Vacations are a prime opportunity to ditch the phone alarms, toss aside the wristwatch, and pause all electronic reminders to enjoy some well-deserved downtime. A brief pause in clock-watching is a great refresher for the occasional respite from work and chores, but it can be a detriment to potential purchasers of a vacation home.

In short, the timing of a second-home purchase is just as important as it is for that of acquiring a full-time residence.

Real estate transactions that are mis-timed or rushed can be rife with miscalculations, lack of full consideration of all implications, and a source of significant financial woe.

So, when is the best time to find, purchase, and take on the ownership of a gorgeous getaway?

The answer depends on what’s being bought.

When to Start

Whether it’s a sunny summer cottage or a cozy winter cabin, it’s best to shop off season.

It’s tempting, though, to look at a beach community or wooded subdivision and salivate over the possibilities.

The former — bathed in sun, residents in beach chairs or toting golf clubs — is very appealing. The latter — with its numerous cars bearing skis and poles on their rooves and cute chalets from which curls of fireplace smoke lazily rise — seems a prime for browsing.

But a clearer picture of a seasonal community can be obtained by visits scheduled for the off season.

Then, it’s easier to evaluate (without all the oohing and aahing) a locale’s general vibe.

An off-season visit, for example, can reveal a community’s various infrastructure advantages and disadvantages:

• What is the quality of municipal services such as mail delivery and waste removal when crowds have disappeared?
• Is the community still active or does it button up tight after its prime season passes?
• Do support services (emergency response providers, area medical care, shopping, community events) end or sharply diminish when the tourists leave?

A spot of quiet respite is good for the soul every now and again, but no homeowner wants to experience a ghost town seven months out of 12 every year.

The other advantage to off-season shopping is that it is a prime time for existing homeowners who what to shed themselves of their vacation residences to put them on the market. Their rental income months have slowed; they’ve tired of accommodating a steady stream of tenants; and they’re ready to return to the days of single-home existence.

A resort’s sellers’ market can therefore evolve into a buyers’ market with just the patience to wait for a few flips of calendar pages.

Winter v. Summer

So potential buyers in Southeast Pa. looking for a Jersey or Delaware Shore beach bungalow should start fishing around sometime near Halloween. Because shore populations can get a bump out of the Christmas season (attracting shoppers and families who enjoy First Night festivities), lookers should the pause their searches sometime around Thanksgiving and re-launch it after New Year’s Day.

From then onward to Easter, the browsing should be fruitful. After Easter, if nothing suitable has resulted, it’s probably advisable to wait until the next Halloween.

An accepted property bid in the run-up to Memorial Day weekend might be difficult to schedule for closing before summer awakens in full. And as new owners, purchasers will probably want to embark on renovations or other changes before attracting renters. Those might be logistically challenging with throngs of beach-tagged tourists swarming barrier island communities.

Snow bunnies who are after a place in the Poconos can follow a similar, albeit flipped, schedule.

An issue in the mountains, though is a shorter “down season.” Many Pocono communities attract a summer crowd for fishing, boating, hiking, horseback riding and other nonskiing, summery fun.

That said, the weeks surrounding Easter and those near Halloween can yield enough information to help with an intelligently timed decision.

After The “When” Is The “How”

The vacation-home market is still afire, exhibiting much the same pace of rapid turnover as its permanent-residence counterpart.

To avoid chasing listings that disappear in a matter of days (or even hours), work with a local realtor. Make sure he or she knows your interest, your desired features, your specific locales, your must-haves, your budget, and your hoped-for timeline.

Then, remain hopeful; remain diligent; remain agile; and keep at it.

Finances

With the calendar issues addressed and a realtor in place, it’s time to run the numbers, set a budget, make the offer, negotiate the details, apply for the financing, and set a closing date. These steps have all been described in detail in the residential real estate posts that comprise this series.

The Other End of the Transaction

As you navigate the purchase of your vacation home, keep these timing lessons in mind.

If, someday, you become disenchanted with the area, or finances become unsustainable in the long run, or you find yourself not using the property as much as hoped for, shedding a vacation home is also a process of timing.

Down the shore, homes on the market should look their best in the fall and early winter. Up in the mountains, ski-adjacent properties need to shine in spring and early summer.

Buyer or Seller

In either case, for buyers or sellers, the real estate transaction’s conclusion should be a satisfying one.

Buyers have a new escape spot in a favored location to use themselves or offer to guests as a revenue producer.

Sellers have passed that opportunity onto someone else and can use the financial gain for a variety of fulfilling purposes.

Win-win.

About Penn Community Bank

With more than $2.5 billion in assets and over 300 team members, we are the largest mutual bank in eastern Pennsylvania. Our size and reach make us uniquely qualified to help our customers reach their own “Here We Grow” moments for their families, their businesses, and their communities.

We’re here to partner with community organizations leading the charge for positive momentum. Our growth mission is to deliver solutions that genuinely serve the best interests of our individual and commercial customers in ways they cannot possibly experience at more traditional financial institutions. As a bank powered by good values, we are a catalyst for good with the flexibility, responsiveness, and experience to guide next-level growth for everyone we serve.