Finding a Second Home for Holidays

How to Find the Perfect Home away from Home for the Holiday

summer capital of the Philippines Baguio city

You may or may not have a financial consultant on hand giving you advice on the perfect time to purchase a second home you can hie off to for the holidays, especially when everyone is on break from work or school. However, if you think about it, having your own home for the holidays is a good idea, practical even, since having one would translate to tremendous savings.


For one thing, if you have your own house and lot in Baguio city, you never have to book rooms in a hotel or rent a transient house every time you go up there for vacation. Think about how much you’re going to save in rental money if you have your own place.


Even if you end up buying from among the many for sale condominiums in Baguio City, it would still end up a good investment considering the “supposed” rental money you’ll save in the long haul. In fact, you can use the money that’s supposedly meant to pay rent towards your payment for the house or condominium unit.


Deciding on the Location


Prices of houses vary according to location, so this is a factor to ponder on when you make your final choice. You also have to pay close attention to where your prospective property is found because you want to make sure that the place is not too far to take care of or visit. Even if you intend for it to be a latchkey property during the times you are not in residence, you still have to deal with the practicality of how accessible it is for the times that you and your guests do get to use it.


If you plan to someday retire and make this holiday home your main residence, make sure the amenities you will need are close by. These amenities should include groceries, clinics and whatever services you regularly require. Even if you plan to resell the property and make it part of your financial portfolio, you still have to carefully decide on location. In this case, choose a place that has good potential for increase in value such as a house and lot in Baguio City.


Defining the Prospective Second Home


If you have decided to buy real estate in Baguio city that you can use for holidays, you have to be clear when you declare what kind of a house it will be. Be sure about the use of the place and decide on whether you want to keep this for purely personal use or you want to rent it out and live in it sometimes. As the owner of the property, you have the option to rent it out to others in times when you’re not using it. You also have the option to settle there, especially once you start considering retirement.


On one hand, a house that is purely for personal use provides you some tax benefits. If it is solely for personal use, the mortgage interest payments on your second house are tax deductible. In the future, should you decide to sell it, a certain amount of money would be exempt from capital gains tax. If you rent this real estate in Baguio city for only 14 days or less, you will not be required to report the rental income even if you charge thousands per day.


You should also have a good idea of what you want to do with the property years after you buy it. Some buy holiday condominiums in Baguio city and maintain them for that purpose with the intention of leaving them for their children and grandchildren to enjoy. Some people buy a second home with the intention of keeping it for a few years as a holiday retreat then selling it at a profit. Still some initially buy a house for holidays but intend to make it a principal residence when they retire. Maybe one of these reasons applies to your own purchase.


Enjoying your Holiday Home


While choosing a holiday home, make sure that everyone you expect to be with you is happy about the decision. If you want some quiet cabin in the woods but everyone else wants to go shopping and see shows, it might be good to start you search with negotiations not with a real estate broker but with your own family.


Not everyone is privileged to be able to buy a second home for holidays so if you are one of the few who are able to do so, go ahead and enjoy the entire experience beginning with deciding on the type of house you want down to how you will spruce it up for memorable holidays.