The #1 most-viewed listing on 2ndhome.net this week is located in Sunapee, New Hampshire. This home has 5 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms and is located on 3.56 lakefront acres. It’s listed at $3,950,000 by the New London Agency.

The #2 most-viewed listing is located in Park City / Tollgate Canyon, Utah. This 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom log home is located on .94 acres. It’s listed at $529,000 by Pine Meadows Properties.

The #3 most-viewed listing is located in Tomahawk, Wisconsin. It’s a waterfront land parcel consisting of 5 acres with 220’ of frontage on Lake Mohawksin. It’s listed at $139,900 by McKeough Land Company.

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A recent story in The Record (New Jersey) stated that:

“For current and potential second-home owners, making sure your property is adequately insured can be a less-than-straightforward process. Second homes can be inherently more expensive to insure, primarily for two reasons: You’re not there as much, and they are often rented out (some insurance companies deny coverage if the home is regularly rented).”

Insurance for second homes are increasingly more scrutinized by underwriters, and as a result, second home insurance costs are rising, if not being denied, because of perceived unacceptable risks (by insurance companies).

However, there are a few things second home owners can do to mitigate their insurance costs. Among them are:

• choose an area for your second home that is not located in the flood zone (see FEMA maps for identification of these areas), or is not susceptible to frequent/regular hurricanes and/or tornados;
• consider the security that a ‘gated’ community would offer, with the associated warning to stay out of known high crime areas;
• rethink your plans to rent your second home for part of the year, which puts you in a sometimes higher risk category with the insurance company…with the associated thought of having a property manager that might help to lessen the perceived risk.

Not to mention more insurance when trying to make your current policy less expensive, but you might want to consider an ‘umbrella’ policy which is designed to offer you greater liability/accident coverage than what you have in your home owner’s policy.

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Here are some great vacation homes around the country that are priced at $750,000 or less.

West Barnstable, Massachusetts: $750,000

3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, unknown square footage, 1.62 acres

Payson, Arizona: $750,000

3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2600 square feet, .68 acres

Crosslake, Minnesota: $749,900

5 bedrooms, 2 full & 2 half bathrooms, 3600 square feet, .6 acres, waterfront

South Haven, Michigan: $749,000

1 bedroom, 2 bathrooms, 1608 square feet, .292 acres, waterfront

Hartfield, Virginia: $749,000

4 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, 2816 square feet, 42 acres

Bolton Landing, New York: $749,000

4 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, unknown square footage, 2.259 acres, waterfront

Goshen, New Hampshire: $745,000

4 bedrooms, 3 full & 2 half bathrooms, unknown square footage, condo

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Even though the investment portion of the vacation home market dropped steeply in 2006,for a variety of reasons, it is still a market niche worth a second look. As they say in economic reports about the overall U.S. economy, it is supported by solid ‘fundamentals’. In other words, the underlying economic data, including demographics, personal income, inflation, etc., support optimism about long term prospects for economic growth. So too, the demographics underlying the second home market support opportunities for long-term appreciation of such properties.

Among the huge number of baby boomers, (78 million in the U.S. and over 200 million worldwide), there is going to be an increasing demand in the next 15 years for vacation homes that may double as retirement destinations. The soon-to-retire boomers are part of what has been called by noted demographer Peter Francese “the richest generation in the history of the planet”. By some estimates, the earned and inherited wealth of U.S. boomers approaches 2 trillion dollars.

With these kind of underlying fundamentals, vacation homes sales in certain markets, while suffering now, is likely to pick up and return to positive territory in coming months.

If you are thinking about looking at a second home for family use and as an income property, you should take a few minutes to read the following article, featured recently in Realty Times. It offers some useful tips about how to choose the best market and property for investment and warns of some pitfalls. As always, every investment strategy has both pros and cons. The old adage ‘caveat emptor’ (let the buyer beware) applies in turbo for real estate investments during a market slowdown. But a correct pick and purchase made when prices are down can reap big rewards when the market stabilizes and begins to appreciate again, as many second home markets are predicted to do.

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With the chilly nights of September, the frosts of October are not far behind. The bounty of summer produce that we have been enjoying for the past couple of months (corn and beans and tomatoes, oh my!) will soon disappear. The fall harvest is set to begin. Rather than mourning the salad days gone by, I like to think of what’s next? What is the new autumn bounty to tease the palette? With visions of squash soufflé and apple fritters dancing in my head, I decided to look to the Food Network’s website for inspiration. They have a wonderful page full of recipes for seasonal foods.

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