Second-Home Buyers: They Take Their Time
By Kim Shindle
Clients purchasing second homes aren’t like first-time homebuyers. REALTOR® Adrienne “Abe” Wagner of Donegal, who has been in the second-home market since 1983, says second-home buyers take their time in making decisions.
“We can work with someone for several years before they buy,” Wagner notes. “The longest I’ve worked with a client was 10 years.”
PAR Past President Jerry Romanik agrees. “The second-home buyer doesn’t seem to be in a rush. The luxury-home buyers tend to shop around a little longer and that requires a lot of patience on our part,” he says.
Romanik has sold resort and vacation homes in the Pocono Mountains area for 33 years. “I typically see baby boomers from New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia who are contemplating retirement,” he says. “They may be purchasing a vacation property now but plan to live there after retiring.”
The Pocono area offers a more relaxed lifestyle for retirement, explains Romanik, who chairs PAR’s Resorts Forum. “Some people are looking for nature, scenic views, fishing, outdoor recreation and a different lifestyle. This area provides that for retired people,” he says.
Wagner and her husband Robert “Wags” Wagner specialize in the second-home market in the Laurel Highlands area in western Pennsylvania. “When I first started in the industry, there was no differentiating between the first and second homes,” she recalls, “but there have been substantial movements within the industry and in recognizing this specific market.”
The distance makes a difference as well. “People who live hours away can’t see the property on the spur of the moment. We have to make appointments and often they can only see the property on the weekend,” Romanik says.
According to Wagner, the Internet has changed the process. “Many of our clients check out the properties they want to see on the Internet before they come to the area,” she says.
The vacation home market requires knowledge of the location. “That’s one of the challenges of the resort market,” she explains. “You’re not in the middle of a city. You live there to work there. And in the resort market, you must be careful because the market can vary greatly from one side of the street to the other,” she adds.
The upside of this niche is financial solvency. Wagner elaborates: “First-time buyers need much more hand holding. Our second-home buyers are much more experienced buyers in regards to paperwork and financing.”
Romanik says, “It’s always been a good investment to buy property in this area. Even properties purchased during the slow times have held their value and some have even increased in value during the slower times.”