Unique Homes Blog

A down market means opportunities — and not just for primary homes. We’ve identified seven areas you won’t want to overlook in your search for that perfect resort/vacation home.

Finding Values in Florida

Jane Araguel, a Realtor based in Destin, Florida, will always remember the 2004-2005 hurricane season.

“This area went 65 years without a hurricane. Then all of a sudden we had four in a matter of months,” she says. “My telephones quit ringing in the first few months of 2005.”

Property values that had been spiking suddenly started to drop. Four years and one recession later, Realtors still are working to move a backlog of homes and condos. It’s good news for investors, who can buy a formerly $1 million home for $400,000.

“The values are 60 percent lower than in 2004,” Araguel says. “Real estate is an amazing investment right now.”

The story has been repeated in many areas of Florida as an oversaturated real estate market continues to recover from the shocks of the past few years.

“It is a fabulous time to buy,” says Sarasota Realtor Barbara Ackerman. “In our region, there’s been at least a 30- to 35-percent correction in the market from 18 months ago. You can get a single-family home with beautiful Intracoastal water views for $2.5 million in the Sarasota area. We have not seen these prices for a very long time.”

The drop in home values presents a rare opportunity for buyers. Araguel says condos that were selling for $600,000 to $700,000 just a few years ago are now going for $250,000. “Until we get all of the extra inventory cleared, the prices will stay low,” Araguel says. “But there’s no doubt they will rise again. The question is when.”

Ackerman says the only exception to the rule has been prime beachfront properties, whose values have not dropped. “Those homes don’t often come on the market,” she adds. “The Gulf of Mexico is gorgeous and quiet, and the sand rivals any of the islands in the Bahamas. People know they’ve got something special down here.”

Realtor Ray Corcoran of Boca Grande says premium homes in his region also tend to stay off the market. “At that level, if people need to wait a year or two to sell, they wait,” he says. “We’re seeing more activity in the lower-end market.”

Corcoran says Realtors are working to sell approximately a nine-month inventory of homes in his area. “A couple of years ago, we had more than three years’ worth on the market,” he says. “The homes have really moved fast.”

Corcoran says prices have stopped falling and may start creeping up again in the near future. But for now, “People are out here buying, and they’re really getting the advantage.”
—Jennifer Martin

Photo courtesy RE/MAX Coastal Properties

Tahoe’s Tax Advantages

At first, the idea of droves of high-net-worth Californians fleeing the Golden State for the tax-friendly promised land of Nevada is sure to materialize in one’s mind as an overworked editorial cartoon. On closer examination, it becomes clear that these corporate company owners and vacation home hunters are making the most of a buyer’s market, and they’re doing so in one of the most desirable recreational destinations in the world: Lake Tahoe.

Nevada’s policy of no corporate or personal income tax, coupled with Lake Tahoe’s reputation as one of the purest, most picturesque lakes worldwide, makes the region lucrative to both corporate entities and private homeowners. “A lot of our high-end buyers are company owners that are looking for an exit strategy to take their company out of California,” says John Krolick, broker/owner of Alpine Realty International in Incline Village. “Some corporate owners have found tax advantages to the point where savings are so great that the house is almost free.” Tawny Stanton, of the Schwartz-Stanton Group at Coldwell Banker Incline Village, Select Realty, shares a similar observation, stating “as of the start of the summer, the last three high-end sales (one $9 million and two $2 million listings), were [to] Californians moving here because of the taxes.”

People are “prehistorically programmed” to desire access to water, says Krolick, and on the most popular alpine lake in North America, respectable waterfront property demands a price of $10 million or more. “We’re not dealing with the atypical millionaire; we’re dealing with the billionaires,” he says.
—Sarah Binder

Photos courtesy Schwartz-Stanton Group At Coldwell Banker Incline Village

Mexico: A Healthy Market

With the peso-to-dollar ratio at 13-to-1, health-conscientious residents and officials, and a scarce foreclosure market, buyers are finding security in Mexico.

“Land is well-priced and building material costs are the lowest in years,” explains Harriet Cochran Murray, owner of Cochran Real Estate. “Those who have a strategy of what to build can take advantage of these factors.”

For approximately 8,600 square feet of land in a prime, South Shore Puerto Vallarta locale, buyers will spend roughly $1 million — 80-degree-Fahrenheit weather included.

Recently, reports of Swine Flu and violence have put Mexico in the spotlight; now, the country, known for its weather and culture, is showing its crisis management skills. “Mexico set an example to the world on how to handle a health concern,” says Cochran Murray.

According to Cochran Murray, more Canadians and Americans live in Mexico than any other country outside their own. Mexico also hosts millions of tourists each year. “These visitors and residents know Mexico’s daily life is not what has been written about in the press,” she adds.

In San Carlos, Mexico, a town of 2,500 summer residents and 3,500 residents in the winter, if a buyer finds a luxury real estate offering, it’s not likely to be a foreclosure.

“San Carlos avoided getting overbuilt,” says Richard C. Baca of Sunshine Realty in San Carlos. “We have not been stung by the foreclosure mess.”

The luxury price range in Baca’s market is currently between $800,000 and approximately $1.8 million, but there are instances where a homeowner is in need of cash and sells below market value.
—Lauren Varga

Photo courtesy Jim Manson

Memories in Maine

Real estate in Maine isn’t just about the square footage within a home, but the memories that are obtained within the home’s walls.

“Most of the high-end properties around here are not primary residences,” explains Story Litchfield, broker at LandVest, Inc. “They might not even be a second home. They might be a third or fourth home.”

According to Litchfield, owners’ priorities are different when they visit their vacation homes in Maine. From May to October families come to spend quality time with one another. “It’s just about being with family.”

“The second-home market is a driving force on both Mount Desert Island and Blue Hill, Maine,” explains Jane Daniels, broker at the Davis Agency. There are currently 46 homes available on Mount Desert Island that start at $1 million and 26 homes for sale on the Blue Hill Peninsula from $1 million to $7 million.
While some markets lend themselves to renting during off-peak seasons, buyers in Maine are not buying to rent, adds Daniels. The owners in this market tend to be older, retired and ready to take advantage of the family compound idea.

Buyers and their families also look forward to coming back year after year, generation after generation. Litchfield’s listings, which she says can’t be duplicated and are rarely available, go for a minimum of $2 million and don’t tend to turn over often.

“The homes will be held for a very long time by one owner and handed down from one generation to another,” says Litchfield.
—Lauren Varga

Photo courtesy LandVest

Carolina’s Four Seasons

In 2004, a diver using a global positioning system located a turn-of-the-century lodge beneath a deep lake in South Carolina. The old bed-and-breakfast, buried when a water dam flooded the Jocassee Valley in the 1960s, was still intact. The news caused such a sensation that “it was almost like finding Titanic,” jokes Realtor Bruce May. “CNN even did a story on it.”

The tranquil mountains, lakes and ocean communities of the Carolinas have their own genteel charm and quirky history that keep homebuyers coming back. Home prices took a dip in the recent downturn, but high-end buyers have started to return as the economy begins its recovery.

“People still bargain — they want the $4 million home for $2.5 million,” May said. “But they are interested. They know it’s a beautiful region and a solid investment.”

In many regions, second and third homes comprise the majority of properties. “Some people come to escape the cold, and others come to escape the heat,” notes Realtor Shanaaz Eisenberg. “We have a more temperate climate in the Carolinas. But we still have a four-season lifestyle with golf, hiking, canoeing, skiing, just about any outdoor amenities you want.”

Premium properties in the Carolinas still command top prices, especially in resort areas such as Myrtle Beach and Lake Keowee. But there are simpler options as well. Eisenberg mentions a couple in their early 60s that recently purchased a second home with views of Grandfather Mountain, in North Carolina.

“The list price was $899,000 and they got it for $775,000,” she says. “They loved the ruggedness of the area and the private setting. It was the perfect getaway.”
—Jennifer Martin

Photo courtesy Prudential Premier Island Properties

Welcome Home to the Hamptons

It’s going to take more than a major economic crash to bring the Hamptons down. Here in America’s most revered playground, where the closer a property is to the ocean, the more expensive it will be, buyers and sellers are getting a little creative.

For example, if you want to live near any of the villages between Montauk and Southampton, but don’t need to live within the center of town, “it is possible to find a three-bedroom house on a half-acre, about 10 minutes from any of the villages and north of Route 27, for about $500,000,” explains Josiane Fleming, senior vice president of Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate. On the sales side of things, a handful of builders are trying to lure eco-aware buyers with homes that will be LEED certified or at least have sustainable features, says Fleming.

West of the Shinnecock Canal, in areas such as Westhampton and Quogue, buyers can find a relaxed atmosphere in a landscape that is natural and unspoiled, says Ginger Bittner Andrews, an associate broker with First Hampton International Realty. Prices to own on the ocean start at $4 million, says Andrews, and “the [current] opportunities to buy on the water in Quogue are unprecedented.” Small, independent boutiques and family- owned restaurants add to the region’s charm.

Both Fleming and Andrews note that activity started to pick up in April, evidence that, with its grand homes filled with soft, sun-washed colors and comfortable furnishings, the Hamptons is beginning to welcome buyers back home.
—Sarah Binder

Photo courtesy Ginger Adams

Aspen: A World Unto Itself

Aspen has been spared the full impact of the real estate slowdown nationwide. The average sale price of an Aspen home is down only 11 percent from 2008, a far cry from the 30- to 60-percent drops some areas have experienced.

“We sit in such a unique place in the world that the blow seems to have been softened a bit,” says Realtor Ruth Kruger of Kruger and Company. But she says sales activity has slowed, leaving a wide choice of properties on the market. “It’s the buying opportunity of a lifetime, particularly with interest rates still low,” she says.

A two- to three-bedroom condo at the base of Aspen Mountain runs between $2 million and $3 million, while the average price of a single-
family home in Aspen is $5.5 million.

Realtor Ron Weisser of Lindell Properties says local brokers are reporting a rise in interest and inquiries from potential buyers in the past two to three months. He says some of those may be individuals who postponed a purchase in 2008 because they anticipated a downturn in the market.

“All the signs point to a rise in sales activity in the next few months,” he says.

Weisser represents mostly ranch properties, which he says have seen no drop in value because of their scarcity. At High Aspen Ranch, a community of ranch properties, each parcel spans at least 35 acres and buyers can enjoy amenities such as horse stables, trails and fitness centers.

“It offers both solitude and a sense of community,” Weisser says. “It’s the best of both worlds.”
—Jennifer Martin

Photos courtesy BJ Adams and Company

Add this to your social network: