Everything you need to know when hunting for a second home!

You don't have to be rich to buy a second home -- but you do need to be smart. Buying a Second Home delivers the smarts, showing how to make the purchase of your second home a success!

You'll learn how to identify an affordable price range, choose a great location, get low-cost financing, minimize taxes and more. Explore topics you won't find in other home-buying books, including:

innovative financing strategies

how to rent your property profitably

how to assess the investment potential of a fixer-upper

choosing the right mortgage for you

profiting from a second-home sale

buying a home in foreclosure

and much more

The CD-ROM is chockful of handy checklists and custom worksheets that help you make sense of the entire process.

The forms from the CD-Rom, are available under the Appendix B of the EBOOK.

If you're considering what could be the largest investment you'll make in your lifetime, be smart about it with Buying a Second Home.
*The CD-ROM is not included with the digital version of this book.

 

One out of every three homes in the United States today was bought as a second home. We're in the midst of a second-home ownership boom, fueled by such factors as the shrinking American family, older and wealthier households, and new technologies for working from home.

And now you're thinking about taking the plunge. Maybe you're looking for an alternative to other investments and will rent or resell the house. Or maybe a cabin by your favorite lake or ski area is calling to you. And if you're thinking ahead toward retirement, you may want to find a manageable, well-located home now.

Whether you plan to buy a second home for investment, vacation, or future retirement, this book is for you. It covers everything you need to know, from how to locate a house that meet your needs, to ways to stay within your budget, to a crash course in being a landlord. We cover topics you may be curious about but won't find in other home-buying books, such as how to buy jointly with friends, how to arrange loans from family members, and how to choose the best place to retire. And we help you understand some complex legal and financial matters, to make sure your home is a good investment no matter your reason for buying it.

A. What's Your Main Reason for Buying a Second Home?

Before you so much as open the real estate section of your newspaper, decide what you really want out of your second home. And, of course, discuss your goals with anyone who'll be buying, or moving, along with you.

Most people looking for a second home are doing so for either:

investment, or to earn money from rental income or home-value appreciation

vacation, or to find a destination to escape the daily grind, or

future retirement, or to establish a place to enjoy the post-workforce years.

Choosing and staying focused on your main goal will help you make later decisions, for example regarding the type of home you choose, where it will be located, and whether or not you will rent it out.

You may already know which goal is uppermost in your mind. But take a moment to review the characteristics of each type of second-home buyer, below. This is your chance to feel certain about your choice and learn what's unique about your home-buying needs.

Curious About Your Fellow Second-Home Buyers?
The following fun facts were revealed in a 2006 survey by the National Association of Realtors®:

The typical vacation-home owner is 59 years old and earns $120,600 per year.

18% of vacation-home owners plan to retire there eventually.

The typical investment-home owner is 55 years old, and earns $98,600 per year.

Most second-home owners are married couples -- 83% of vacation-home owners, and 75% of investment-home owners.

Minorities are playing an increasing role in the second-home market, accounting for 11% of vacation-home purchases and 17% of investment-home purchases between the years 2003 and 2005.

Buyers must be enjoying the second-home experience -- 21% of vacation-home owners go on to buy one or more additional vacation homes, and 34% of investment-home owners go on to buy additional investment properties.

Buying a Second Home for Investment
If you see a home with deeded beach rights and the first thought that pops into your head is, "Wow! imagine how much I could sell that for after a few years and a paint job," then you're probably motivated by investment goals.

 

Everything you need to know when hunting for a second home!

1. The Seven Rules of Buying a Second Home
2. What a Second Home Really Costs
3. Crunching the Numbers: How Much Second Home Can You Afford?
4. Narrowing Your Search: What and Where to Buy
5. Picking the Right House
6. How Experts Can Save You Time and Money
7. Fixer-Uppers: Finding the Gems and Avoiding the Junk
8. Buying Straight from the Seller: FSBOs
9. Raising the Cash You'll Need Up Front
10. How Family and Friends Can Help (and Why They'll Even Want To)
11. Finding Your Way Through the Mortgage Maze
12. You Don't Have to Go It Alone: Buying With Others
13. Being a Landlord: What You Need to Know
14. Tax-Saving Strategies
APPENDIX A -- How to Use the CD-ROM
APPENDIX B -- Forms and Checklists
Forms for Calculating Costs and Affordability
Hud-1 Settlement Statement
Affordable Monthly Expenditures Worksheet
Estimated Maximum Loan Amount Worksheet
Maximum Purchase Price Worksheet
Forms for Evaluating Individual Houses
Initial Walk-Through Checklist
Rental Property Annual Pretax Cash Flow Worksheet
Return on Investment (ROI) Worksheet
Forms for Interviewing Professionals
Real Estate Agent Interview Questionnaire
Mortgage Broker Interview Questionnaire
Attorney Interview Questionnaire
Home Inspector Interview Questionnaire
Forms for Evaluating Fixer-Uppers
Fixer-Upper State-of-Mind Quiz
Fixer-Upper Walk-Through Checklist
Fixer-Upper Cost-Tracking Form
Forms to Facilitate Down Payment and Other Informal Loans
Annual Nonessential Expenditures Adjustment Worksheet
Borrowing Against Home Equity: Comparison Worksheet
Promissory Note
Form for Choosing Management Company
Property Management Company Interview Questionnaire

INDEX
*The CD-ROM is not included with the digital version of this book.

"If you have ever thought about buying a second home -- whether as an investment, a vacation retreat or for eventual retirement -- this book is a must." Bill Burnett, real estate editor,

 

"A must-read for anyone dreaming of owning second home."

 

“This book is an essential guide for anyone who's thinking about buying a second home. The advantages, challenges and pitfalls of second-home ownership are clearly explained and the book details purchase strategies that every potential buyer should consider."

 

Craig Venezia is a nationally recognized authority on private mortgages. He has appeared on CNN/Money’s “Open House” and been quoted by major media including the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and National Public Radio. Formerly, Mr. Venezia served as an executive at Wells Fargo Bank and was affiliated with E*TRADE Financial. He has also worked as a senior executive specializing in private mortgages at a financial services company. He resides in Massachusetts with his wife and three children.

 

Buying a Second Home: Income, Getaway or Retirement by Craig Venezia
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