Robb Reports "Best" Vacation Properties

Speaking of the Robb Report, as we did the other day, connoisseurs of luxury properties will be interested to learn that the magazine has named the El Dorado Golf and Beach Club near Baja California's (Mexico) Cabo San Lucas as its numero uno for its 2008 "Best of the Best" issue in the category of vacation properties where homes can be built and/or bought. The runners-up are: The Cliffs at Keowee Springs (pictured), South Carolina... Palazzo Tournabuoni in Florence... and Residential Suites at the Ritz Carlton, Kapalua, Hawaii.

No Debt: BelleHavens' Smart Club Pitch

The destination club BelleHavens, which is in the same deluxe class as Exclusive Resorts and Quintess, has a unique selling point that should appeal to mortgage-wary travelers: the homes in its portfolio are owned by members rather than the club's overseers, and are debt-free. BelleHavens thus calls itself the first "equity membership" club with asset protection as a key factor. That doesn't mean that visits to properties such as those at La Quinta, CA (shown); Palm Coast, FL; Kohala Coast, Hawaii; Hilton Head, SC; Los Cabos, Mexico; and midtown Manhattan come cheaply. The current price of a BelleHavens Equity Membership is a one-time deposit of $225,000 and annual dues of $18,500. Still, that means a reasonable average price of about $615 per night based on 30 nights annual usage. And peace of mind? Priceless.

Why Are Vacation Home Prices Down?

Some time back I reported that statistics show sales of vacation homes for personal use were robust last year. But nationally prices did dip. The median price of a vacation home in 2006 was $200,000, down 2 percent from $204,100 in 2005.

"For vacation home prices to edge down in a record market is a bit puzzling,” David Lereah, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, said.

My thunderclap of insight: perhaps the prices went down because there were so many vacation homes for sale, it became a buyers' market, and smart buyers negotiated lower prices. Also, perhaps the vacation home buying spree was weakest in expensive Northeast markets, which accounted for 25 % of sales, while remaining strong in South and West.

Author Says Now's Time to Buy

Christine Hrib Karpinski, author of How to Rent Vacation Properties By Owner, says you don't need to dig deep right now for a vacation home. Last year saw "a definite shift away from more expensive markets (Florida, Nevada, Arizona) and into more affordable locations (Georgia, Tennessee, the Carolinas). Obviously, houses will cost less in these areas, which means more buying opportunities for less affluent individuals." Karpinski also finds a silver lining for those who don't think they need rental income. While less than 20% of those responding to a Realtors' survey said they would not rent out their vacation getaway, "when people do decide to start renting it out, they are delighted to discover how easy it is and how profitable it can be."

Are Multi-Generation Compounds a Trend?

Family-style second homes may be the Next Big Thing in housing. According to the Wall Street Journal, builders are offering "compounds," or lots on which a comppound of more than one house can be built, in several parts of the country. The article cites Crescent Resources in Charlotte, N.C., which has sold 80 compound lots in Lake James, and has similar communities on the drawing board including Palmetto Bluff near Hilton Head, S.C. The idea is for different generations to have a place to build their own vacation houses even if they don't have the kind of money that Kennedys and other famous families have used to build their own compounds. In Lake James, one family paid $400,000 for a 15-acre lot. Near Bethel, N.Y. in the Catskill Mountains, Chapin Estate lots run from $155,000 for a wooded five-acre lot to $1.3 million for eight acres on a lake, all zoned for multiple dwellings.