Table Of Content

01_105221 ffirs.qxp 3/23/07 9:50 PM Page i Second Homes FOR ‰ DUMmIES by Bridget McCrea Former real estate agent and writer with Stephen Spignesi author of more than 40 books 01_105221 ffirs.qxp 3/23/07 9:50 PM Page iv 01_105221 ffirs.qxp 3/23/07 9:50 PM Page i Second Homes FOR ‰ DUMmIES by Bridget McCrea Former real estate agent and writer with Stephen Spignesi author of more than 40 books 01_105221 ffirs.qxp 3/23/07 9:50 PM Page ii ® Second Homes For Dummies Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc. 111 River St. Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774 www.wiley.com Copyright © 2007 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permit- ted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax 978-646-8600. 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Library of Congress Control Number: 2007923986 ISBN: 978-0-470-10522-1 Manufactured in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 01_105221 ffirs.qxp 3/23/07 9:50 PM Page iii About the Authors Bridget McCrea is a former real estate agent who, for the last 12 years, has run her own Florida-based freelance writing company, Expert Writing Services, Inc. She specializes in business topics and, because of her background, spends a good deal of her time writing about real estate–related topics for magazines such as REALTOR Magazine, Florida Realtor, The Residential Specialist, and Log Home Living. Bridget has also penned a few books along the way, including The Real Estate Agent’s Field Guide, The Home Buyer’s Question and Answer Book, The Real Estate Agent’s Business Planner, and the RE/MAX Guide to Buying a Home. She’s shared her home-buying expertise on various radio programs and Web sites, and is herself a homeowner who, until recently, also owned a rental home out of state. Hunkered down in her Florida home office for most of the day and night, Bridget does break away from her desk now and then to work out at the gym and run 5K road races on a regular basis. She’s now thinking seriously about training her 12-year-old daughter, Catie, to take over her business so she can put down the pen, turn off the computer, buy a vacation home on Maui, and get a life outside of work. So far, Catie has been somewhat noncommittal about giving up soccer and homework to be a CEO. Stephen Spignesi is a full-time writer and editor and the author of 40 nonfiction books and one acclaimed debut novel, Dialogues (Bantam). His books include The New York Times bestseller, J.F.K. Jr., five books about Stephen King, three books about the Beatles, and several books about world and American history, pop culture, the paranormal, true crime, TV, movies, cooking, natural disasters, Italian historical figures, cats, and contemporary fiction. Stephen’s most recent book is George Washington’s Leadership Lessons (published by Wiley), written with James Rees, the executive director of George Washington’s Mount Vernon. Stephen lives in New Haven, Connecti- cut, with his wife, Pam, and their beloved and brilliant cat, Carter. 01_105221 ffirs.qxp 3/23/07 9:50 PM Page iv 01_105221 ffirs.qxp 3/23/07 9:50 PM Page v Author’s Acknowledgments I’d like to thank the team at Wiley for giving me the opportunity to write this book, and for hooking me up with one of the most pro- lific “dummifiers” ever bred, Stephen Spignesi. Also, special thanks to project editor Chad Sievers, copy editor Vicki Adang, and acquisitions editor Mike Lewis. Huge thanks also to my agent, Marilyn Allen of the Allen O’Shea Literary Agency, for introducing me to the project in the first place, and to my daughter, Catie, for putting up with me while I holed myself up in my office in order to be able to do the best job possi- ble on this book. 01_105221 ffirs.qxp 3/23/07 9:50 PM Page vi Publisher’s Acknowledgments We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our Dummies online registration form located at www.dummies.com/register/. Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following: Acquisitions, Editorial, and Composition Services Media Development Project Coordinator: Jennifer Theriot Project Editor: Chad R. Sievers Layout and Graphics: Carl Byers, Denny Hager, Acquisitions Editor: Michael Lewis Joyce Haughey, Shane Johnson, Stephanie D. Jumper, Heather Ryan Copy Editor: Vicki Adang Proofreaders: Aptara, John Greenough, Technical Editor: Pat Persiano Todd Lothery Editorial Manager: Michelle Hacker Indexer: Aptara Editorial Assistants: Erin Calligan Mooney, Anniversary Logo Design: Richard Pacifico Joe Niesen, Leeann Harney Cover Photos: © Shaun Egan/The Image Bank/ Getty Images Cartoons: Rich Tennant (www.the5thwave.com) Publishing and Editorial for Consumer Dummies Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher, Consumer Dummies Joyce Pepple, Acquisitions Director, Consumer Dummies Kristin A. Cocks, Product Development Director, Consumer Dummies Michael Spring, Vice President and Publisher, Travel Kelly Regan, Editorial Director, Travel Publishing for Technology Dummies Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher, Dummies Technology/General User Composition Services Gerry Fahey, Vice President of Production Services Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services 02_105221 ftoc.qxp 3/23/07 9:51 PM Page vii Contents at a Glance Introduction .................................................................1 Part I: Seeing a Second Home in Your Future ..................7 Chapter 1: The Lowdown on Buying and Owning a Second Home..............................9 Chapter 2: Figuring Out Whether You Can Afford a Second Home............................25 Chapter 3: Considering Your Second-Home Options...................................................39 Chapter 4: A Second Home Is All about Location ........................................................63 Part II: Searching for Your New Home and Sealing the Deal .........................................................83 Chapter 5: In Search of the Perfect Second Home: What You Can Do .......................85 Chapter 6: Relying on the Experts When Buying Your Second Home .....................103 Chapter 7: Inspecting Your Second Home before You Sign on the Dotted Line .....115 Chapter 8: Financing Your Second Home and Closing the Deal ...............................133 Chapter 9: Thinking Like a Global Home Buyer..........................................................161 Part III: Making Your Second Home a Smart Investment .....................................................177 Chapter 10: Setting Up Your New Digs.........................................................................179 Chapter 11; Renting Out Your Second Home to Pay for Itself ..................................195 Chapter 12; Investing in Your Investment: Renovations That Pay Off.....................219 Chapter 13: Handling the Maintenance and Upkeep on Your Second Home..........239 Chapter 14: What Uncle Sam Wants to Know: Important Tax Implications ............257 Part IV: Home, Sweet Home: Retiring to Your Second Home ....................................................271 Chapter 15: From Landlord to Resident: Living Permanently in Your Second Home.......................................................................................................273 Chapter 16: Selling Your Primary Residence and Settling into Your Second Home.......................................................................................................291 Chapter 17: Protecting Your Home for the Future .....................................................313