Imagine nightly campfires, the kids swimming off the dock, sightings of moose and deer, limited wi-fi while fishing on the lake. Do summer weekends at your own lake property sound idyllic?
David Lowe was a young father in the construction business when he bought a recreation property and built a cabin on the land. Now a Century 21 real estate agent in the Lac Ste.Anne area, many of his Edmonton clients share similar hopes. They want to get away from the buzz of the city, have their children experience the great outdoors, buy something they can pass down to their children, or retire in. The majority of buyers are families with young children or younger grandparents. And while his clients’ professions are diverse — from plumbers to retirees to surgeons — they share a dream of permanent vacation spots making family memories.
But it’s not all Kumbaya, sandcastles and afternoon porch naps. Here’s a quick primer to know if a second property is right for you:
Before you start looking, Lowe recommends being honest about your expectations, then itemizing the different costs or further research needed. For instance, do you want to:
“A lot of families don’t have funds to buy a secondary property and keep it just to themselves,” says Rey Salazar, a coach and financial trainer at Trust Your Talent who is also a private real estate investor. “Nor do they want to wait until they can afford it because the kids will be grown by then. So people combine having a property that they can make memories in, as well as rent it when they are not there.”
If you are considering renting your secondary property to afford the purchase, Salazar recommends taking an honest look at the following questions:
About 15 years ago, Lowe sold his Edmonton Westmount home and moved out to his Sangudo-area cabin full-time. He made the property work for him and with some careful planning and honest reflection, he is pretty sure there is a property out there for you too.
There are a variety of price points in each segment of the rec property market, says David Lowe, a realtor with Century 21 in the Lac Ste. Anne area. The segments include:
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