrub.  Many of these areas are not vacation home areas, per se, may not provide the return on investment that you desire, and may not offer you to vacation home experience you and your family most want.  We hope to earn your trust by providing honest guidance and feedback about the choices you may want to make.
6. You can't place a value on happiness.  No matter which home you choose, your happiness and enjoyment from the wonderful opportunity to own a vacation home of your own is paramount.  Happiness.  Contentment. Satisfaction.  And we promise to find you the home you will absolutely love.