Choosing the right location is very important for any property acquisition. When it comes to purchasing a holiday home where you intend spending vacations with your family, or maybe in the future when you can earn income by renting it out, the location becomes even more important.
Here are a few points that should be considered before deciding on the location of your second home:
1) Buying for yourself:
The location should be such that it offers you rest and relaxation, away from the humdrum of the city. In that case buying a holiday home within the city limits would not make much sense. Then ask yourself if you prefer the beach or the mountains and accordingly look out for properties there. If you’re intending to buy a holiday home solely to rent out. It is common sense to choose a location where you yourself would want to vacation. Thus benefit from your property as well. If you are a beach person, buying in the mountains will mean that you would not get any value from your own property. The first priority is buying for yourself, and then buying to earn from renting out.
2) Buying to Rent out:
Intending to buy a holiday home to earn a steady rental income, then the location is most important in terms of dictating occupancy. If your holiday home is a couple of hours drive from a major city, the chances of people looking to stay all year, are high. If your home is in the vicinity of a popular tourist destination, you will get more enquiries than a property in the city center. An idyllic cottage with the mountain ranges as a background but with no connectivity to major cities. It will do well at peak times but is unlikely to fill up during short weekend breaks in the off season.
3) Research:
It is always better to do your own research in the property and rental market. Internet forums are a great way to get a broader view into buying and living in the specific locations you have short-listed.
4) Rental Demand:
Look for ads in local newspapers and websites to gauge the demand for rental in the location. As a holiday home owner you would want to invest in an area which is popular, but where demand outweighs supply. Beach resorts, marina properties and holiday homes near golf courses tend to be in constant demand.
5) Future Development:
Recce the location which you have short-listed to buy your second home. Meet property agents and try to enquire what the local authorities or major real estate developers are doing in terms of future development.
6) Tourist Season:
Find out the peak season and off-seasons of the location. If you want year-round rental income then you will either need to choose a location with good weather all year, or one with dual season potential like a hill station for example. But if you’re buying somewhere with one definite season in mind it is a good idea to visit the location during its off-season to see if there is still anything to attract travellers.
7) Accessibility:
It makes sense to choose a location that has good connectivity – airport, railway station and good roads.
8) Amenities:
Since your holiday home will be self-catering. People will want to eat out, so having a pub or restaurant within walking distance is a good selling point. Likewise a local shop, however small, will avoid an hour-long round trip for the basic necessities like milk, bread and biscuits.
So a close-to-ideal property would be a few hours’ drive from a major city. It would be located in a tourist destination or at least very close by and would also be within walking distance of the nearest shopping centre.
