Many investors have been buying coastal homes recently. These investors are purchasing these coastal homes as either secondary homes or vacation rentals. Low market prices and foreclosures have provided flipping opportunities in the market, but there are few points you need to consider before you finalize your purchase.

All local tax assessors handle property taxes differently. If you hang on to a home for several years, you may be slammed with hike in property taxes. In these unstable economic times, many local tax assessors have chosen to either lower property taxes or freeze them for an undisclosed period of time. As the economy begins to rebound, the local tax assessor has the authority to reevaluate the milage on the property taxes and raise them. This will be based on local economies within different markets. A lot of hot real estate markets have seen property taxes escalate every a couple of years as a means of suppressing the demand in the area to control growth.

If you plan on making the home your primary residence, you will pay lower taxes than someone who uses the home as a secondary home. Primary homeowners usually pay about half in taxes of what a secondary homeowner would pay. Speak to the local tax assessors office about what the tax rate will be. Once you renovate the home, the tax value will be reevaluated and likely raised to reflect the increased value.

If you bought a coastal home that’s been vacant, foreclosed, or just lacking maintenance, you likely negotiated a discount with the hopes of renovating the home. Coastal homes have very stringent zoning and building codes. If you are not familiar with these rules, you may need to seek out the assistance of someone who can guide you in your efforts. Items such as windows and doors now require very high impact ratings. Impact windows and doors are very expensive and can easily cost more than anticipated. Replacing a roof many likely require more than just replacing the roofing material. Items like roof straps may need to be installed to bring the home up to current building codes.

When speaking to your building contractors for renovation estimates, a good idea would be to double the cost and double the time frame. There will likely be delays due to weather, material shipments, and other unforeseen problems that will affect both cost and repair time.

When planning and forecasting rental income for your coastal home, you should speak to some local property management offices about what the local economy and what the daily, weekend, and weekly rental rates are for similar sized coastal homes. Be sure to ask about what the management fees are and what they include. Most services like housekeeping, maintenance inspections, and service calls are typically included.

When forecasting your rental income for your coastal home, determining the length of the vacation season is important. Regions such as Florida and other southern states will likely rent out 9 to 12 months a year. Meanwhile coastal homes in Maine and other northern states may only rent out 5 to 6 months a year.

In Closing

Whenever you’re looking for investment opportunities in coastal homes it’s suggested that you start by browsing the internet. Internet real estate advertising services and local real estate internet sites offer listings, photographs, and even virtual tours online. When you discover the coastal home that meets your needs, you’ll be able to call or email the agent or seller with whatever questions you may have.

Hubert Miles is the founder of Waterfront Houses USA, an internet marketing service that provides Coastal Homes and Coastal Homes For Sale available in the United States and Canada.

So you are considering selling your lake house. It may be scary in these tough economic times and you may need to consider staging your lake house to make your home more appealing to prospective buyers and to get the price you desire. Staging your house is the act of setting up your house in such a manner that it is appealing to potential buyers.

It is very effective to stage both the inside and outside of your lakefront house. These are 3 tips to make the exterior more appealing:

1. Go stand on the street to see what clients see when driving up to the house. Be aware that any negative impressions they get outside the house (landscaping not maintained or non-existent, peeling paint, etc.) is just going to make them think that the house itself has not been well taken care of. So even if you have spent the time and money to fix up the interior, it would all be wasted if the clients get a bad first impression as they drive up to the house.

2. While the Realtor is trying to open the lock box to get the key, the potential buyer is evaluating the area around the front entry of the home. Does the area show that the owners have keep the home clean? Are the plants around the entry dead or overgrown? When they look in the corners will they see spider webs or hornet nests? Take the time to clean this area and make sure if reflects nicely on the rest of the lake house.

It will pay dividends to make the effort to clean and make the surrounding area look nice. Why not go ahead and put a fresh coat of paint on any furniture or accessories.

3. Don’t forget the backyard. While that might not be part of the potential buyers first impression experience, if the lake is visible from the house it will certainly make a lasting impression. Pull up weeds, water plants, do some sweeping or raking and maybe even purchase new furniture or accessories (plant pots, bird houses, etc.). If a dock is present, has it been cared for? Are there weak or missing boards that need to be replaced?

Another tip that should not be overlooked is to think of yourself as the prospective buyer that is seeing your lakefront house for the very first time. If there are things that you would like changed, it is likely that others will feel the same way. Try to make your house look the best.

You may have to make a small investment in staging your home’s exterior, but you’ll recoup your investment when your lake house sells. By staging your house properly, you’ll shorten the period of time your home is on the market and get most if not all of your asking price.

Hubert Miles is the founder of Waterfront Houses USA, an internet marketing service that provides Lakefront Houses For Sale and Lake Houses For Sale available in the US and Canada.