This past weekend we got to enjoy going down to the Oregon coast with some friends to stay at the beach house of a pal and to enjoy a long weekend away from work. It was a gorgeous weekend of sunny days and beautiful scenery in and around Neskowin, made even better by the lovely company we kept and the excellent food and beverage we all shared throughout the weekend. Needless to say, I now need to shed a couple of pounds I “found” over the weekend. I’m just glad I didn’t get to stop in to Tillamook’s ice cream store while we were there to “find” a few more pounds. 🙂
Being at my friend’s house reminded me of the days when I was very interested in getting a beach or other vacation home of my own. How I wish now that I’d followed up on that plan because it would be 12 years later and I’d probably have a darn good property on my hands that would have appreciated over our long period of housing and property price increases. Granted, my bigger dream is a part-time home overseas, but it would still be nice to have something closer that we could use more frequently.
Does my lack of action from earlier mean that I’ve been forever priced out of the WA coastal markets? No, not really. I’ll just likely have to look at areas that perhaps the masses have overlooked or not yet discovered. The coastline of the West has changed drastically in the past 20 years and you’ll find many new communities being developed, such as Seabrook where apparently clam digging was a big activity this weekend. Master planned communities such as this have sprung up along the entire West Coast and we aren’t the only ones creating them.
When I jumped into real estate 5 years ago I was reading books on master planned communities in locations such as Florida and throughout the USA. In the reading material I was perusing on the drive back from our weekend away, Multi-Housing News, I read about a mixed use development in Savannah, GA that is being integrated into a more than century old planned community in its historic downtown district.
If you look at market data, the majority of people that own a vacation home tend to purchase within a 2 hour driving distance from their current home. This compact time limit helps in ensuring the regular use of the property, thus making the overall investment more fruitful for the owner in terms of enjoyment, and if emergencies arise it isn’t a large amount of time that must be allowed to get to the property to handle problems. Convenience being the better term on both points, actually.
In our area there are some great locales to consider within a 2 to 3 hour drive from the Seattle marketplace. With water and mountains to the West it’s hard to go wrong. Another friend owns this great little set up at Hood Canal.
And, with the Cascades, hiking, skiing, and wine country to our East, it’s also a toss up. Look long at hard at the activities you enjoy before making a decision. Perhaps go out and rent a place during the times you most frequently take time off and see how you like the drive (traffic), location, activities, and amenities before putting your hard earned funds into a vacation home. We usually help our clients with referring a local agent in the areas that they’re interested in buying in to help make sure they’ve got a good professional to work with that knows the area and who understands a vacation home purchase and the special needs of that type of buyer. Need help finding a professional? Feel free to contact us for assistance.
