Buying A Holiday Home ?
Follow These Simple Rules
If
you are thinking of treating yourself to a second home this year,
national agents Strutt & Parker recommend you follow some simple
rules to ensure you find the perfect holiday dwelling.
The
financial benefits of investing in this specialist sector are
increasing as people realise the long term rewards that are possible.
There is currently a strong demand for holiday homes to let in the UK,
particularly in popular towns, coastal shores and attractive,
quintessentially English villages. It needs to be a place that pulls in
the tourists throughout the year, not just over the Christmas period or
in summer months, and can provide good amenities and activities.
If
you are buying a second home you want to use at weekends and for
holidays it should be accessible from your main residence. Anything over
a 3-hour drive will make travelling a chore rather than a pleasure.
Robin
Thomas from Strutt & Parker's Exeter office advises: "As you won't
be living there permanently, it is important that you buy somewhere that
is either in good order or that you can put in good order fairly
easily. The idea of a second home is to enjoy it and that it does not
become a burden to you, so the less time fixing up a garden or carrying
out general maintenance work the better."
When
visiting a holiday home, you probably won't want to spend all the time
in the kitchen preparing meals. The idea is to relax so you will want
to somewhere near a local inn or pub that serves good food, checking
local restaurants and amenities before you buy will help you decide if
the area is to your liking.
"A garden is very handy to sit out in and relax or for children to play in, but ensure it is easy to maintain" adds Thomas. "Don't have extensive areas of lawn to mow or flower beds that need weeding and watering. Good ground cover and plenty of colourful shrubs with some decking, terracing and trees will probably fit the bill."
"A garden is very handy to sit out in and relax or for children to play in, but ensure it is easy to maintain" adds Thomas. "Don't have extensive areas of lawn to mow or flower beds that need weeding and watering. Good ground cover and plenty of colourful shrubs with some decking, terracing and trees will probably fit the bill."
People
use second homes for an array of different reasons so it is important
to establish why you want to purchase it. If you have a particular
interest in walking you may wish to buy a property with a good network
of local footpaths or easy access to a national park or a coastline. For
those who enjoy shopping and eating out easy access to a good town or
city such as Exeter would be essential.
Thomas
concludes: "Security can also be an issue for holiday homes, so make
sure that the property can be well secured as there will be long periods
when it is unoccupied. Ask a neighbour to keep a key they can chock the
house, which will help give you piece of mind, also don't forget to
inform your insurers that it is primarily used as a second home".
Watermark | Spine Road | South Cerney | Gloucestershire | GL7 5LW
Sales Tel: 01285 869031 | Holidays Tel: 01285 869181
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