South Lake Tahoe Second Home Buyers – A Summary.

August 17th, 2007 categories: For Buyers, For Sellers, Lake Tahoe Real Estate, Stateline, NV, Vacation Home Buyers

Lake TahoeCharacteristics of the South Lake Tahoe Second Home Buyer.

The primary motivation for purchasing a second, or vacation home here in South Lake Tahoe is exactly what the name implies – for vacations and family retreats. It is a lifestyle decision. Second to that, but important to it, are the financial benefits of owning a second or vacation home. Buyers are increasingly motivated to diversify their investments and as such they believe the purchase of a second home as a family retreat is a good opportunity to do that. In other words, a vacation home purchase is for the family… and it needs to make some financial sense.

To best understand some of the buying patterns and motivations of the second home – vacation home Buyer, there are a number of factors to look at. Lets take a summary look at the most prevalent characteristics of all vacation home Buyers for each of the following. In so doing, this will give us a better understanding of what is important  to, and what motivates the vacation home Buyer in South Lake Tahoe as well. (We’ll do this summary first, then follow that with the full breakdowns for each of these following categories.)

 Reasons for Buying a Vacation Home: 74% of all Buyers use it for vacations or a family retreat.

 Reasons for Buying a Vacation Home, by Length of Tenure: 77% of Buyers since 2002 or earlier use it for vacations or a family retreat. 67% of Buyers from 2003 – 2005.

 Attributes Desired in a Vacation Home: 67% of Buyers want to be close to an ocean, river or lake.

 Leisure Activities of Interest to Vacation-Home Owners: 57% prefer beach or lake water sports. Boating is second at 38% and Gambling is a distant 4%.

 Distance between Primary Residence and Vacation Home: 26% of Buyers are within 100 to 299 miles away. 19% are between 50 and 99 miles away. 25% are 1,000 miles away or more.

 Proximity of Vacation Home to Primary Residence: 49% of buyers live in the same state.

 Location of Vacation  Home: 49% are in resort recreation area.

 Means of Transportation to Vacation Home: 82% travel by automobile.

 Vacation Home Structure: 41% are detached single family homes. 22% are cabins or cottages and 21% are buildings with five or more units (condos, apartments).

 Size of Vacation Home: 29% are between 1,001 and 1,500 square feet. 23% are between 1,501 and 2,000 sq. ft and 26% are larger than that.

 Value of Vacation Home: 18% are between $500,000 – $999,999. 15% between $200,000 -$299,999. 15% between $300,000 – $399,000 and 14% between 400,000 and $499,999.

 Value of Vacation Home Compared to Primary Residence: 68% are lower. 26% are higher.

 New vs. Previously-Owned Home when Purchased: 71% are previously owned.

 Timeshare Vacation Homes; 6% of vacation home owners own a timeshare. 94% do not.

 Time Spent in Vacation Home: 18% of Buyers spend 15 to 30 nights per year. 17% spend 31 to 60 nights and 16% spend 61 to 90 nights. The national median is 39 nights per year.

 Time Vacation Home is Rented: 75% do not rent. 7% are rented from 31-60 nights  per year. 6% rent for more than 181 or more nights per year. The national median is no nights per year.

 Time Renters Spend in Vacation Homes: 43% for 7 nights or less. 15% for 15 to 30 nights. The national median is 12 nights per year.

 Vacation Home as a Good Financial Investment: 65% of vacation home owners say yes, “better than stocks.” 12% believe it to be about as good as stocks.

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This entry was posted on Friday, August 17th, 2007 at 11:33 pm and is filed under For Buyers, For Sellers, Lake Tahoe Real Estate, Stateline, NV, Vacation Home Buyers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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