Winter is approaching and for many people that means it’s time to GO home by LEAVING home. Huh?
Having a second home allows many Americans the opportunity to call two places “home” while having two very different experiences.
If you’re a homeowner, chances are you’ve thought about the idea of having a second home. But what is it that makes having a second home so appealing? There are plenty of reasons why people choose to buy a second home—some people use their vacation property as an escape from their busy lives, while others use them as places where they can live when the weather is too cold or hot in their primary residence.
Owning a second home or vacation property can be incredibly rewarding, but it can also be an investment that takes a lot of work to get right. If you’re considering buying a second home, here are some things to think about:
* What kind of lifestyle do you want? Do you want to spend your time in the city, or do you want to be somewhere more rural?
* How much will it cost? What are the fees for maintaining and operating the property like?
* Is there value in having a second home? Will it give you peace of mind when things aren’t going well in your primary location (or vice versa), or will it just end up costing more than it’s worth?
But most importantly, where should your second home be?
In January 2022 Forbes reported that the “Demand for second homes was up 77% from pre-pandemic levels” and said, “there’s still a lot more interest in second homes than there was before the pandemic, as buyers make the transition to remote work permanent.”
But where is everyone going? Here are some of the most popular second home destinations in the US according to Advisor Smith.
– Arizona – There is more accessible land, and the houses are larger. Arizona is renowned for its wonderful weather, mild winters, breathtaking scenery, a profusion of employment opportunities, and reasonable cost of living.
– Florida – With low housing, no income tax, and pleasant weather, Florida is always a desirable area to relocate.
– Nevada – It attracts people of all ages. To begin with, a booming employment market in Nevada draws many young individuals. And there are no sales taxes on food and medication, and there is no state income tax. This is what draws a lot of retirees to Nevada.
– South Carolina – South Carolina’s expanding and robust economy is attracting a lot of individuals. The employment market has outperformed many other states and continues to give individuals who have been unemployed because of the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic greater options.
– California – Based on these standards, California has the most favorable weather of the 50 states. Only 20 inches of rainfall yearly and temperatures in southern and central California’s coastal towns like San Diego, Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Santa Barbara normally range from the mid-60s to 85 degrees.
Considering that these states have such nice weather, it makes sense why so many snowbirds flock to these locations. But once they leave for their second “nest”, how do they take care of their home?
Happy Solution: A teleportation device
Sad Reality: That doesn’t exist yet
So…What can you do?
Here are some tips you can implement to make sure your home away from home is always protected!
– Lock it up! Locking doors is an obvious way to keep your home safe from unwanted visitors but we want to remind you to lock EVERYTHING. This includes sliding doors, windows, mail slots, pet doors, and garage doors.
– Make it look like you’re there, even when you’re not. You can have your neighbors help you by allowing them to park in your driveway or retrieve your mail. And you can also set timers for the lights to turn on during certain hours of the day. Extra points if you have a radio that will play while you’re gone.
– Unplug appliances that use a lot of power.
– Hire someone to mow the lawn biweekly if possible
– Control what passersby can see. Your shutters, blinds, and curtains are like a window into your home. And when you leave them open, you make your home more vulnerable.
Owning two homes requires double the work and causes double the worry. And unfortunately, you can’t be in two places at the same time. However, you can monitor two places at once.
Aside from the obvious monitors that make your life easier, we’ve developed a monitor that accommodates your lifestyle and prevents issues.
A lot of people escape the winter by living in Florida part-time. And even though they are safe from the inhospitable weather, their home is not.
According to After Disaster, “an average of over 250,000 homes each year…suffer damage from frozen and burst pipes. The damage is estimated to be…$400-500 million each year.” And the last thing anyone wants to come back home to is hundreds of dollars in winter damage repairs.
One feature that our monitor specializes in is gauging the temperature of your home so that your pipes never freeze. It also informs you of any power outages in case your home loses electricity and your thermostat goes out.
You should always get a monitor to keep track of what’s important to you. But you should get MarCELL because you can connect it to up to 9 people to receive alerts when something goes wrong. This way whoever is the closest or most available can check up on your home while you’re away.
Your pipes are probably not going to freeze and burst in Florida or any warm place. But that doesn’t mean you don’t have to worry about your second home.
According to The Best Restoration, “A 2012 study has found that Florida ranks high in the top 10 states with the highest occurrence of mold in residential and commercial properties. According to the relative hazard-ranking model developed by the American Risk Management Recourses, Florida ranked #2 in this category.”
The more humid your home is, the better toxic mold can thrive, spread, and grow.
MarCELL also monitors humidity levels to keep the air you breathe safe at all times. Want to learn more about MarCELL?
