Florida has long been a winter haven for people from the “North”.   The definition of North has expanded quite noticeably recently beyond the typical Chicago, New England, & New York retiree to include people looking to Florida for proximity to the beach and the tropical warm weather that we get year round.  Now the people “wintering” in Florida include Canadians, Europeans, Brits and other people from all over the US… these people are fondly called Snowbirds as many of them fly the coop before the snow up North.

Now that we’ve reached September, the Florida Snowbirds are coming down to roost in their 2nd homes or are renting while they decide where to buy their second home… so for them, we should probably discuss second homes and their definition.

What makes a Second home a 2nd Home?

• That it came in 2nd Chronologically in the purchasing order?
  Well… semantically YES… technically NO
• That it isn’t where you live??
  Well… technically YES … Semantically NO
  So we’re fighting Technicalities and Semantics now, eh?

What are other names for 2nd Homes?

• Weekend Homes
• Weekend Retreats
• Summer Cabin
• Winter Getaway
• House in the Hamptons
• House on the Shore
• Cottage in Maine
• Ski Lodge in Aspen
• Beach House

In Florida, we are surrounded by Second Homes and sometimes the people that own them!  Why sometimes? Well… they’re called Seasonal because they’re here for “Season”… Get it? No??

People have different measures of season depending on the demographic… suffice it to say, Season here in most of South and Central Florida is roughly September to April….sometimes more sometimes less – depending on the weather and certain religious holidays.

From a Lending standpoint - all the different names for a second home have some commonalities that help us classify them as Second Homes and NOT Primary Homes or Investment Properties.  Can you pick them out?

1. First of all… Location, Location, Location. Typically a Second Home is considered to be Fifty (50) Miles or further from your Primary Residence.  So the person from Long Island, NY that buys a Condo in Boynton Beach, Florida is further than 50 miles from their Primary during Season eh?
2. Second of all…  Notice Ski Lodge, Hamptons, Getaway, Beach… Those are descriptives that help qualify the property as Significantly Superior. What? That 700 square foot hotel room that we bought in Celebration, Florida is superior to our 5000 square foot Highland Park, IL house on Vine?… well…Superior means something different… it means Beach.  It means Room Service… it means maid service.  Sure, you may have a chef and maid on the payroll but Beach is locationally superior to Suburb!  It doesn’t even matter that the square footage or even amenities are less if it if a Vacation home the location makes it Superior.
3. Third of all… and this is the tricky one… it isn’t an investment property!!!What?! I can’t Rent it? well… that’s where things get grey.  Can you rent it is what plagues the equation.  The answer is technically NO.  Could you let people pay you for staying there for a week or so at a time… well… that really depends on the deed restrictions and how many weeks you actually live there versus rent it out.  Technically renting it makes it an investment property.
4. Fourth… you’re really committed to the property being a place that you will use for part of the year and set it up to use it like a second residence. If you buy it and someone else furnishes it for their use – not yours then it isn’t right.  Now, Condotels come furnished all the time… and some houses do and that’s OK.  Condotels are pretty much known to be partial year rentals anyway. This is hard to qualify but intent is intent.

What kind of snake oil and I selling??  Well… the type that will hopefully shed some light on this property type for Realtors and mortgage brokers and consumers!!  Why? Because it is a great time to buy a Second Home in Florida!

Eh?? What’s that?? Here are several reasons that now is a great time to buy a Second Home in Florida.

• Rates are LOW!
• Market is DOWN!
• Plenty of Inventory to Choose from!
• Your Baby Boomer friends are already looking!
• Hurricanes are a figment of your imagination (riiiiight)
• You’ve got that money sitting in your house as equity and it isn’t doing ANYTHING for you. (and won’t do anything for you stuck in the house!)
• The dollar $$ is still weak to the British Pound and Euro (i.e. buy now, enjoy, when the dollar comes up and the market does your dollars appreciate as does your property!)
• Latin American investors are looking HARD at Florida again! 
• Check with your CPA – most of them claim that you can deduct the Mortgage interest on a 2nd home – so long as you finance it within 90 days of purchase! 

Look No Further than Florida for a great Second Home Value!

More Florida Mortgage & Real Estate News You Can Use from
David A. Podgursky, MBA
The Mortgage Go To Guy!
Your Source for Residential and Commercial Mortgage Loans in Florida