The Complete Guide to Second Homes for Vacation, Retirement, and Investment

By Gary W. Eldred

Book Overview

The Complete Guide to Second Homes for Vacations, Retirement, and Investment Choosing the perfect location Finding the right home Forecasting investment potential How to save thousands on financing Here's the knowledge you need to find, buy, and get the most fun and profit from your second home If you've been thinking about buying a second home for getaways, vacations, investment, or retirement, now is the time to do it. You'll gain from low interest rates, easier financing, large tax savings, and strong potential for appreciation. Smart buyers are getting into the market now, before aging boomers push prices even higher. But what's the best way to afford a second home? How much should you pay? What are the tax benefits? How can you be sure you're getting good value for your money? What kinds of financing are possible? How can you negotiate the best deals and bargain prices? Nationally renowned real estate expert Dr. Gary Eldred provides complete answers to these and all your other questions concerning the purchase of a second home. In a simple and clear style, he fills you in on everything you need to know to: * Develop a strategy to increase affordability * Research the market to find your best location * Choose a home that will quickly appreciate * Make the most of current tax-saving techniques * Select the right homeowner's insurance * Rent to minimize risk and maximize profit * Create value through home improvements * Vacation free worldwide through home exchanges

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0471349674
• ISBN13: 9780471349679
• Release Date: November 1999
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
• Length: 281 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.1" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Thank you Dr. Eldred

Following this author's techniques and advice we bought a second(future retirement) home on a lake in Georgia. Just as he forecast, homes like ours have jumped $100,000 in the past 2 1/2 years. Thanks for giving us the kick we needed to make the buy we've considered for years.

Very helpful

This is a helpful little book, which boils down the basics into very readable form. In searching for vacation home information, we also wanted more on home design, styles, and so on, and discovered a colorful, large new book called Second Home, which mixes tours of real houses around the country with great tips on such things as finding the location that's right for you, plus building, decorating, and remodeling information. I highly recommend both Second Home and The Complete Guide to Second Homes.

Great book for exploring your vacation/retirement options

As a voracious reader of books in real estate, I didn't think I would learn much from this book. But I was wrong. Perhaps the best overview of things to consider in buying a vacation/retirement home of any I've seen.I also liked the "how to evaluate your home as an investment" chapter. Overall profitable read.

Opened my eyes-Highly recomended

If you're about to invest several hundred thousand dollars in a second home (as we recently did), you'll find good practical advice in this book. We were set on a specific location, but after reading Eldred's book we started looking around and found a much better deal. Just since January, our home has jumped more than 10 per cent in value. We credit our good choice to the location and investment advice we got from this book. If you remain undecided about where and what kind of second home to buy, we think this book will "open your eyes" as it did us.

This book saved us thousands

Although we are experienced homebuyers, we picked up much useful advice from this well-written book. Most importantly, it told us how to really learn the property values in an area where we were unfamiliar. Good discussion of how to save money on financing and taxes, too. Overall, anyone thinking about buying a second home or retirement home will be alerted to a lot of things they may have forgotten from past purchases or were never aware of. We especiaaly liked the chapters that helped us explore our locaton options.