Finding Value in a Second Home: Location Really is Everything
When you’re in the market for a vacation home, a place to re-locate or a place to while away your retirement, lots of factors always come into play.
Some folks simply focus on buying a place where they feel the most comfortable. For many, it’s someplace warm and friendly. Some people emphasize cost of living. For others, it’s proximity to family and friends or somewhere that’s convenient to their favorite pastime such as fishing, golf or tennis. Nowadays, many seek close proximity to good food, good wine and entertainment.
Of course, everyone wants to make a sound decision on a property that will retain its value or even appreciate, but rarely do all the “care about” factors line up when you have to take so much into consideration.
Most often, buyers are forced to choose from a small set of the most important pros and cons, hoping the whole investment or financial piece of it just works out not to be too bad in the end.
Enter Florida’s “Emerald Coast.” The best-kept real estate secret in America. Period.
For those seeking a vacation home, a place to re-locate or a place to while away your retirement that checks all the boxes at once, it might just as well be called “The Valuable Coast.”
Along the Gulf of Mexico’s white sand beaches and emerald water in Escambia, Santa Rosa, Bay, Okaloosa and Walton counties, home buyers will of course find some of the best weather, scenery, outdoor activities and ecology in the entire United States.
But, what’s more, buyers will also find a super-affordable overall cost of living, very low property taxes, great shopping, world class cuisine and great entertainment. Plus, the areas exudes a sense of Southern laid-back community that changes lives.
Most importantly, though, investors along Florida’s Emerald Coast will find value. Big value.
Just take a look at the November 2015 report for only one of the Emerald Coast counties, Walton.
From just a quick glance at the report, it’s easy to see that Florida’s Emerald Coast is not only a great place to buy a home, it’s a very smart place to buy one too.
For the savvy buyer, you’ll quickly see that homes are very affordable, consistent over time in holding value and there’s quite often a near-critically low invetory. That means, for those who are financially able to be active in the market for a second home, there’s not a much safer bet this side of municipal bonds.
Plus, you get a place here.
There just aren’t many places in the US — if any at all — that can match the Emerald Coast for sheer beauty, weather, ecology and variety of outdoor activities.
With consistently low home inventory year over year, high closing values, high average sales prices and close sales growing year over year, it’s tough to find a better place in the United States to buy a home.
Buy here. Be happy.
