Buying a summer home is a goal most people would only dream of achieving. If you’re one of the lucky few who is able to play their cards right, you might be a step closer than others in buying a summer home or a vacation home rental for making money in real estate. What makes for the best summer home locations? And what locations should you take a closer look at as a real estate investor?
How to carefully select the best summer home locations
If you’re buying a real estate property as a vacation rental investment, you’ll make use of the following steps:
Choosing the right location
Of course, choosing the location comes first on our list. In many cases with real estate investing, choosing a location can determine the nature and profitability of your real estate investment. The best summer home locations are close in proximity to moderate weather, beaches, and even tourist attractions. Keep in mind that buying an investment property is not too different than buying a second home. Add that to the fact that many real estate investors are using their summer homes as short-term rentals when not in use. However, be sure to select a location that both appeals to you and can make you money as a vacation home rental.
Rent where you plan to buy
If you have your heart set on a city or town, put yourself in an after-purchase phase and try out the neighborhood. This can be done by renting a property in the area before you commit to buying an investment property there.
Moreover, renting in a place that you’re considering buying a summer home in can give you an idea of what it’s like to stay there for more extended periods of time.
Using the property
Whenever you’re planning to buy a vacation home, it’s good to be realistic about the usage of the property. You need to factor in your job or having to be in a different city or state for most of the year. So, dig deep and come up with a realistic number of days that you’ll be using the property. In this case, we’re looking at summer homes as investment properties. After all, you can generate a substantial rental income through vacation home rentals and still manage to enjoy your vacation in it.
Run a real estate market analysis
Running a real estate market analysis is a must to find the best summer home locations! You cannot overlook the fact that you might be getting clouded with feelings and emotions about certain locations. So, cut through the emotional haze that surrounds it and keep an eye on the lookout for real estate comps. To clarify, real estate comparables can help compare different properties in a certain neighborhood from different angles including size, finishing, location, and amenities. This can give you a big hint if you’re getting a good deal in that said area or not. To top that, a real estate market analysis can help you find out the cap rate, cash on cash return, and even expected Airbnb and traditional rental income when you’re buying a summer home as a real estate investment.
With Mashvisor’s Airbnb calculator, you can do just that in addition to using the property finder to locate the highest performing properties in the best summer home locations. Give Mashvisor’s investment property calculator a shot and make use of the 14-day free trial by clicking here.
Best summer home locations to keep in mind
California
California’s ever-stretching beaches make for the best summer home locations. Here, we’re choosing the beautiful California Wine county of Napa to be among our top picks in California’s summer home locations. Let’s take a closer look at Napa real estate stats to give you a clearer image of buying an investment property here:
- Airbnb rental income: $6,627
- Traditional rental income: $2,678
- Median property price: $1,462,860
- Average Airbnb cap rate: 3.68%
With the Napa Valley blooming economically through tourism, real estate investors are flooding the gates looking for their next short-term rental. It’s easily grouped among the top places to buy rental property.
Florida
The Florida real estate market is one favorable for many to be grouped with the best summer home locations. With summer weather year-round, it’s hard to resist Florida’s sunshine. There are many cities in Florida that real estate investors can choose from. Tampa, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Navarre, Jacksonville, the list goes on and on. Basically, any city in Florida can be among the best summer home locations. For a closer look, we’ve taken on Navarre’s real estate market stats to give you an encompassing image of the vacation home rental market there:
- Airbnb rental income: $2,824
- Traditional rental income: $1,253
- Median property price: $329,289
- Average Airbnb cap rate: 4.96%
- Average traditional cap rate: 1.12%
With Navarre’s real estate market offering low property prices, it’s not a difficult decision to buy an investment property there and make use of both the rental income and the real estate appreciation that’s vastly growing in the area.
Vermont
Vermont is famous for ski resorts and winter sports. On the other hand, visiting Vermont in the summer is like being surrounded by a shade of green sky. With beautiful pine trees all around and soft summer weather, it’s hard to resist not choosing it to be among summer home locations. Of course, we’re going more deeply into Vermont’s real estate market to get a better idea of the Killington real estate market. Here are some real estate stats to help you envision the state of things:
- Airbnb rental income: $1,092
- Traditional rental income: $2,470
- Median property price: $293,109
- Average traditional cap rate: 5.24%
Renting out your summer home or vacation home rental on Airbnb for winter is a very probable and profitable move. Many real estate investors are choosing such versatile locations to make sure they’re getting two peak seasons out of it, not just one. By doing so, the real estate investor is not suffering through a low season and making a substantial amount of rental income year-round.
Final words
The best summer home locations can vary deeply from each real estate investor to another. It all comes down to what you enjoy the most and the type of activities you look for in any set location. A summer home is an investment in real estate, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. After all, it’s a real estate property that you can generate cash flow out of. So, start looking for your next real estate investment with Mashvisor!
To start looking for and analyzing the best investment properties in your city and neighborhood of choice, click here.
If you have any more insights on choosing the best summer home locations for your investment properties, please share them with us in the comments section.