The "Sweet Spot" for Home Prices

Looking for an edge in selling your home via Web ads? List your home starting on a Friday and if your sales price is $351,000, price it instead at $350,000 for a bigger response. Those tips come from an analysis of sales data by the online real estate brokerage Redfin, as reported in the New York Times. Listings that appeared for the first time on a Friday did 7.7 % more traffic than those begun on Thursday. The "sweet spot" (to borrow a tennis racquet phrase) for prices is $350,000, according to the story, because of how real estate search engines filter results.

Slower Market? Buy! Says Expert

"Because houses aren't flying off the shelf, there's less pressure on you to make a quick decision" about that second home you've always wanted. "You can afford to take your time, do your research, and refine your plan," says Christine Karpinski, director of Owner Community for HomeAway.com and author of two books on the subject, including Profit from Your Vacation Home Dream: The Complete Guide to a Savvy Financial and Emotional Investment. In addition, "when your monthly mortgage payment is less than or equal to one peak week rental, twelve weeks of rental will cover your mortgage payments for the entire year," she says.

Like Pizza, Slice of Vacation Home Better Than None

Once upon a time, even the most mid-level middle-income folks could afford a getaway shack, cottage or cabin on a lake, by the seashore or near the mountains. The place I owned in Snowmass Village in the 1980s cost us only $100,000 for a 2-bedroom condo at one of the nation's great ski resorts. Now, the same kind of money will get you only a few weeks -- a timeshare, or fractional ownership, as the sales crowd likes to call it.

There were 188 "fractional interest" projects in the U.S. in 2005 with $2-billion in sales, a 28 percent jump over 2004, according to NorthCourse.com, a research firm that keeps tabs on the market. A newspaper article recently spotlighted a California family that paid $56,000 for the use of a two-bedroom, furnished home in the Old Greenwood development (photo above) at Truckee, near Lake Tahoe, for at least 21 days a year. With their purchase of a slice of the house comes membership in the Tahoe Mountain Club, which includes access to private restaurants and recreational and spa facilities. And of course owners can take a tax deduction on the mortgage interest.

'Wealth Gap' Hits Florida West Coast

Naples, Florida is typical of second-home communities suffering from the "wealth gap." Says an article in USA Today, "investors and vacation-home buyers helped drive up the median home price to $446,900, second-highest in Florida after the Keys." Prices are dropping but not enough for people who work in the region. More than 80% of the workforce is employed in the four lowest-paying industries: construction, retail, agriculture and services (pool cleaners, for instance, and golf instructors). Median income for a family of four: $66,100. That would qualify you for only about a $350,000 house, nearly $100,000 below the median.

Portofino: First Two-Tiered Destinations Club

The universe of ultra-luxe "destination clubs" changed today as two clubs -- Portofino and Signature -- merged. According to a press release, the newly named "Portofino Destinations Club" will be the first residence club with two tiers and will "provide its members access to high-end homes all over the world: the U.S., Mexico, Canada, Italy, France and the United Kingdom."

Membership for the Portofino properties cost as much as $250,000, plus annual membership dues of up to $19,800. Signature membership costs as much as $150,000, with dues of up to $11,500. Each has a core of members in a particular region: Signature is based in Colorado while Portofino's focus is the Pacific northwest.

Vacation Home Slowdown? Not in Aspen

The bubble may be deflating elsewhere, but it's still aloft in Aspen, where the Residences at The Little Nell have set a new records for fractional purchases, According to a press release. The owners say 4-bedroom units are now going for around $2.5 million, while 3-BRs now sell for $1.475 million. That's for a 1/8 share, which guarantees 4 weeks of use, two in winter prime season and two in summer prime. Owners also may reserve two additional weeks on a first-come-first-serve basis, and may extend their stays on a space-available basis.

Got some loose change you need to spend? Visit RLN's Web site and shop for your very own unit. Don't book your flights just yet, though; the condos are still under construction adn the owners hope they'll be done in time for the 2007-2008 ski season.

Economy.com Forecasts Major Florida Price Plunges

For those who own vacation homes or investment property in Cape Coral, Sarasota and Naples, Florida, fasten your seat belts -- you're in for a bumpy ride. Moody's economy.com projects more than an 18 percent decline in prices by February in Cape Coral, 14 percent in Sarasota by March and almost 13 percent in Naples by March. Note: numbers based on media existing home prices.

Another 9-Figure Sale Price

First there was Prince Bandar's house in Aspen for $135-million. Then there was Donald Trump's little getaway in Palm Beach for $125-million. Now comes word of a third unbelievably pricey "vacation" home for sale -- Tommy Hilfiger's "Tranquility" on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe, on the market for $100-million. A publicist for the broker, Shari Chase of Chase International, says the amenities include a cigar lounge (that's a first for me -- anyone ever hear of a cigar lounge in a private house?) and 210 "secluded" acres. The estate's main residence is 20,000 square feet. Want a peek? Call Shari at 775 588-6130.

High Winds Blow NYC, DC No Good, Sez Expert

Thinking about buying a pied-a-terre in New York City or Washington, DC? Or a second home in Naples, Fla.? Keep your checkbook in your pocket, says real estate consultant John Burns. His "barometer" of housing affordability blows these cities off the charts in terms of bubbledom. "Nine markets have even worse affordability levels than when mortgage rates were 18%+ in the early 1980s: New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland (Oregon), Baltimore, Edison (New Jersey), Nassau (Long Island, NY) and Naples," says Burns's latest newsletter.

Martha's Vinyard Grows New Varietal

Martha's Vinyard has been a vacation spot for Massachusetts folks and others for a zillion years. Hard to believe that it is only now going "fractional" -- the first high-end time-share on the island, Edgartown Residence Club, is about to welcome owners. Located in the heart of Edgartown, it has six one- and two-bedroom condominium-type units for sale on a fractional basis. Prices? Take a deep breath: from $90,000 to $290,000. Martha's Vinyard Times points out it's only got 12 owners per unit, who must buy at least four weeks of usage per year.

Is The Party Over?

Be worried. Be very, very worried, if you're a second-home seller. It may be time to declare officially that the bubble has burst. A front-page New York Times article today says: "The once-bustling deal making in a wide variety of popular locations for second homes -- areas like Florida, the Jersey Shore and Lake Tahoe, as well as the high-price playground on the East End of Long Island -- has slowed markedly in recent months. As the overall housing market weakens, the interest in buying vacation homes, from the most modest condominiums on up, appears to be falling faster."

A Sleeper From Sunset

McCall, Idaho? Never heard of it? That's why it's a sleeper. Sunset magazine has chosen it as one of its top choices for a second home. The mag calls it "an alternative to better-known and more expensive Sun Valley." It should be noted that McCall is also nowhere near Sun Valley. Specifically mentioned: Blackhawk, an "an environmentally aware development situated along the Payette River" which has home sites starting at less than $200,000.

Chic Sheikh: Aspen Palace for Sale

For a sum that equals the GNP of a small country, you can spend weekends trying out one of the 16 bathrooms in an Aspen suburban cabin. As the Wall Street Journal reports today, "Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the former Saudi Arabian ambassador to the U.S., listed his Aspen-area mansion for $135 million. The price is thought to be the highest ever for a single-family home in the U.S., surpassing the $125 million asking price for an oceanfront mansion in Palm Beach, Fla. Built in 1990, the prince's 95-acre estate includes a main residence that measures 56,000 square feet with 15 bedrooms, 16 bathrooms, an indoor swimming pool, an elevator and dumbwaiters." For those who know Aspen, you also probably know that this bulbous retreat on the mesa overlooking the Aspen Airport has been the target of endless jokes. Luxury B&B, anyone?

The Next Summer Sizzle

So you thought there were no more beach resorts suitable for smart investors or second-home hunters? Think again. EscapeHomes, the popoular Web site, spotlights a bunch of them, including Door County, WI, Holden Beach, NC, and Long Beach Island, NJ. Each has properties for sale at prices that wouldn't buy a closet in the Hamptons or Miami Beach.

Breaking Ground on "Affordable" Ski Condos

If I wanted another Colorado vacation condo in the mountains, and especially if I wanted an easy trip from Denver, I'd run, not walk, to learn about the new buildings at Winter Park that Intrawest breaks ground on today.

Fraser Crossing and Founders Point will have 194 units. Prices: from about $250,000 to $1 million. About $50 million worth of the units have sold, according to the resort.

A local housing official says the areas should "attract more of a market that is middle class rather than just exclusive."

Base Metal, Platinum Real Estate

Once upon a time, Basalt was a forgotten stepsister of glitzy Aspen in Colorado's Roaring Fork Valley. Now, Basalt is truly the new Aspen.

"The red-hot real estate market has sent the median price of single family homes for sale in and around Basalt above the $1 million barrier, according to an article about an analysis done by broker Wendy Lucas in The Aspen Times.


The stats: median price of the 27 single-family homes that sold in and around Basalt through mid-May was $695,000. The median price of 19 homes currently under contract in that same area is $899,000. The median asking price for the 19 homes currently listed for sale is $1,195,000."

Basalt is about a half hour's drive from Aspen.

You Paid Too Much

If you just bought a second home in Naples, Fla. you probably paid nearly double what the property is really worth.

A Barron's study based on info from National City, a Cleveland banking and mortgage outfit, says homes there are overvalued by 96 %. Second on the list is Port St. Lucie/Fort Pierce, Fla. Top 10 overvalued cities include Tucson, Prescott and Phoenix in Arizona; Bend, Ore.; Napa, Calif.; Barnstable, Mass.; and Ocean City and Atlantic City, N.J.