• Subscribe
• Advertise
• Contact Us
• View Ads
• Place Ad
• Publications

Entire Site Articles & Publicity Arts & Entertainment Autos & Other Vehicles Aviation Boats & Yachts Clubs & Memberships Events Health & Wellness Home Products & Decor Merchandise & Retailers Professional Services Real Estate Travel

Home > Home Products & Design > Design & Architecture > Letter From the Editor: Second Homes

• Articles & Publicity
  • Appliances & Technology
  • Design & Architecture
  • Furnishings & Decor
  • Kitchen & Bath
  • Residential Services
• Online Ads
  • A/V & Home Automation
  • Antiques
  • Art
  • Bathroom
  • Bedding
  • Building Products & Hardware
  • Closets & Storage
  • Decorative Accessories
  • Fireplace
  • Floor Covering
  • Furniture
  • Hardware
  • Kitchen
  • Lighting
  • Mantles & Mouldings
  • Pools, Patio & Garden
  • Tabletop Accessories
  • Wall Coverings
  • Window Treatments
  • Wine Cellars

 

Letter From the Editor: Second Homes

Adele Cygelman

May 3, 2004

Since we launched The Robb Report Collection in January 2002, we have looked at real estate from many angles. We have explored the world of the trophy property and the romance of owning your own ranch, vineyard or penthouse. We have delved into buying a private island or owning a hotel suite. We always highlight up-and-coming communities and have recently added a preview of new construction.

But we have never examined the world of second (or third and fourth) homes in depth until now.

We hate to state the obvious, but sales of vacation homes have skyrocketed over the past decade. We can point to many factors: baby boomers buying a vacation/retirement property; people flocking to real estate to escape a rocky stock market; low interest rates, low down payments and a tax break from the government that lets you keep flipping properties with no capital gains; plus an annual appreciation rate of 20 to 40 percent in some hot property markets like Southern California.  (Click image to enlarge)

Whatever the motivation, the reality is that everyone is jumping on the property bandwagon. Real estate fever is at an all-time high. So this seems as good a time and place as any to announce our new publication, Vacation Homes, which will make its debut this summer.

Vacation Homes will address all the issues facing homeowners, whether your other house is a two-hour drive away, across the country or in another part of the globe. Vacation Homes will cover the basics of where and how to purchase property. We will examine private vacation clubs and the new generation of fractionals. We will address the key issues of maintenance, security, tax consequences and voter registration. And, of course, we will showcase gorgeous vacation homes and feature properties that are for sale or rent.

All vacation homes look tempting when you are on holiday and checking out local real estate, but making the right decision takes work. Every second home owner we spoke to for this issue said the same thing: Buy a vacation home because you have fallen in love with it and the location. Buy because the house will be used and enjoyed by your family. Do not buy merely because you think you will make a killing on the sale price. Life somehow never works out that way.

Adele Cygelman
Editor
collection@robbreport.com